I haven´t updated for a while as we´ve been fairly well on the move and internet in Bolivia can be painfully slow! To back track a little, we had a fantastic time in Mendoza, which is a cool city in the Argentinean wine district. We stayed in an apartment I found on wotif (if you can imagine) which was plush and a lovely break from hostels and especially bunk beds for a couple of days! Bunk beds and I don´t seem to mix. I don´t think there has been a bunk I have not belted my head on. Brendan and I seem to have developed some sort of affliction where we hit our heads on a daily basis (sometimes two, three - often on the same obstacles in succession - Tv´s, bus mirrors etc). No idea what´s going on. Caz thinks it´s absolutley hilarious and keeps a tally of who has hit their head the most times each day. I imagine I´m losing much needed brain cells each time and if this keeps up I may qualify for a disabilty pension upon my return to Aus.
I spent a day on my own wandering around the city and attempting do do some shopping. I always seem to get bitten in the ass by siesta over here (shops close from 1pm to 4.30pm nad open again until 8 or 9) and usually find myself finding locked doors everywhere. Despite being unsuccessful in the shopping department, I had a great day having a bit of ´Kate time´.
I was feeling the need for some serious R and R in Mendoza after doing too many mamoth bus rides in relatively short succession. They don´t seem to bother the other guys as much but I sleep appallingly and they consequently seem to knock me around. It´s funny that after a while a 12 hr bus ride seem relatively short after putting in 30 hr stretches. Sometimes you´ll do a 15 hr bus ride to a city, stay for a day or two and then do a 12 hr ride to the next city. We´ve all commented that there is no way we would even dream about doing that in Aus; but it´s only often the only mode of transport here so you just run with it.
Our first night in town the boys went out with a friend of Dave´s, - Megan from Aus. They had a cracking night and arrived home at 4am. We had organised to meet some friends we met in Bariloche at a particular street corner at 9.45am the next morning to do a bike ride through the wine region. Needless to say the boys were s l o w and we missed meeting Tom and Clair. Caz and I were a little pissy and consequently sent the very seedy boys off on their tandem bicycle (yes they chose it - hilarious) to enquire at all the bike rental places to see if we could find them. Luckily for them their status climbed when they returned with Tom and Clair in tow and another Australian couple and the 8 of us took off on our bikes feeling fresh (well most of us) and fabulous in the sunshine.
We did a tasting at the museum and then hit a liquer and chocolate house. We all were given a shot of liqueur and most of the group tried absinthe which was like rocket fuel reportedly. The boys were in struggle town by this point with hangovers starting to well and truly settle in. They decided hair of the dog was the only thing for it and they would take off at a sprint to each winery, desperate to stave off the wobbles.
The traffic in South America is insane; nobody uses indicators or seems to adhere to any sort of road rules (including traffic lights, lanes, speeds and road worthiness of vehicles). The road was intially quiet but as the day progressed so did the traffic. Sometimes while riding you would hear a truck coming behind you and see a truck coming towards you in the opposite (and very narrow) lane and you´d almost close your eyes as they passed, praying that you were not about to be skittled and become an unsightly mess on the asphalt (or dirt). At one stage were were passed by a Moroccan guy (who will feature later) who was wobbling all over the place and cheering passing traffic. Clearly he had started much earlier in the day or otherwise wine tasting must not be a favored Moroccan past time.
We had lunch at a nice winery about 10km up the road and we lashed out on an expensive lamb in red wine simmer (first western styled meal in a long time and) and a bottle of recommended Malbec. I have unfortunatley found the wine in Argentina quite disappointing; it often lacks any gusto and doesn´t compensate with any kind of smoothness. I should probably conceed that we have been buying cheaper bottles ($7 aus which is mid range over here). We headed to a lovely winery in the afternoon called Tempes Alba which was an ultra modern, very cool winery. One of the owners jokingly warned us about her flirtaceous brother, who true to Argentinean form was a total unabashed flirt (in a harmless charming kind of way). Our introduction involved consisted of him walking up to me on the balcony, grabbing my face in his hands and kissing me. He then graciously offered for me to stay with him for the evening in his ´beautiful lake house´. The men here can be incredible! Flirting and checking out women appears at times to be a national past time and totally socially acceptable. You regularly see men in the street openly stop when they pass an attractive woman, turn and check her out.
