Mendoza, Argentina.

I'll be honest, we didn't do much in Mendoza apart from drink. But hey this is Mendoza we're talking about, land of good wine and good steaks so of course we had to indulge ourselves. We arrived in Mendoza after a long journey across what could be easily mistaken for Soviet landscape. I couldn't help but expect 007 to appear at any moment in the bleak, snow filled scenery. Not all was bad though and during our journey we met an Australian who we were to spend the next two nights having a lot of fun with.



The three of us decided to seek out the legendary Mr.Hugo bike wine tours so the next day (after spending about an hour trying to find where to get the bus from) we were on our way and excited about the prospect of drinking wine on bikes. Mr.Hugo and what I can only presume to be his wife met us with a warm reception of smiles and our first glass of locally made wine. We were given a map of six local wineries and a chocolate factory, easy we though, should only take a couple of hours max. So off we hopped on our bikes cocky and confident. Ten minutes later we concluded that we perhaps weren't as fit as we thought and were pleased when a police man pointed us in the direction of the closest winery.

Turns out this was not only going to the start of our wine tour but also the end. We never made it any further. This wasn't a bad thing though. The staff were so friendly, the outdoor scenery so enjoyable, the weather good and the wine tasty so we just kind of got stuck there getting slowly drunker. It soon became time to head off back to Mr.Hugo's to return our bikes and after a few glasses of wine it's amazing how much easier riding a bike seems!



Mr.Hugo greeted us back with a big smile and more free wine and there we stayed supping in to the late hours of the evening. I won't go in to too many details about what we all did after Mr.Hugo's, suffice to say we don't remember what time we went to bed and Ryan blocked the hostel sink.



MR.HUGO ROCKS!

Valparaíso, Chile.

Valparaíso is a coastal city of Chile, a mere forty five minute bus journey away from Ritoque or two hour bus journey from Santiago. Over the past few years the Valparaíso tourism has boomed with people flocking from all over the world to see this unqiue city which was recently declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003. Many people however turn there nose up at Valparaíso, calling it a dirty, ugly and a poor city. I guess that just depends on what your definition of ugly is.



There is no denying that Valparaíso isn't going to win any awards for cleanliness. The stench of urine is never far away and a lot the city centre buildings are crumbling and in due of a lick of paint. This is not due to laziness and probably has more to do with the fact that Valparaíso is one of Chile's poorest cities. The hundreds of colourful shanty town houses that fill the hills of this city and overlook the centre create a mixed bag of feelings. These very houses are the reason tourists come to Valparaíso and rightly so, they are utterly breathtaking. But as I wandered up the steep hills and through the zig zags of streets that lead us up to these houses it I couldn't help but feel sadness, inspiration and guilt. These houses are literally falling to pieces and yet the owners insure to keep on painting each and every one which entirely changes the aesthetic of this area. Whether this is for our benefit or their own I am not sure. I can only hope it is for their own pride and satisfaction as I am entirely convinced that no trickle down from tourism occurs up here in these hills. Which is a great shame.



We didn't spend long in this city, but long enough to wander around and see all the different areas and architecture. Valparaíso may not be conventionally pretty but if you're willing to open up your mind, look beyond the grime and recognise a different understanding of beauty then I truely believe it is impossible for anybody to label this wonderful city ugly.