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Published: September 29th 2012
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We needed a day to recharge today. We had little sleep in the bus two nights ago and last night was only marginally better. Toby and Fiona had a bedroom at the back, but Harriet was sleeping near the front and the Sydneysiders next door made a racket coming in late. Then there was the music from next door and Toby getting up before it was even light to go for a run.
We had originally being planning to go on a wine tour today, but realised that we need towels to go to the thermal pools. We wouldnt be able to borrow the hotel ones tomorrow after we have checked out. So plans were changed, but as Harriet reminded us if plan A fails there are still 25 more letters in the alphabet.
There are two choices of visit to the pools at Cacheuta. There is a spa where you go from
10am until late and have treatments all day and a lovely buffet lunch. The other choice are the public pools with no treatments and where Barbeques are provided for you to cook. We chose the latter. The hotel was a lot more expensive, but still dirt
cheap for what you got, but we just wanted to go at our own pace.
Toby had been to the bus station yesterday and bought tickets for the bus. We were booked on the
10.30am bus, but that didnt mean we had seats reserved so we got to the terminal a little earlier. A small line and gathered by the time the bus pulled in but we were near the front and got seats together at the back. Bang on time we set off.
The ride was a mixture of urban, freeway and rural. We stopped constantly to let people on and off and the bus was soon very full. We were glad we hadn't booked for the hotel as we only realised after we had passed it where the stop was. Signposts and bus stops are a vague memory! Our stop was easy to find because it was the end of the ride and everyone had to get off. We weren't sure where to go at that point as the signs were still non existent, so we just followed the crowd.
We have often bathed in the pools at Hanmer Springs and Taupo in New Zealand.
Outside Mendoza
On the way to Termas Cachueta These were not exactly the same. These pools were a little more basic, as were the changing facilities. However the water was just as hot and relaxing. There were pools of different temperatures and some had bubbles. The best bubbles were bubble beds where you lay down over bubbles. Some of the pools were under cover and some were outside. There were more pools below that weren't open as it is still considered winter, but the slide was open.
Apart from ourselves, there were quite a few older people at the pools. They had obviously come prepared as they had robes and tables full of food and drink. There were also a lot of younger people and we were intrigued to see that culture differences go as far as choice of swimwear. There were no topless bathers, but the South American bikini bottoms don't cover much bottom. We had felt under dressed in our bikinis in Indonesia, but here we felt overdressed!
We tried to get lunch at the cafe across the road from the entrance but it was fully reserved. If we went again we would have reserved a spot before we went into the pools. There
was no problem with going in and out of the pools. We eneded up at the little shop next door where we had sandwhiches, alfajores and a drink. It was plenty for lunch. We could have taken it in to the pools if we wanted but we decided to eat outside the cafe.
We bathed some more after lunch and then went back to the bus stop to catch the bus back to town. There were several tourist style shops and we had a quick browse. There were dogs all over as well. There seem to be as many dogs as people in Argentina. They aren't vicious but they do get in the way and can be annoying if you are eating or running.
Right on time the bus left. We have been pleasantly surprised at the adherence to schedules by public transport here. We sat in the same seats as before and enjoyed the journey. The views of the mountains were beautiful. It is a very different landscape to that around Bariloche and much warmer.
Back in town we went to the same street we had eaten at the previous night, but no other restaurant caught
our fancy. We ended up near the ice cream shop and had a meal that was mediocre at best. Next door was another ice cream shop so we went there for dessert which made up for the dinners failings. It was great. Much better than the competition across the road.
As we started to walk back to the hotel all the cars were sounding their horns. People we passed were either clapping or banging saucepans. As we got nearer the centre the number of people increased and we soon realised that it was some sort of demonstration. We caught sight of a TV in a cafe where the news had similar scenes in Buenos Aires. Back at the hotel we soon discovered that this was a protest aimed at the government. It was unlike any protest we had ever seen. Everyone was happy and really enjoying themselves. So much so that we initially thought they had won a soccer game or something. The saucepan banging is a form of street protest that started in 2001. They even have a name for it- cacerolaza. Much nicer than the usual name and behaviour for street protests in the rest of the
Waiting for the bus back
And watching the ever present dogs world- riots.
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