Down and out in Mendoza
Trip Start
Nov 01, 2004
1
48
51
Trip End
??? ??, 2006
Mendoza,
Argentina
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
There I was sitting in an internet cafe updating my travelogue of all things. I must have been concentrating quite intensely. Probably trying to remember how to spell "Ígauzu" or something to that effect. When I finally finished surfing, my bag, which had been on the floor at my feet, was gone. It had either magically disappeared or someone had taken it.
Assuming the latter I got a bit of a shock at first but overall I wasnīt too upset for the following reasons:
1. The bag itself was a nice but very cheap cotton green number Iīd picked up in Buenos Aires
Aconcagua
. Over the past couple of weeks it had become so dirty I was contemplating throwing it out.2. The main valuable in my bag was my Swiss army knife. I really liked it but to be perfectly honest I only used the tweezers attachment to pluck my eyebrows.
3. Iīve been travelling for almost 14 months now and have only 10 days left. So unsurprisingly enough there was absolutely no money in my wallet.
4. Having to cancel my credit card at such a late stage will probably ensure I canīt do anything I might regret in my final week on the road.
All things considered Iīm feeling a bit sorry for the person who robbed my bag. Iīve had a bad cold for the past while and the bag was full of used tissues (I should point out that I try not to collect used tissues. I just hadnīt made it to a bin yet that day). As Mr. T would say, "I pity the fool".
My fellow surfers in the internet cafe were outraged on my behalf
Bruno trying to wreck some Argentine vineyards
. One nice business man composed a statement in Spanish for me to give to the police. He even offered to drive me to the police station. But in the end I decided it probably wasnīt worth the hassle.Besides petty thieves Mendoza has a lot to offer tourists. Thereīs lots of beautiful squares and a wonderfully high number of ice cream establishments. We visited a few local vineyards, saw Aconcagua in the Andes - the biggest mountain in the world outside of the Himalayas and spent a day riding through the desert on horseback. Iīm really liking my Argentine horse-riding. You hold the reins with one hand leaving the other free to do important things like smoking or looking cool with one hand resting on your hip.
Our guide for the trip into the Andes was great. He was really friendly, funny and passionate about the area. We didnīt understand much of what he said but it didnīt matter. At one stage we all got out of the minibus expecting admire the view and take some pictures. But instead our funny guide ran across the road, picked up a huge rock, ran back over the road and hurled the rock down to the river below. Pointless but great fun. So we all joined in. There may have been some cultural significance in there somewhere but if so we missed it. Not to worry!
