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Let sleeping dogs lie
Like these dogs have been having a bit of a rest. Spent two weeks off my bike trying to learn Spanish in Mendoza. "Do you understand any of that? Pantagruel asked the company; and Epistemon replied: I think that it is the language of the Antipodes. The devil himself couldn´t get his teeth into it.
Then said Pantagruel: My friend, I don´t know whether the walls can understand you. But not one of us can make out a syllable."
(Book 2, Chapter 9, Gargantua and Pantagruel by Francois Rabelais)
The above quote is inspired by the fact that I have now been listening to the Teach Yourself Latin American Spanish CD on my iPOd for about four months. This has been useful to an extent. For example I am reasonably confident that I could buy half a kilo of bananas in a Columbian market, take advantage of the massive end of season reductions offered by a Mexican department store (on certain selected items of menswear), or tell people about the two week holiday by the beach in Chile that I never went on with my family.
However I felt that in order to progress beyond these impressive, but somewhat limited, conversational set pieces it was necessary to go back to basics. I therefore spent two weeks taking intensive Spanish lessons
Hostal in La Consulata, nr Mendoza
Unfortunately stayed at this hostal for one night only. La Consulta is 100km South of Mendoza and the tourist agency inside the hostal is keen on promoting "agricultural tourism" (was not able to work out what exactly this means but if you fancy finding out a bit more why not visit their webpage www.estacionvalledeuco.com.ar) in Mendoza. It was a bit strange being back in the classroom, reminded me of my GCSE French lessons at school. Like one of those dreams where everything seems quite familiar but at the same time is just a bit different. I had thought that Spanish would be relatively straightforward (just add an "o" to everything) but the verbs are quite difficult, lots of subtle changes. Even more difficult is the English, trying to work out technical phrases like "the past perfect continuous" that my Spanish teacher is using actually mean ("oh you mean "ing" when the penny finally drops").
Mendoza is a fantastic city famous for its wine and tree line boulevards. As a former tv addict in London was surprised to find myself being a bit judgemental and disappointed with my fellow travellers for not doing more than just watch television all day in the hostel lobby. I can understand why you would want to watch a Champion´s League football match however am not sure what inspires people to travel halfway around the world to watch "Love Actually". Still it was a very nice hostel, Damajuana Hostel, Aristedes Villanueva 282, and I guess I am just getting
Condorito´s
Very, very odd supermarket. Large basset hound, oxen head and, of course, a wild boar stand over the wine section. old (plus I did go to to the cinema to see Mission Impossible III).
Mendoza also has a very wierd supermarket, El Condoritos. From what I could make out the owner of the shop is a taxidermist and has decided to mix business with pleasure. The supermarket is full of stuffed animals. The mortal struggle between a snake and a mongoose is frozen in time, perched dramatically above the bottles of bleach. All looks a bit dodgy from a health and safety perspective but is nevertheless more theatrically interesting that your average Tescos. Am almost positive that Damien Hurst must have been here, visiting the shop is like walking around one of his exhibitions.
