We had finally made the long trek from Santiago, Chile into Argentina. We had heard about the city of Mendoza from some backpackers who told us about the amazing wine within the region and well…that was enough to convince me that we had to try it for ourselves!!! Long story short; they were right. The wine was delicious. One of the most popular things to do in the region is to do a wine bike-ride tour. There were several wine tours available, however, because we had done so many within our travels, we wanted to check out the surrounding area in a different way. It was then that we saw a flyer about horseback riding! Now if you remember what happened on our adventure in Santorini, Greece (Check out blog: Sitting on an Ass) we were a little hesitant to try horseback riding. But the hostel we were staying at did a great job at convincing us, stating that it was a local family who would guide us and that they were very experienced. So…of course we signed up. Because it was winter time in South America, it was the low season for backpackers and/or tourists in all regions, which meant at several times we were on our own for these “tours”. In an old pick-up truck an elderly man came and grabbed us to head back to his stables. He appeared to be excited to have some business for the day. The cost per person was approximately $30US. When we arrived to the grounds (the guides home) we were received by his teenage son who was preparing the horses. Although he looked like he was about 15 years old, he also appeared to be very experienced with the horses. As our two guides finished gearing up, I was feeling a bit nervous because the horses were much taller than the donkeys we had ridden in Greece. Now...I might add that I am not a climber of any sort... and when it was time to get on that horse, I failed after every attempt. It was so hard getting on that bloody horse!!! It came to the point where the poor teenage boy had to help lift me up and I laughed in embarrassment. In the background, Thomas just sat back on his horse... watching the show....while I struggled to just get onto the beast.
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