Day 366 Sunday 6 April San Jose de Jachal to Mendoza (via Storage) 439km

Last night we sat in the foyer-come-dinningroom-come-reception-come-lounge of our little hotel that was in itself a Time Capsule of the 1960’s. The decor has not changed and neither did the Retro Furniture. Our rooms just had beds and no other furniture, so I sat at a table doing the Blog while others were eating peanuts and olive and drinking wine, talking nonsense and just enjoying life.

I struggled with Wi-Fi so the Blog took longer, they strolled off in search of a “Asado” Restaurant, (Asado is what we would call A Braai, it is defined as a Traditional Barbecue and a Social & Cultural Event, involving slow cooked meat over an open fire, it is more than just a meal, it is a celebration.) Exactly what a Braai is. But they cook a wide assortment of meat, more of the cheap cuts and it includes Beef, Lama, Chicken and sausage, but also some organs and intestines.

I wanted to join them but Millsy was so busy drinking beer he sent the Pin Location before it had reduced in accuracy to a few meters and as a result I heard Proff Google say “You have arrived at your destination” as I was walking past a brick wall with no gate. Eventually I found the guys. The restaurant was empty apart from our table and one other. But the guy at the brazo was chucking on vast quantities of meat!!! For Who? I decided that it must be pre-cooking for Sunday Lunch. We ate a plate of 3 sausages, 1 plate of chips and a plate of lettuce and tomato and then a few cuts of meat, like Short Rib and sheep’s intestines and Blood Sausage and strips of Lama back-strip. It was tasty but obviously not in the class of the Rib Eye of two nights ago. There was a cat who had an owner (it had a collar,) and it fell in love with Rocky, who loved it back until it ran up his leg with its nails………

At 22h00 we asked for the bill, and at that exact moment the band started setting up, they were getting ready to play and we were getting ready for bed. The Argentinians go BIG on Saturdays and they are very similar to the Europeans, they don’t go out until late at night.

We walked around the little town square and looked at all the little shops and vendors selling Hot Dogs and Burgers.

This morning we drank the weak coffee and and each a slice of toast with butter and jam and then we started getting ready to leave. The owners son, who is also the cleaner and painter asked us how much each bike cost in US $ and I just could not tell him the truth as the old beaten up family car was parked next to us and it was probably only worth 20% of one of our bikes, how absolutely BLESSED are we not? How many people even think about this? This thought stayed with me today as we passed countless people on their way to church on horse back or horse drawn cart. We have become so wrapped up in our privilege that we forget we are the top 1 % or 2 % of the world.

We continued on the straight road through Argentinas version of The Great Karoo (as we know it  in South Africa.) It continued like that for most of the day.

Peens found us a nice Asado Road Side Vendor and we stopped for lunch:

Empanadas as Startes:

Some Photos of Today:

Then we went and had a look at our Storage, it is in an Industrial Area and the bikes will be under a proper roof and be out of the weather, so I will not not return finding mushrooms in my wet boots. Millsy and Rocky flies out tomorrow, so they stored their bikes, washed their washing (well, delegated it,) and said their goodbyes to their bikes and took a taxi to our hotel.

Peens and I was responsible for finding the hotel. We tried our best to find something near the storage, but each little place we went to were closed, we also discovered on of the places that used to be a hotel was now and Old Age Home, Peens wanted to hear if they could help, but I said that just being old does not qualify any of us to stay the night. The next place was turned into a children’s home for disabled children. Then we started looking half way between the storage (40km away from the city centre) and the storage. We arrived at several places but they were all turned into Monthly Accommodation. Eventually we went to the City Centre and I was amazed to find that the guy at two of the hotels refused to enrich his boss by offering us the same price as we could pay for the same hotel, but by going through Booking.Com. So eventually I booked 3 rooms through Booking.Com at $50-00 per room less than he wanted, plus his boss now needs to pay a commission on that. And worse still is that the $50-00 we paid less was almost a 50% difference on their Rack Rate and Booking.Com Rate, how CRAZY!!!!!

So tonight we say out Goodbyes as Rocky and Millsy are off early tomorrow, then Tex at Midnight and peens Pie and I ON Wednesday.

We are looking at all the Tourist things we can do and it looks like we might to a Wine Tour and The Red Bus  Tour after washing all the guys’s bikes and doing all our laundry and some maintenance on the bikes.

Luv Ja All

Fleisch