San Juan city

There are no regular buses from

, 11 km southeast of the city on Route 20. The

nine blocks east of the city centre. Alternatively take a taxi.

This is an important wine-producing area and there are lots of

bodegas t

o visit, if you

haven't seen those in Mendoza. Those offering tours include:

, www.graffignawines.com,

the oldest in San Juan, with an interesting museum displaying winemaking machinery and old photos, and a wine bar.

, www.fabril-altoverde. com.ar, is an organic winery with a smart showroom and small bar.

, www.antiguabodega.com, has a museum, underneath where the

champagne is made.

, www.saxsegisa.com.ar

, is a small boutique bodega with attractively

renovated buildings. Not far from here is the charming, small, family-run bodega

San Juan's museums are mostly rather dry, but if you're interested in Argentine history, pop into

educator, Domingo Sarmiento. The

Provincial Park, which you won't see at the site itself. There is a basic

Note that the main street, Avenida San Martín, is often called Libertador.

There's a wonderful collection of pre-Hispanic indigenous artefacts including several well-preserved mummies at the

At

, 64 km east of San Juan city, the famous shrine to Argentina's most beloved pagan saint,

has to be seen to be believed, and will give you far more insight into the Argentine character than any cathedral. By now, you'll have noticed piles of bottles at roadside shrines all over Argentina. The legend goes that the beautiful young Correa was making the long walk to reclaim the body of her young husband, killed in the wars of independence, when she fell by the roadside and died of thirst. No one would help her. But by some miracle, the baby she was carrying suckled at her breast and survived, and thus La Difunta Correa became the pagan patron saint of all travellers. People leave bottles of water by her shrine to quench her thirst, and to thank her for her protection on their journey. During Holy Week, 100,000 pilgrims visit this extraordinary series of shrines at Vallecito, to make offerings to splendidly florid effigies of Difunta and her child. Testimony to their faith is a remarkable collection of personal items left in tribute, filling several buildings, including cars, number plates from all over the world, photographs, stuffed animals, tea sets, hair (in plaits), plastic flowers, trophies, tennis rackets and guitars - and vast numbers of bottles of water (which are used for the plants, and the plastic recycled). There are cafés, toilets, a hotel and souvenir stalls. Bizarre and fascinating. Buses from San Juan to la Rioja stop here for five minutes, or Vallecitos

runs a couple of services a day. See www.visitedifuntacorrea.com.ar, for more information

.