Dia 113 - Friday April 1, 2011: Argentina Mon Amor

We enjoyed a relatively early morning start northeast from Santiago. The last gas fill up in Chile was $114. Crossing the Andes toward Mendoza included 29 switchbacks up to 4KM tunnel and spectacular dry mountains. See the pictures. The border crossing took less than 1 hour, was well organized and relatively hassle free. The border officials on both sides were very helpful, as they don’t see many California license plates at the Chile-Argentina frontier.

We lunched in a small resort town called Upsallata in a parilla restaurant that seemed to be a motorcycle destination. I had tasty grilled chivo. The meat was so tough that the goat must have lived a full life.

The scenery gradually changed from dry desert like mountains to lush farming valleys. It took little imagination to feel that we were in the Napa wine district. The signage to the suburb of Mendoza for our hotel was poor going into Mendoza. When we missed the area and turned around, the signage was good! Chile takes the prize for the best road information in Latin America. We will go to downtown Mendoza on Saturday for detailed maps. I lost my motorcycle GPS so we are back to maps and dead reckoning.

Our boutique hotel is right in the middle of the wine area that we are visiting. Live in proprietors make a big difference in one’s enjoyment of an area. We had a gastronomically sophisticated dinner at Nadia a few kilometers away. We chose the high-end wine pairing option – wow, 4 great wines stole the show from the excellent food. A good time was had by all.