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- 22 maj 2018
- ☀️ 15 °C
- Höjd över havet: 748 m
- ArgentinaMendoza ProvinceDepartamento de GuaymallénMendoza32°53’44” S 68°49’33” W
Mendoza
22 maj 2018, Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
Mendoza is a city in the North West of Argentina beside the Andes. It is famous for the number of vineyards in the region. Argentina has approximately 1,500 vineyards and nearly 1,000 of those vineyards are in Mendoza. Through our hostel we booked a couple of activities to do while in Mendoza.
While Rob went mountain biking, Una and I booked our first paraglide. We were picked up at our hostel and driven to the top of a mountain in the Andes. We met our paragliding pilots here who were setting up the parachutes. They fitted our harnesses and attached it to their harnesses and the parachute. There was minimum amount of instructions given to us about the launch, we were just told to run and keep running off the mountain cliff. As we ran the parachute dragged in the wind, lifted in the air and launched us to glide in the sky too. It was quite a strange experience running off a cliff but thankfully the parachute was working properly. We glided in the air for about twenty minutes enjoying the beautiful scenery around us. It was quite a fun activity although it was pretty cold at the top of the mountain. I would suspect that during the summer it would be even better as we wouldn't be as cold. I enjoyed it more than parasailing because you move more in the air as the pilot is changing directions using the parachute strings which moves more than the boat that pulls the parasail. Apart from the launch it didn't give an adrenaline buss but it was more of a relaxing activity useful to admire the scenery in a different manner.
That evening we went to a farmyard beside one of the vineyards and went horse riding. Rob and I had never really rode any horses before so we were not sure if it would be a suitable activity for us. However we needn't have worried as the horse did most of the work anyway. We were shown how to guide the horse from left and right before mounting our horses. The only instruction I was given was that my horse likes to stop and eat a lot so I had to avoid this by keeping the horses head up. We walked in a line up a hill and watched the sunsetting over the Andes. The colours of the sky as the sun set was very pretty. After the sunset we walked back downhill to the yard. I really enjoyed this activity and only once let my horse eat so that was a success. I think it suited Rob and I more because we didn't have much experience but Una didn't enjoy it as much as we were not allowed to trot or gollop. Having said that we definitely all enjoyed watching the beautiful sunset.
The final tour we organised was to cycle between three vineyards learning about the production and tasting of wine. We learned about the different processes involved in producing white, rose and red wine. One of the vineyards used old techniques without machinery while the other two vineyards used more modern technology to help producing wine. This was interesting to see how the industry has changed how wine is made. It was a lovely day to cycle through the vineyards seeing the different autumn colours on the vine leaves. That evening we treated ourselves to our final steak dinner in Argentina with the travellers whom we met on the tour. It was a great way to end our journey in Argentina.Läs mer