Week 3: San Martin de Los Andes and Mendoza

Where: San Martin de Los Andes (Argentina) and Mendoza (Argentina)

The good: SM de los Andes is an exceptionally beautiful little mountain town (though expensive by Argentinian standards) north of Bariloche, though also in the Lake District. At around 15 blocks by 8 blocks, the city is wonderfully walkable (or perhaps "wander"-able) with well maintained sidewalks, cute family owned shops, and rose bushes everywhere. I hadn't heard of SM de los Andes until I was in Argentina and am really happy that I added it to my trip on the fly.

The bad: Poor tourist infrastructure for wine tours/tastings in Mendoza, Argentina's wine capital ... reminiscent of Bariloche. This is surprising since ~70% of the country's production comes from the region and the city is a major domestic tourist destination. The main concentration of wineries is only 10 miles or so outside of town but the only transport options without a car are a 1 hour public bus ride from the city center (but remember, it takes time to get to the bus stop too ... 20 minutes in my case) or a fairly expensive taxi. And upon arrival, bike rentals are heavily promoted and would be a good idea if there were actually exclusive bike paths. Instead, bikers have to negotiate heavily pot-holed roads with other vehicular traffic including large city buses threatening to make you roadkill.

The possibly interesting: I noticed that nearly every Argentinian city I visited had a casino. SM de los Andes was the first time I went in one (originally to have a drink at the bar), which is unfortunate because I lost A$50 (~$13) at blackjack, which is the cost of a nice meal. Oh well.

Biggest surprise: I had a wonderful local microbrew in SM de los Andes called Cerveza Lacar, which is one of the best beers I've ever tasted. Too bad I'll probably never be able to have it again.

Lesson learned: This was one of my most enjoyable weeks mainly because I took it a bit slower than Week 2 and met really great people at the hostel in Mendoza.

Regrets: not buying chocolate in SM de los Andes where it's supposed to be heavenly (I just plain old forgot), not drinking enough Malbec in Mendoza, and not eating enough steak before leaving Argentina for Chile.