In the last edition of Café Culture Magazine, I shared with you the first half of our South American escapade travelling throughout Chile. Our adventure now continues over the Andes and into Argentina.
We left Valparaiso, the harbour city of Chile, early in the morning to tackle the 300 km trip over the Andes into Mendoza, Argentina. The trip would take us from sea level to 4,000 metres above, over one of the highest mountain passes in the world. The road from Santiago to Mendoza has been travelled for hundreds of years and now is obviously a lot better maintained, with ice tunnels and sometimes two lane sections.
Once leaving the beautiful vineyard valleys of Chile, the highway became a series of wild turning switchbacks of steep corners and near vertical climbs up the pass through the mighty Andes. Trucks taking supplies between the two countries use the road, and it is a death defying act trying to overtake these slow moving loads, avoiding a head on with a speeding truck coming down the mountain in the other direction at an unstoppable pace.
After a good half day of beautiful scenery, we finally got to the Chilean and Argentinian border post, where we were put through two hours of gruelling questions about why a bunch of “Gringos” wanted to travel in this part of the world in a minibus. Argentina’s economy is pretty tough at the moment, and there seemed to be a lot of tension regarding trade between the two countries, so paranoia was rife at the border crossing.
We finally got through the bureaucracy of the two countries and started experiencing some of the most magnificent countryside in the world. The ice covered peaks of the Andes still towered above, although we were at an amazing, breath-starving 4,000 metres. The different colours of the rock covered mountains continually changed with the movement of the sun. We were blessed to view the mighty mountain peak of Aconcagua, which stands 22,834 feet/6,960 metres above sea level, which is the highest mountain in South America and is normally covered in clouds.
The road down to Mendoza was much gentler than the climb up from Chile and as we lowered into the valleys, we entered the scenic Malbec vineyards of Mendoza. My travelling companions, all being crazy hospitality junkies, were very keen to sample the world famous Malbec wines of this region, accompanied (obviously) with the famous Asado (beef ribs) Parrillada.
Mendoza was a suprising oasis, with tree-lined streets – a small city smack right in the middle of a high desert plateau. Mendoza has a population of 110,000 people and is around 1,100 km south from Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aries.
The Mendoza city centre has lots of different options for accommodation, from five star luxury hotels to reasonably priced colonial boutique hotels. We opted for the second choice and got a cute little Spanish style villa close to the central park area. To my joy, the street we chose had lots of cafés and a very busy Parrillada grill a few shops away. The people of Mendoza were extremely friendly and welcomed visitors warmly to their vibrant city. The city reminded me of Europe, with lots of colorful shops, bustling foot traffic and fantastic food smells wafting from every direction.
After packing the bags into the hotel room, the evening had set in and we were all hungry and excited about exploring the restaurant scene. It had been recommended that we try a very popular and famous Italian restaurant, La Marchigiana, that had hosted the famous, from past Presidents to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. La Marchigiana was fabulous, and we had our first hand experience with the national Malbec wine, accompanied by delicious local beef cooked to perfection in the unforgettable atmosphere of a room full of meat-hungry dinners.
Most Mendoza residents don’t go out to dine until around 10pm, and that’s when the party really starts. Mendoza is full of nightclubs, late night cafés and the famous Tango halls, where you can take part in the traditional Argentinian dancing. We opted for a few nightcaps at a café close to the hotel after a big day on the road
We woke early and headed for the Mendoza Centro Super Mercado (local fresh food markets), where we were welcomed by the wonderful smell of fresh baked breads and a large selection of exotic fruit and vegetables, from cactus fruit to the largest avocado I have ever seen. The continuous line of fresh butcher shops sold every piece of the cow, from the hoof through to the ears. Offal is big in Argentinian cuisine, so some of theses stores specialised in all forms, from intestines and tripe to sweetbreads.
We were hanging out for a good coffee, as we were still struggling to find a brew that was not owned by a multinational food brand. We eventually opted for the local brew, Mate. This unusual tea-like hot beverage is traditionally made in a dried gourd and sipped through a straw. Mate, or Yerba, is a grass/herb found on the plains of Peru, Uruguay, Chile and some parts of Northern Argentina. Brazil now grows the most commercial quantity of this beverage for the large South American consumption. Outside of South America, Syria is the largest consumer, as travelling Arabs took the tradition to the Middle East in the 1700s.
The Mate is placed in the gourd, and hot water is added to the grass-like substance. The mixture is then sipped through an ornate silver straw called a Bombilla, with a filter at the base. The drink is continually topped with hot water, normally from an accompanying thermos. It was quite odd to see businessmen sporting a flash-looking gourd in their hand, with a special leather sheath swung over their shoulder holding a thermos. The experience was fun and the taste was very tea-like, but it took some time to get used to not sipping too hard and getting a mouthful of Yerba sediment.
Mate is very much still a ceremony in its presentation and drinking habits and is still popular with young Argentinians meeting adulthood. The beverage contains about 1% caffeine, so it has some slight addictive traits. It is against the law to drive while sipping a Mate, as it must be too distracting a process. I hope that law doesn’t come in over here with takeaway coffee.
I couldn’t leave Mendoza without visiting the famous thermal pools at the bottom of the Andes, so we headed up to the dry desert mountain to find an oasis of fresh, hot thermal water. The pools are well looked after and attract a small fee, similar to visiting your local pool. We spent the day sampling each temperature range of bathing pool, only breaking to have a cold Andes beer.
It was definitely God’s waiting room, as busloads of elderly South Americans transited to the hot pools for their mythical health rewards. Somebody should have warned me about the dangers of seeing eighty-year old Grannies in G-strings – a sight I will try to forget.
We finished our last night in Mendoza with my long awaited dream, the Parrillada Grill. I starved myself all day, so I could get among as much juicy, smoke filled beef that my tummy would let me consume. Heaven for carnivores. My mate, Darren, who was travelling with us, was a vegetarian, and he still enjoyed the side salad and the great family atmosphere of shared food
My whole family fell in love with Mendoza in Argentina, and we look forward to going back one day. The city is vibrant, and the people are friendly and looking for the fun in life. You need to speak a little Spanish to get by and definitely need to like meat and wine.
The café scene is still developing, and there is a strong need for fresh coffee. Make sure if you get to Mendoza, you go and visit one of the many hundreds of vineyards and sample the famous Malbec wines of that area, as you will be impressed, I am sure. And don’t forget to have a Mate with a mate.
