Mileage - 73 kms

[editors note – Here’s a map that Fritz and Bev sent through a week ago showing where they’ve been (in red) and where they intend to go (in green) – should make things a little clearer]

The Plan

We have a fellow m/c traveller at the hotel, christain from austria on his monsterously cool KTM 950 Adventurer. Lovely machne, he's left it n BA whilst back at work and over for just a few days before returning home for two days and returning agin, sounds like he's got it sorted ! He rode here from BA yesterday, some 750kms odd, must be a keen traveller at that. Knows of Horizins Unlimited and may get back in time forthe meet at Viedmar.

Well our ride out today was much more sucessful. Up to the alpine village that was established, so our source said, by fleeing Nazi's. That's all history now, but it is quite a spectacle to see so many german sytled chalets in amongst the trees and rocks of the mountainside. Not as spectacular as we hoped, but certainly interseting, and most folk certainly look Germanic origin, though by no means all. The little bakery did some wicked cakes and I even had to go bck for seconds on one.

So queue another locak referance, Dulche de Leche. It's very popular (justifyably) locally. It's a extremely sweet and appears to be a toffee type goo made form evaporated milk. You have it one bread, in ice-creams, and in cakes, and it's very moor-ish.

Anyway, we've saved a fortune on the cost a BMW off-road skills course already in this trip as we are developing our off-road skills all the time. Why today we even had a front wheel lock-up in control on the dirt (there was about 1km of tarmac in the ride) and we;re well aquainted with gravel, sand and corrugations. £350 credit then.

We had a wander around La Cumbriecita but couldn't find any dirt, even the cemetry, though locked, didn't unearth (no pun intended) any dubious headstones of well known names form the dodgey past.

Anyway, interesting place, and the ride out was great, clocked 100kmp at some point on journey which isn't bad going two-uo off-road.

On way back we found a glorious spot for a swim. Though we didn't have a swim due to no gear with us. absolutely beautiful deep pools and waterfalls as well as shallows. we spent a pleasant hour skimming stones and chilling. Also saw what looked like a humming bird feeding at a flowering cacti. could have been a nectar feeding bird of another variety though, have to check the web.

Well, what of the camera I wonder, still no call, not sure what the esential nature of me passing on a contact number was, never rung once. Oh well, another day in near paradise so who's complaining. Well, we are, cause we want to be on our adventures and way again. This has been an excellent spot and I'd recommend the hotel warmly.

Friday 25th November

Villa General Belgrano - Cordoba

Mileage - kms

Well following on from the predictable no (promised) phone call from Nikon I had to do it myself. Unfortunately got the answer phone so that snookered us, as then it was siesta o'clock here and no phones (without some work) so waited 'til 3.

At last, finally, some good news. The courier would be there late afternoon so we can go in, collect camera, return and reload some gear and head off for Saint Luis in the morning.

We've been here for an unbelievable 11 nights...just for a camera, not an engine rebuild. We've all got to, and past, stir-crazy. Testing enough in itself being in one place so long, but rewarding too, if taken in the right light, which often it isn't.

Our hotel has been cracking and our host excellent...he wants us to stay, or return so he can further improve his English. He's given us recommendations for good reasonable price hotels in St Luis and Mendoza, as well as a very accurate - backed up by handbook - guide to things worth seeing in both places.

We have confirmed that our supposed humming bird was indeed a humming bird. Watching one while we had lunch in the garden today, and it returned and spent a few moments flying nearby. Beautiful metalic green and a remarkable flight as it darted flower to flower. A highlight indeed !

Finally got the camera back after a spirited ride into Cordoda including passing some demostration that consisted of local folk setting fire to tyres on the road, and the police just marshalling the traffic around them. Bizzare, and a hug plume of black smoke to contend with and no doubt a big hole in the road by morning...what fun !

Burning tyres

Camera still marked, many apologies, no report from lab' either, but at least they agreed to no charge., It's better than before, just few small marks though. The final straw this evening, a right kick in the teeth advert on internet for Olympus SLR with 'dust filter'. Digital SLRs are not made for adventure travel, unless you only have one lense. Probably the reason they have long zoom ranges. More care required during any, unlikely, future lense changes, but basically not the tool for this form of travel. Must write a complaint to Nikon on return, poor product.

