After surviving the rain and cooler weather in Santiago last week, two friends and I were anxious to escape the city and experience the supposedly dirt cheap (yet high quality) dining, nightlife, and shopping of Argentina.  Thursday evening, passports in hand, we boarded an overnight "Turbus" for Mendoza, ecstatic with the possibility of affordable travel (and the opportunity to sample the famous Argentinian beef, wine, and chocolate.)  Rather than try to sleep on the "semi-cama" (half-reclining) bus seats, we chose to try and catch a glimpse of the snow-covered Andes in the moonlight.  

    Customs provided us with the opportunity to mess up our carefully packed luggage and sort through various documents in a snow-covered warehouse.  However, after standing in the cold for 45 minutes we were rewarded with new stamps in our passports, and the rest of the journey was uneventful.  After fending off several suspicious offers of economy lodging from persistent salesmen at the bus station, we decided to take advantage of the good exchange rate and selected a hostal noted in the guide book for its "marble floors" and "chandeliers."  Though tempting, we bypassed another acclaimed for its "neon orange common room," (an obvious selling point.) 

    After a few much-needed hours of sleep, we set out to explore the restaurant scene.  We were pleasantly surprised; breakfast, with desserts and a bottle of wine (anyone who knows me is not surprised by this) was only $4/person.  Thus began a weekend of excessive living.  Fortunately, our hostal was only a block from one of Mendoza`s countless vendor-filled plazas, Plaza Independencia, so we were able to drop our frequent purchases in the room as often as needed.  Some of our favorite discoveries included a cruise-ship calibur buffet, wool sweaters, Kinder Bueno candy bars, and portable flan in yogurt-like containers, all at unbelievably low prices.  It has been hard coming back...

    Saturday brought my first wine tour.  As we toured the dark caverns and sunny fields of two different vineyards, we were taught how to examine and appreciate the color, aroma, and subtle bouquets of countless local wines (Malbec was a popular favorite.)  I found it interesting that at one vineyard tourists were prohibited from taking pictures of the fermentation area because it might "distort the color of the wine."  Inspired by the other conessieurs on our tour, we continued to practice our wine swirling skills with the water at dinner that night, provoking some strange glances from fellow diners.

   In the tradition of countless chaotic family vacations, the trip back involved a bit more "adventure."  Unable to find a bus heading back to Santiago, we were forced to succumb to a suspiciously eager man who followed us through the bus terminal, offering to drive us back to Santiago.  He invited us to "give him our passports," reassuring us "yes, there are other passengers; they are from France."  He then proceeded to guide us to a back office filled with anxious looking Europeans. 

    After the return of the passports and the arrival of the van, which seemed normal enough, however, the plan seemed less sketchy and we piled in with the others for the ride up into the Andes, which was even more impressive by daylight.  The line at customs took hours, (though our driver may have prolonged it a bit by browsing through the customs refreshment area) and we were relieved when our passports were finally stamped by a confident official, and we were ushered through.  However, soon enough we discovered that the stamp listed "June 5, 2004" as our arrival date, and had to back in line to obtain the correct stamp.  Needless to say, we were happy to arrive in Santiago unharmed and with correct passport stamps.  We are already considering a return trip-(and planning to avoid private vans if at all possible.)