Una Moto en Argentina!!!!!!!

I am tired. The last few days have been different than I expected.

Yesterday I woke up in San Agustin and it was raining gatos y perros. This was a bad thing because the Valley of the Moon park loop is not paved, and if it rains, they close the park. The whole town was underwater and myself and the Canadians I met in San Juan wandered to the only thing open on a Sunday, the carneteria (meat store). I don´t know if that is the right word for it, you get the idea. We spent about $20 and got this:

We made a pasta salad lunch and planned on an asado for dinner. We then went for a walk down to the local lago through the rain. When we returned, the hostel was filled with new people and as we got to talking with them, we discovered they were mostly local tourists and they had an expert asado man within their midst. They went down the street and bought a LOT of meat and a LOT of wine. As the night wore on and the food was cooked, everyone drank an had a merry ol´time. Finally when the food was ready, here is what we got:

and in the process:

Y U M M Y.

After more drinking and eating I called it a night because I expected it to be a long day today- and it was. I woke up and again, it had rained and the park was closed. I didn´t know what to do because the roads were also sketchy and the woman at the hostel said they might be flooded. One of the girls at the hostel suggested we call the police. She rang them up and I got the A-OK to leave. Everyone else was going to have to bus it back to San Juan.

I came across small patches of water and a bit of mud in a few places- nothing to write home about. I took it slow and there was no problem. Then I came to a curious sign that seemed to say “there is always mud in this road, permanently”. I slowed down and when I came over the top of the little hill, I saw a complete disaster. Mud everywhere, running water, and big track marks made by trucks that were filled with 6 inches of water. This was not something I was hoping to encounter.

I stopped the bike and found a stick. I poked the water to see how deep it was an then stepped in it to check the bottom´s grip factor. It seemed OK so I started in, REALLY slow in first gear, and making sure not to get stuck. I kept my feet 2 inches off the ground in the hope that I lost my balance, I could catch the bike. There were three main sections I needed to cross, the initial mud, then some water, then a LOT of mud that was slicker in texture than the first mud. Phase one was accomlished slowly but successfully. Phase two wasn´t too bad because it was clear water across pavement.

It was phase three that I was worried about - the truck tire tracks. They looked really deep and ominous so I chose to try the other side of the “road”. The mud was really slick but I felt I had a better chance with it staying solid enough for me to ride over without getting thrown in. I also noticed that at this point there was a car behind me, so I wasn´t completely alone if I fell in. Slowly, and after getting stuck a few times, I made it through. I got to the top of the paved area and felt like I had when I got through the Andes pass without any problems - great.

It wasn´t to last though. I got to La Rioja in good time, but when I started north towards Catamarca, it began to pour. After so much rain already I had had enough. I had to make it to a hotel and lie down.

The down side to all this rain is that I have to turn back early and I won´t make it to Salta and the Salt Flats that I really wanted to see. They were the highlights and goals of heading north at all. However, my body is really whipped and every day is getting a little harder so maybe it´s for the best.

On a positive note, I finally found a place with USB hookup so here are a few pics from the last few days:

Tags: 1, Argentina, Tag Index

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