Saturday 26th November

Villa General Belgrano - St Luis

Mileage - 450 kms

Finally escaped. almost sad to go but great to be moving somewhere new

Said goodbye to Christain, may see him at Viedma, he was with S&J the night before the hotel in Belgrano, what's the chances he'd end up with us there - spooky !

Spotted the first (of many) dust devils whipping aroud in the plains, the heat was oppresive and the roads dull, when Javier had talked abouthow much he appreciated his cuise control on his bike I didn't understand....I do now, it's essential for these long boring roads, absolutely wished I had it, could fabricate with rubber bands around throttle grip but prefer not too.

Came across lots of convoys today with migrant agricultural workers moving home and plant in slow convoys. Huge new combines (costly !) and beat up converted buses towing 4x4s. Obviously work where the work is, and move from ripe harvest to ripe harvest. Hard life.

Not seen one jet trails since arival and only seen about two small planes and one large in air in all time here, amazing compared to the skies over UK.

Few suicidal drivers today. It's a common tatctic to slow and slew of road to right, no so bad apart from the dust, or left, which is dangerous straight in front of you with no indictors. Obviously they are for ornament only, even on all the brand new 4x4s. Not much use of horns here surprisingly. Not too dangerous driving, you just have to be very careful.

Also saw lots of bikes today, with the hours folk work I guess the w/e is the only time they can really get out and ride, siesta time being the hottest part of the day.

Arrived in St Luis and tried, unsuccessfully, to find hotel or last host had recommended. Went into the tourist info office and the lady was very helpful, though had a mildly disturbing aspect of being either half stoned or smitten and in love with this lost traveller, comlpetely doe eyed. I think it's just the fact people are so in awe of our travels, it's quite odd. She was very helpful though and gave us a map with hotel location on and some advice on things to see in area.

We did eventually find the recommended hotel and in comparison to anything else it was similar price. More than we wanted, and a bit flash, but about £7 with AC not goingto break the bank.

Recovered the cost with tea though with two litres of beer, and steaks each for the grand total of under £6. The displayed prices were higher than we paid for some reason, and the steaks were better than you'd ever get in the UK so were were back on track budget wise. Sound

Sunday 27th November

St Luis - Menoza

Mileage - 330 kms (est)

Well we left our refridgerator for breakfast. Nik and Bev complained of the cold, no pleasing folk. Nik wore his hat in bed and an extra blanket, and Bev covered here head with another blanket. And me ? Well of course being an ice-man I was happy with no extra blanket and just pleasantly warm. The noise was a bit of an issue mind, the price you pay for AC is a combined death rattle and jet engine warming up noises for the whole night, but can we really complain....why yes...bloody tourists. sadly by time we got to bike we were sweltered again as the garage was like a furnace.

The first thing we saw when we really got underway was one LONG and very striaght (OK it had a bend in it, about 30km long) road. Deep joy. As it was dualled and concrete there was noo escaping the heat and although only upper 30's the white surface and complete lack of clouds or any form of tree meant it was well over 40's riding temps, and you can forget about the so called colling of the air on the move...ha...you'll be lucky, like a well ventilated fan oven.

The only realistically close to route thing of interest was a salt plain not far off route, (30kms south of Balde), not that far into the day either so it was reletively cool, and there was no-one there. Being a Sunday meant in fact there was only the guard on the work access who waved as we passed (not into the depot, but into the works area). Taking this as a our que we had a ride around and I even rode to the top of one of the salt piles (it's a compact material, not like granulated salt you shake on food) which I think wouln't strictly be allowed on a working day, think the dozers might complain.

Salty Beemer

Made a slight error of route choice and broke through the crust into soft mud and briefly bogged down...oops. Not good to get salt all over the bikes as this stuff is stronger than road salt and causes considerable corrosion.

Weird place, flat as a pancake for 7000 hectares, and blazing sunshine just intensifying the whiteness. Nearest we'll come tothe weather back hom at the same time. Bizzare to think of folk stuck in snow on Bodmin, and yet here we were in what at times looked for all the world like snow drifts, but was far from similar. Now the camera is back I am able to share some pitures at least.