The music was great, the sun was beautiful and we sat on the terrace over looking the vineyard and knocked over quite a few bottles of rose and red between the 8 of us. When I got up from the table at one point in the afternoon I realised I was becoming a little pizzled and advised the guys that if I had any more vino I was not going to be riding anywhere. Considering the traffic and the fact we were loving it we called the rental place and organised to have the bikes collected. A smart move as it turned out. I was standing on the balcony watching the Moroccan guy in the drive way with his bike. He was struggling to get started and stay upright on the gravel drive and I very nearly called out for him not to ride (not that he would have understood me). He seemed to right himself however and took off out the drive way. 5 seconds later I heard the unmistakable sound of car brakes screeching and then a collision. I ran in and grabbed Dave (ED physio) and Clair (OT) and we took off to the road to find that he had, as suspected, ridden straight into an on coming car. He was on the nature strip where had been dragged by his friend, was a little bloody, in shock and sporting what looked suspiciously like a broken collar bone. Dave and Clair checked him out and we waited with hime for 45 mins (!) until the ambulance arrived. Considering the collision he was bloody lucky.
We bought some beer at the service station (awesome - you can buy beer anwhere here) and all caught a bus back into Mendoza and went to an all you can eat buffet. We all gorged on the western styled food which was very good and cost $10 Aus. A few of the guys were keen to kick on but the four of had hit a wall which was suprising but understandable considering the serious miles we´d been putting in during the preceeding weeks. It was sad to say goodbye to Clair and Tom who are a cracking pair who we´ve loved hanging out with. We´ve spurred each other on on some evenings of debauchery and definitely look forward to catching up with them in the UK.
We spent the next day wandering through the local park (which was 240 hectares) and bumped into Dave´s mate Megan adn her friend Lauren from America who we sat at a park cafe and had beers with. While sitting there I head a crash behind me and watched Dave leap up from the table and take off across the road. He had watched another cyclist come belting down a dirt path, take a jump badly and hit the deck - hard. The teenager appeared to be in a bit of trouble intially and didn´t appear to be moving. Dave called for Lauren who speaks excellent spanish and between them they worked out likely another shoulder or collar bone injury but the kid was again suprisingly ok. We have subsequently dubbed Dave ´Dr Dave´ and expect it´s only a matter of time before his ED skills are once again required.
We caught a bus to Salta which was 18 hrs and arrived to find a very dirty, dank, over all disappointing hostel. Stay way from city backpackers! I realised a couple of days later I had been bitten by bed bugs there - absolutley revolting! I now have scabs all over me; hugely attractive. Salta is a beautiful city, full of amazing colonial architecture, quite close to the border of Bolivia. The whole city seemed to be gearing up for independence day, and the atmosphere was electric. I was really disappointed we were leaving two days earlier as I think the party would have been bloody spectacular! We wandered around the city and extensive markets and tried our first bowl of Locro (Argentinean soup with lentils and meat) which was amazing. I had hit a serious wall by the time I reached Salta and wasn´t able to head out with the guys, which for those who know me well will agree is totally out of character!
We were catching a bus out at midnight and just beore leaving Caz and I headed out to get some money at an ATM attached to a local supermarket (cardf swipe to get into a glass cubical). Caz had come in with me and as I was halfway through withdrawing cash I noticed that a massive roller door had descended and was about two feet from the ground and from locking us in. I yelled at Caz to get out, but she didn´t make it so we were well and truly locked in. We managed to squeeze between the door and the supermarket wall and knocked on a window of the supermarket. Needless to say the security guard pissed himself at the sight of two wide eyed slightly nervous foreigners trapped between the supermarket and a roller door. Dickheads. How we didn´t notice a MASSIVE roller door descending I have no idea. Anyway, he got us out and we made the bus to the Bolivian border. Bolivia is a world apart from Argentina and Chile but that´s for another post.
Chau for now amigos xx
