Danm Lost this one

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I have to rewrite it.. Stupid women at the internet cafe cut the connection when I was in the final Editing. There are words for people like that. So I have learned about the differences in the internet places. You want the ones you pay after you use the service.

At any rate, I am really behind on my writing. I have actually returned to Mendonza and have been here for a week. However I guess I should keep the journal on course with the time frames.

When Sharon left I decided that I would take a tour to the mountians. It was the same place that I had been before two years ago. I was really tired and the first hour of the tour involved picking up people from thier various hotels. I slept. Then we headed out in the mountians. We went a different way then the previous trip. We were going to be visiting a clear spring and a hotel which was closed. Something about permits, and the lack of one. We arrived there for a bathroom stop and when we were there the bus driver seem to have taken up trying to catch the wild rabbits. One of which he did catch and gave to me to hold. You could tell the rabbit wa not liking this idea. I let him go and we traveled on. Shortly there after, we stopped unplanned, two flat tires. We only had one spare. Lucky thing we were on the tourist trail so he was able to get some help from other bus drivers.

As a result we all need to leave the bus until it got fixed. So it gave me some time to get to know the tourists. There was a group of two couples. These people were serviously all of those things that you hate about western tourists. They were from Austrialia and Canada. They were in thrie fiftes. They were all loud and abrasive people you avoid them if you can, but here we were one long bus ride and they were sitting behind me. They were all dressed in their best adventure gear and it looked as if they ironed it all before they left that morning.

They were very anouying but the canadain women was particularly anounying. I think she had a job as a school admistrator, likely young kids. They had hired a women who was about twenty to interpret the spanish for them. This poor girl as the trip progresseed was getting quized on everything. And they would make nasty comments if she did not know the answer. I really felt for her.

The other people I met were also english speakers. Strangely one was from Oregon but was living in Alaska now. He grew up in West Linn. So he asked a lot of questions about Oregon. He said he may have to return there because his mother has become ill. The other women was from Cuba. She was the first Cuban Tourist I have ever met. She was studying english and had gotten a internship to study in Canada. I have met Cuban tourists from florida touring and Cubans working aboad as doctors but never a real tourist. So I was sort of impressed with that.

We finnally got back on the bus but we were running late. We went to a view point to see algonga ( sp Wg) in the distance. The soundings were very airid, and beautiful they did a fair amount of mining in this area in the past but the was only a gypson was mined now.

Then we preceeded to a small town for to stop for coffee. During that stop the driver went to get the tires worked on this took more time. The interpretor for the Canadians was hoping for a break but the canadian women kept asking her to explain the irrigation system in great detail. Names of places with the spelling of course. Who monitored it ect ect. ect. I just wished she would shut up.

We then continued onto another viewing area for alcongo. This time we were closer. We took pictures and then started the game where are the Canadians. They were wondering off to take adventure photos. This tour was really not that sort of tour. It was a lot of time on the bus. The bus driver continued to have problems with the piece of crap he was driving. I turned around to see him running after the bus as it was rolling down the mountian. Forntunately he caught up with it, and we located the Canadains and we were even later. The driver learned the usefulness of large rocks. The breaks were well not good. On the ride back lots of sceeching.

The scenery in this area of the country was beautiful. They were several mountian ranges. There were many colors because of the minerial deposits there. It was all dessert. The sky was a very pure blue.

We contined up the mountian to the pass between Chile and Argentina. The mountians there were beautiful and the hieght was a 4200 meters. The air was cold and there was a strong wind. I was greatful I packed my ugly hat. Not pretty photos of me but the mountains look nice. Once again the Canadian women was bitcvhing about this and that. Her camera was working over time and she was getting angry that she had to take some photos from the bus because it was cold there. Like someone could do something about it. I personnally was wondering who was going to throw her off the mounian first.

We then headed down the mountian for lunch. I ate with the guy from Oregon and we talked a bit about Oregon and his life in Alaska. We were interupted at one point by the women from Canadian conplaining about the fact she had not been served her dersert. She asked why we got ours first. The guy responsed because we were better looking. I laughted, it shut her mouth. Once again we had to find the Canadians.

We then went down the mountian to a place called the Inca bridge. I had been here before too. However this time you could not go throught to the bridge. You could only look at it from a distance. I was told that the site was getting distroyed by the people visiting it. ( As a note, I took this tour again later with another group and found out the distruction was actually a normal process that the sulfur was dispositing under the bridge and weighting it down at some point it will clapse naturally from, it´s own weight. It was too dangerous to cross. ) I took photos and it was still interesting. I also asked about a plane wreck I had seen during my last trip here. They said they brought it to that location for tourist affect. That it had not crashed there however. This location was not so far from the location where the book "alive" was based on. You could really get a sence of remoteness there. I was thinking about it when We were flying over the mountians from Santigo to Cordoba. It was so beautiful but so remote.

We head back to town the women was talking with her frirends about the money owed to her for various things. Her husband was not much different but less vocal.

When we arrived into Mendonza it was about 8:30 very late for the tour. She was quizing the tour guide about the type of tree in the streets here she wanted to know the english word for them. I knew I told her but she did not want to listen to me. It was a sycamore tree. So finaly the guide tells her Rebecca Tells me it is a sycarmore tree. SHe stated that she did not know. The women then says Your from the Oregon, how do you know. Those trees grow on the east coast of the US. I told her I grew up on the east and I studied forestry. So it shut her up. However. I felt like saying something else I decided the poor women has to live with herself.

Well I departed that night on the all night bus back to Cordoda. When we were arriving in Cordoba it was pouring rain. The street we were driving in were rivers. Many cars were stalled out. When I arrived at the bus station my bag was unloaed and soaking wet. So the following day it was laundry and sleep. Well I will Try to catch up with the writing, Hopefully I will have time lots to write about. Next Brazil. Till Then Rebecca

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