Snow or Salt?

So the search was on for a petrol station to wash the biks down. The stuff was white crusted half inch think on the front of the motor, so wanted it off soonest. The next station provided the tools, the watering cans from the pumps. No one minded us spending half an hour and copius quantites of water to wash the salt off, even though we only took coffees there (no choice really, it was literally a gas station ! Remarkable how many cars run on gas here, quite a surprise, and answered our query for why you can smell gas often on the road. Who'd have thought Argentina would have more LPG cars than the UK? On another aside you know those lovely blue LEDs that the boy racers put on their bonnets by the windscreen washers, they're here everywhere too. Funny old world. And don't get me started on Robbie Williams ....too late. His new single seems to be one of about four tunes available everywhere we go, as I find that particular one not so good it's lovely to hear it everywhere...in fact I think it's actually growing on me now !

So quite apart from the above this stop was unusual from another perspective. Squemish folk read away now, if you don't like creepy crawlies anyway. A pump attendant was trying to shoo away somehing quite large with his squeegy so Bev popped over for a look. A bloody great hairy Tarantula.

Furry Friend

Now I have to admit I'm not the gretaest of fans of our eight legged friends (OK that's and understatement), but Nik is even less inclined to spend time with any of the wonders of the insect world here so it was down to Bev to investigate.

I couldn;t resist investigating further though, and in actualy fact I didn't find the big fellah as intimidating as I would expect. It was a large forecourt though !

Our friend escaped into the grated gully and one of the ladies from the cafetaria came out to try and catch and re-introduce the spider back to the wild where it belonged. It would take a slipper of some distintion to flatten this blighter. The simple solution a jam jar and a pair of sugar tongs ! We lifted the grate and tried to get our mate in the jar but he was having none of it and made a bid for freedom. By this stage the big game hunters were having none of it and the jar was placed on top of the beast....ah...slight problem, all his legs were sticking out ! a bit of coercing and he was in and the lid on. A close investigation, through glass suits me thanks, and he was off road the back and back into the wilds.

Caught

Trapper

So were're no where near the remotest of jungles or the like and there are still parakeets flying around and things like this looming out of the undergrowth. How little we know of our habitat !

We knew we would reach Mendoza, in the foothills of the Andes today, so it was just a case of when we'd see them. In that classic way it was one of those fabulous moments when I suddendly realised the clouds in distance were to 'pointy'. It stops you dead when you see the great mountain ranges in the distance, still some 150kms hence and there they were, Fan-bloody-fanstic ! A rare occassion for me to spot them before my eagle-eyed pillion. There was no point stopping then as they would just not come out on film, but as we got nearer we had to pull in and consider their might with consideration.

Undoubtably the mountain landscape is my true love from a scenery perspectice, and like some people stare into fires, I can stare at mountains in awe for ages. Aconcagua was there to the right, an inpressive mountain from this perspetive, a real peak. Like many giants of the mountain world there must be many perspectives from which it just looks like a big snowy lump. Not from here though...it looks a fine peak. My juices were flowing juat at the thought of seeing it, but I know it will remain a feature of the horizon for we don't have the time, or preparation necessary for an assualt on that summit. A pity though, as it looks fantastic.

There are options to take the road towards Chile and really get into the mountain scenery close up, and hopefully the weather will last and we can do that. For sure the views from higher up, even though nearer, will not macth that first view though.

I think secretly we all had high hopes for Mendoza, but as a large city it was likely not to to match expectations, and so we found it not to our liking.

Though tree lined and shaded, and being a Sunday very much 'asleep' it was till a hard place to get what we wanted. The hotels were more costly, the cheaper ones not so good.

Right, I'll take a break at this point, to mention we have made the decision to use accommodation where possible unless it an area of 'oustanding beauty'. The tent remains firmly in the panniers, it's too bloody hot, and 's a bit of a chew on packing and unpacking. 25 years of bike camping leave me a little jaded I think. With prices like we've had there is just no point. Nik has a budget as he has jacked his job and needs to retain enough cash for the remainder of his trip, but Bev and I are lucky enough not to need to worry (the budget we're taking about here is £5-10 each max generally of course though, not £50) so it's afordable. Buying as three we save, and as while we're with Nik we'll be in Argentina were it is cheap enough, at least until Patagonia or the holiday season proper kicks in it's hotels.

