Getting around in Mendoza

[Bianca]

100 usa dollars a day for a private car and a driver is not really a lot of money for that service is it? people are forgeting that the peso is really 4 to a dollar. a person has to pay for gas, insurance, the car, time and still make a dollar - maybe actually 30 dollars. thats not really a lot for someone for a day. it may be a lot for you to spend, but not a lot for the person providing the "luxury" service.

think a driver for 8 hours and probably an additional hour or so from his home to you and then back after. so just pay for the driver for 9 hours at 8 dollars an hour is 72 dollars. i suppose we expect people to work for pennies these days.

No, it's not a lot of money in the US. But we're not in the US. The reason why I posted was to make sure that I wasn't getting ripped off since I've heard that many places have two sets of prices, one for locals and one for foreigners... is that really fair? Who is to say whether I make US dollars or AR pesos? Can you really tell by my skin color or by my accent? And is it so bad for me to ask other's that have actually been there for their opinions/suggestions? By doing a little bit of research, I got a better deal. I think anybody with a head on their shoulders would do some research and question these things. Or maybe you're just a rich, arrogant foreigner and can afford to just throw money at people without questioning value... I don't have that luxury.

Anyway, your "calculation" has a lot of speculation in it. First off, the driver lived less than 10 minutes from my hotel (not an hour). He used to work at that hotel, and by opening his own business, he actually makes MORE money than he was by working with the hotel. Even though I actually paid LESS. Cutting out the middle man. You see? It's not as cut and dry as you put it. Also, if you keep up with the the rates that most locals make, you'd see that U$8/hour (AR $30/hour) is a pretty damn good rate. And ACTUALLY, I paid $900 AR (including a decent tip) for ALL of our travel (to and from bus station and 2 days of winery tours plus one other outing) which equaled a total of 19 hours. 900 / 19 equals an hourly rate of $47 AR. About U$12.50/hour. That's not chump change, not even in the US. And again, THIS IS NOT THE US... but I guess it disproves your point. But thanks for offering your, um, advice.

 

[Bianca]

What bodegas are you planning on visiting?

We ended up visiting Benegas, Ruca Malen, Carmelo Patti, Achaval-Ferrer, Carlos Pulenta/Vistalba and Carinae. They were all great, but Achaval-Ferrer was my favorite, hands down!

Which ones have you visited? We hope to go back in the spring... especially to see the area in bloom. I bet it's gorgeous.