Decided to do something a bit different from the usual tour of the vineyards in Mendoza so I went to see a "witch" called Gladys. I heard about Gladys from Laura, a friend that I met in Marlargue who lives in Mendoza. Laura and a lot of her friends, including dentists and hotel managers, go to see Gladys quite regularly. She lives in a quiet neighbourhood of Mendoza called Godoy Cruz. Not particularly prosperous but like most of Mendoza not at all threatening. Beautiful
Condorito´s
Unsure what type of toilet paper to buy? Why not ask the friendly alligator? old trees line the road watered by an irrigation system devised by the Incas. We waited for about 30 minutes in the front room watching television in the dark. When Gladys appeared she was early middle age with long wavy brown hair which she wore loosely over her shoulders. She wore only a long white flowing dressing gown. She showed a young man out dressed in shorts and a t shirt. Then an old man with a bad leg went into see her with his wife. When they came out 20 minutes later it was my turn. I went into her bedroom and she asked me to sit down on a small white plastic chair. On her bed was a bible, a crucifix and beads and a mobile phone. Her curtains were made out of bright coloured cloth taffetta. A cloth partially covered a washing machine in the corner. A few soft toys perched on top of a wardrobe. There was also a table in the room underneath it were some small cardboard boxes. She asked me to write my full name and date of birth. She copied the name and then drew a picture around it. She then asked
Condorito´s
A stuffed penguin supervises your choice of domestic cleaning products with supreme indifference. Were it not for the fact that it was dead you would think that it didn´t care at all. me a question which I didn´t understand so she went and got Laura to translate for her. The explanation I got was that the line around my name was the outline of a foot. This represents my life journey, past and future. She said that the foot showed that I was a person who needed equlibrium; that I was going to finish my trip and that I have an angel watching over me. She then asked me to sit on another chair in front of a small table with a cross, a stick of incence and some religious pictures on it and said a prayer for me with one hand on my head and her other hand moving across my shoulders, back and chest. Laura had told me beforehand that I had to leave some money on the table and so I left 20 pesos (about 4 pounds, 10 pesos would probably have been ok but didn´t fancy facing the spiritual consequences of underpaying). Quite an interesting experience. Not something I would normally ever do on a Friday night in England (but then one of the main reasons I am doing this trip is to avoid spending my Friday nights
Condorito´s
A wolf watches whilst purchases are made at the meat counter. scouring the supermarkets of south west London for frozen vegetarian food).
One of the things that Gladys told me was that sometimes I would travel alone and sometimes with other people. Spookily enough I had already agreed to cycle the next 1,500 km stretch through the foothills of the Andes to Salta with Alain and Tom, two young gentleman from Switzerland. After a week on the road we meet Felix, an organic farmer from Dresden, Germany fixing a flat tyre. Felix is also cyling to Salta. So at the moment there are 4 of us are all merrily pushing on north. Feel a bit like Yul Brinner in the Magnificent Seven or even better Kris Kristofferson in Convoy. Instead of aquiring gunslinging desperados like Charles Bronson and David Caradine or maverick truck drivers am instead recruiting German speakers in lycra. It is a bit frustrating that I am not getting many chances to use my newly acquired Spanish but on the positive side am learning a lot of camping German which I am sure will come in useful one day, including:
"Ich habe immer dieselben Socken die letzten sechs Tage ge tragen."
"I have been cycling wearing
Angel watching over me
This angel used to sit on my computer at work to guard against IT problems. It is now lashed to my frame. the same socks for the last six days."
"Vielleicht solltest du den sehr guten waschservice des hotels nutzen."
"Perhaps you should take advantage of the splendid and efficient laundry service that this hostel offers."
"Entschuldigung ich habe fuerchterlicht in meinen Schlafsack gefurtzt."
"Excuse me but I have just farted terribly in my sleeping bag."
"Bitte verlas das Zelt schleunigst!"
"Please leave the tent immediately!"
"Der Esel frist von deiner lenkertasche."
"Alain the donkey is eating your pannier bag."
"Felix warum zeist du dich ahne wie ein Phatfinder?"
"Felix, why do you dress like a boy scout?"
"Schatzy boenie."
"Darling sugar bean (Swiss german)."
Alain and Tom also both have their own websites so if you want to see another version of the facts, provided you can read German, you can visit their sites, if not there are more photos to look at (www.alain-bessire.ch and www.debruyne.ch).
At the moment everything is going well riding as a group. We have cycled about 1,000km in relative harmony. Currently in the small town of Belen in the province of Catamarca. We lost Felix temporarily this morning as he wanted to
Road near Barreal
From Mendoza I headed East into the mountains to avoid the traffic and monotony of the route 40 to San Juan. It was quite steep in parts but am glad I did as it has been a great ride. go a slightly different way to Salta but we are hoping to regroup in Salta before Alain, Felix and I head off into Bolivia (Tom is planning to leave us in Salta and start backpacking his way north).
During this time I have been listening to a lot of Janis Joplin. The pain, frustration and emotion in her voice seems appropriate as the rocky landscape become progressively more arid and the cactii start to appear. Oh yes I am indeed full of it.
Just a reminder that I am cycing to raise money for Medecins Sans Frontieres. To make a donation or for more information about my trip please visit my website (www.pushonnorth.com).
Push on
Tim
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