Anyhow, that's as an aside for when I start complaining about hotels being 7 or 8 quid a night, or very poor at £5 p/p a night. And we will, how the might fall !

We all agreed after last night we'sd not use the featureless three or four star hotels and try and stick with smaller family run places with real people, but we were having real problems getting anything in Mendoza. A very busy spot, or maybe most people leave on a Monday morning rather than a Sunday night as I'd expected. Any way up, we were not having much luck. We tried a hostel just as the owner pulled up on his new GS1200, explains the prices. The hostels really are for the young, party central, thanks, but no thanks, still fiver each. I was surprised the guy didn't come to look at the bikes, but they must get a lot of tourists here, and this is obviously an affluent area (assume due to wines).

The only reason we're here is for BMW Mendoza as Nik's bike needs a service, and there won't be many places to plug a 1200 into. So a necessary evil. We are also after tyres though we both have some distance to go, recon on another 2000 from my rear. Nik was quoted well over £100 for a rear but mine under 50. Sure there are cheaper places to buy, but this is where we are now. Had contacted the HU community here but no responce, would've been nice to have met some locals, but people everywhere have pulls on their time, may meet someone yet.

In that fine way of things a guy pulled up in his 4x4 and asked if we needed help. Explained we were looking for a chepaer hotel and we got talking (limited of course). He ran a climbing shop and was a climber so that was cool. He took us to a little place locally and enquired for us. 45 for Bev and I and 25 for Nik, no triples as the owners quite old and reserved I think.

It was a lot run down, and no AC which is a pain in this heat, but it would suit purpose for now. We took it. it was pretty poor to say the least, and at £5 a head not great value, in fact poor. It was a bit last ditch really. There was little likelyhood of a good nights sleep with the heat, but it was less than the others, or similar ones had no room so no choice. Unfortunatel the parking wasn't adjacent either which is also a pain as you can guarntee you leave something on the bike you'll need, and it was 5 peso's extra.

Anyway like it or not it was home.

We had a senior moment tonight when we went to the local internet cafe. Wasn't the best of ones and you had to pay up front which isn't best. Anyway, I'd been typing for half an hour solid, saving it frequently as a 'word' document when the screen locked. Bugger. Asked for assistance and the guy came across, fiddled around and pushed the power button off. Greta, as in theses internet cafes when you shut down it clears the ocuments and desktop. Hence lost the bloody lot and I was not a happy bunny. Niether was Bev who asked for our money back (principle not cost) and matey boy was obviously unwilling, and gave no apology, but it was bobvious his girlfriend understood why Bev was annoyed, and another customer explained and he still was all deeaf ears. These things happen even at work, but losing all the typing from half an hour deserved an apology and things almost turned ugly. Anyway we left and poor old Nik followed shortly after. We've had some poor internet cafe's but generally they are run by really nice helpful folk, in fact in Belgrano I think we were their star clients, almost on name terms. Anyway that was that, but bloody annoying for the work lost, and probably not regained here now.

Yet again we managed to find a nearby restuarant that was empty when we arrive...well who eats as early as 9pm really ? but was heaving by time we left meaning it must be popular with the locals. We were all on pastas or crepes and even with wine the cost was pityful, but the quality certainly not. Nice !

Monday 28th November

Mendoza around

Mileage - 40 kms

Well it was a poor nights kip due to heat, and we all concur we don't like cities (while we have the bikes) so decided to split city and try outside.

Spent too long trying to find somewhere ideal, when really the first 'cabaña' we checked out was excellent, we retururned here after 2hrs fruitless searching...we don't learn ! Nice place family run with pool and two levels and proper kitchen, fridge, etc. Also has internet - guess their PC, so hopefully sent this and pics. Still frustrated about the loss of yestrdays work, bloody annoying.

Hope to send this off tonight and a few piccies. Nice to have the camera back in action but I'm now completely paranoid about dust. I wanted to take a picture from the end of out street, nearer the Andes, but the cloud has built and they're obscured. Lets hope they don't stay like that or we'll be for a very dissappointing ride on one of the Andes most dramatic (book) roads !