Argentina or Bust

A Glimpse of the Andes

November 14, 2009

Santiago-Uspallata by Autobus

We got up early and were lucky enough to convince the staff to let us have an early breakfast. Then, we loaded the bikes and headed to the bus terminal.

It was Saturday and the number of people on the sidewalks was small. We ride on the wide sidewalks until the bike lane begins. It's much safer.

We arrived early and looked for fruit (strawberries, actually) and other food and drink for the bus trip. We got a couple of empanadas - the clerk was surprised that I didn't want them caliente (hot).

We packed the bikes in their bags and our panniers in the MEC airline totes. The bus driver caused a fuss and made me return to the ticket booth. With his hands, he described the enormous bikes we wanted on board. 3,600 pesos later and all was well. All of this was adding insult to injury - we had to pay for a Mendoza ticket even though we were getting off early.

The trip north to the pass at Los Andes was great - lots of exciting scenery. We stopped at a construction site to let other traffic come through. A pedlar came aboard and we bought the best GORP (look it up) ever. The peanuts were freshly roasted and the raisins were plump and soft. Pedlars come aboard at most stops on long distance bus trips. You also see them walking through traffic at intersections selling bebidas (drinks), snacks and, in the evening, flowers. At one intersection, we saw a gymnast perform everytime the light was red. He had time to collect cash before the light turned green.

We climbed and climbed and climbed. Karen's batteries died and all the photos (and videos) are on my camera (no cable). It was spectacular. At one point we could see down about 12 switchbacks as we climbed to the pass. There was no need to buy lunch, we were served a ham and cheese sandwich and 7Up.

We reached Argentina and the mountains changed. They are much more colourful - perhaps because we are closer to them.

At the passport control, immigration, customs centre we had to wait 2 and a half hours while they processedthe buses ahead of us. They unloaded our bus and searched it. We tried the empanadas rather than have them confiscated (cheese and meat products are not allowed across the border). Of course, my bike was the first piece of luggage picked for examination. However, all turned out well and we made it through.

We flew down the mountain passes eventually arriving at Uspallata. We and our luggage were dropped off at the side of the road (next to a gas station). Four pieces of luggage quickly became 2 bikes and 8 panniers.

Disaster struck - Karen left her helmet (with mirror) on the bus. Uspallata is a staging area for kayak and mountian biking expeditions and we went to one operation in hopes of getting a helmet. Karen was offered a kayaking helmet (bright yellow) but declined. We visited a bike repair and a motorcycle - bicycle shop but both were closed and didn' open at 6:00 PM when they were supposed to open. We later found out that there was a significant Argentine soccer game in progress and everything stopped.

To fill our time, we toured the village and got a hotel room. Then, we had drinks at The Tibet Cafe (it houses memorabilia from Seven Years in Tibet, a movie filmed here). Once the game was over the bike shop opened and Karen got a helmet. It is not CSA approved.

Later still (around 10:00 PM) we had pollo parrillo. The cooks uses a wood fire to obtain coals that are used to heat the grill beside it. We had ensalada, papas frite and vino blanco.

Dessert was a shared ice cream on the way back to our hotel.

Tomorrow, we ride.