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Mendoza- The place where cycling and simultaneously sinking wine are encouraged. We couldn't miss this spot!! We set out on our wine tour with 3 Aussies and two Yanks that we met at the hostel on a beautifully warm day. Having hired some bikes we were initially on a busy main road full of cars, trucks and buses- not the scenic coutryside I envisioned. It didn't take long though to find ourselves a quieter strip of back-roads with over-hanging trees, paddocks full of vineyards and old dodge pick-up trucks full of carrots being driven around by toothless locals. We cycled from each vineyard, pretending to take in the museums but really just searching out free glasses of wine...of course! A highlight was one winery specialising in home-made shots of liqueurs, jams and tepanade as well as the beer garden. Set out in a paddock among plumb trees, this beer garden was all organic from the beer, to the fruit that was picked out the back for the smoothies, to the epanada's and finally the wooden structure that housed the bar- an absolute gem!! As the day drew on and we all started to get a bit woozy and tired we ended up on a particularly sketchy road which was narrow as hell with no room for bikes and a popular route for trucks. It was then that we noticed we had aquired an escort- a policeman on a scooter whose job it was to make sure drunk cycling tourists don't get into harm. He drove us to our vineyard and once we were finished, escorted us back into town. Although I am sure he regretted it as we on our way home we came across a little dog stuck in a big ditch to which we demanded he help save. After we couldn't get this hurt little fella out our friend did what any responsible policeman would do and called for back-up. This was also followed by the owner of the bike company where we rented our bikes, out to check that we hadn't fallen in the ditch ourselves (which apparently happens more frequently then you would think). After we had made a sufficent enough scene in the town and a few failed attempts to get this growling dog out, he ended up trotting on up the ditch himself and legging it across the busy road, albeit with a broken leg. Rescue operation complete we retired back to town to finish the perfect day with more irresistable Argentinian wine and steak!
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