Mendoza in Jurassic Times

I´m feeling better so here´s my juvenille attempt at humor.

Hopping the bus to Mendoza, I never realized I would be involved in a flashback to prehistroric times, but this being friday night the bus was PACKED. Not an empty seat in the house and all the windows were dripping with condensation. This bus ride was easily my most brutal yet. Surely if H1N1 was alive and well in South America, and someone on this bus had it, everyone on this bus would be infected on arrival in Mendoza (just poetic license KR, EASY!)

This however would be the least of my worries as the gentlemen to sit next to me was a 6´5" 300 lbs grumpy goliath with sleep apnea that I affectionatly will refer to Snore-a-saurous (credit to Skzmmth for the original name). No sooner did we disembark as Snore-a-saurous began sawing logs shaking the windows as we rumbled along our 13 hour nocturnal journey toward Mendoza. It would not have been wrong for Snore-a-saurous to purchase 2 seats as his body mass encroached into the passenger space next to him which was however unfortunately, occupied by ME.

As this was more then I was willing to tolerate, I awoke snore-a-saurous by shaking his shoulder and informing him that he was snoring the whole bus awake. Now not to get on my high horse, Í haven´t always been known as the quietest sleeper, but when I´m upright with my inflatable head pillow I´m generally harmless.

I nudged Snore-a-saurous back into consciousness some 5 times until he finally grumbled a threat, "Don´t touch me again."

In Kung Fu we have a saying, "speed kills," and I´m pretty sure that in an open setting a 6´5" 300lbs Snore-a-saurous isn´t moving at lightning speed and I could take him no problem. But we aren´t in an open setting, I´m in a window seat and he controls the isle. So I started coreagraphing a close in fighting confrontation in my head, remembering my Fu. Left outward block, right leopard fist to the throat, left eagle claw to the eyes, and right elbow to the temple. That should do it.

Thankfully it never came to that. I decided to retaliate passive-aggressively, and by passive I mean passing gas and wafting it directionally toward him. Given my recent GI distress this could be considered a violation of the Geneva Treaty and most certainly a chemical weapons assault.

After a few gassing episodes the Snore-a-saurous muttered something faintly surrendourous that sounded like it contained the word "mama," but I cant be sure.

Apparently chemical warefare was not enough to deter the aggressions of the Snore-a-saurous as we rumbled and bumbled down the road rocking out to the Flinestonesque not so sweet music.

I gave up at this point, dropped another half a xanex and tuned out.

Arriving in Mendoza, the Snore-a-saurous was the first one off the bus. Maybe there´s an upside to chemical warfare after all. Here´s breakfast at the train station, Costco esque hotdog, called a Poncho and cafe con leche.



I took the walking tour of the town, there´s really no better way to aclimate yourself to the surroundings, (ie find internet cafes, hotels ect.) Here´s the fountain at the Plaza Independencia



I tooled around for bit and Mendoza is a big Skiing hub for the Andes above. There´s a whole street dedicated to ski eqiupment rental and tours. Ahhh, next time...leg heal...want ski...real bad...want come back... fire good(OK kidding on that last one)

LP says Mendoza has 111,000 residents, roughly 1/3 the size of Sante Fe, but it feels larger and more populous. The streets are wider with more lanes and everything feels bigger. Apparently after an earthquake in 1861 the authorities anticipated the next earthquake by rebuilding the street wider with larger plazas so the people would have a place to escape and the rubble could fall harmlessly into the street. Kind of cool looking streets here.



I settled in to the LP budget hotel recommendation, "Laser Hotel." The only thing remotely modern about the "Laser Hotel" is that the word "Laser" appears in the name.



This is by far the the most... ummm... "budget accomodations" I´ve had since I´ve been in SA. They were all out of single rooms, so I had to step up to a double. This is what $19 night buys you here.



I don´t know if you can see it but the bed has a remarkable concave shape that should only add to its luxurios comfort.

And of course the obligitory shower in the middle of the bathroom never felt so good.



My appetite returned and so has my spirits. I treated myself to an EXCEPTIONAL ´late afternoon meal. An awesome steak, green salad and an 1/2 bottle of an INCREDIBLE Malbec for $14. So good I think I´ll go back for a late dinner and have the same thing! Me dejiste Pablita.

Tomorrow I´m renting a bicycle and riding the Wine tour loop, 40 km and taking a tour of the only vinyard open on Sunday. 40 km is what about 24 miles? Not that much but it depends on what type of bike. So Vamos a ver!