Two Nights and the Following Day on the Bus

Two Nights and the Following Day on the Bus

Monday, Jan. 16, San Luis, Argentina

the shift keys on this computer stick, so i will be typing e. e. cummings style--all lower-case letters....

well, i am finally where i needed to be to start my new travels through argentina and chile. it took me two nights and the following day on buses to get here, however. i was so dirty and so tired by the time i got into a room (for the first time in 3 days)!

i wrote earlier about the first bus. in fact, i talked about how nice it was. well, the second night put it into perspective. that first bus must now be compared to tourist class on a plane. and my second bus was like business class on a plane. the seats were wide with a wide armrest between them. there were two seats on one side of the aisle and only one on the other to give an idea of how wide they were. the meal was much better, too. it started with an appetizer plate that had 3 swords with cheese and two kinds of salamis on them, a slice of ham and a slice of cheese, a slice of spinach quiche, and two bread rolls. the hot plate that followed had a chicken breast with yellow rice. the drinks looked like the usual soft drinks, so i chose a tall glass that i thought had water in it. instead, it was an alcoholic drink somewhat like a caipirinha. what a surprise to taste that when i expected water! a second drink was offered, and i took a pink-colored softdrink that time.

i compared the two buses above to traveling by plane. what was interesting was the feeling that i was on a plane. i guess it came from the comfort level and from being served food and drinks. anyway, it was so strange to feel the "plane" speeding up and making sharp turns even while dealing with turbulance! i only had these sensations while the food was in front of me.

we arrived in cordobá on time, so i was able to get a ticket for the day bus to san luis. it left at 9:30. this was definitely bus class and not comparable to any form of flying! in fact, it was much like a bus in the u.s. we hadn´t gotten out of cordobá before we had problems. apparently a belt broke. we sat for an hour while the repairmen came and replaced it. then the a/c wasn´t used the rest of the day--apparently to be sure that the engine didn´t overheat again. it was a warm trip. 10 hours after departure, we arrived in san luis. i had traveled 30 1/2 hours on buses over the previous two nights and that day!

i was so tired and dirty when i arrived here yesterday. and it took me 1 1/2 hours to find a hotel. the first place was too fancy and expensive; the guidebook had rated it incorrectly. luckily, i found the tourist office and it was open. they gave me a map and marked the places in the price range i wanted to pay. i went to the nearest one and which was also nicer than most they marked, and it was closed while the owners are on vacation. i went a few blocks away to the next one and didn´t like it; it had no window and no fan and just felt too enclosed. Fortuna tely, the third place worked. it has a window, a ceiling fan, a tv (only with local channels and espn), hot water shower, and costs less than $7 per night.

after checking into the hotel, i went directly to dinner. it was 8 p.m., yet most places were only beginning to open. people eat late here. i found a lomito place and had a BIG lomito sandwich (9 inches in diameter with a slice of steak, a slice of ham, a fried egg, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise. I also drank a dark Quilmes beer (1 liter) with it. The meal was less than $4. i returned to the hotel and slept well and for a total of 10 hours. the air was cool and fresh, so i was quite comfortable.

san luis is a clean, nice town of only about 150,000 people. i am exploring the city today. most of the things to do here are outside of town and require private transportation. i could get to an old mine and a couple of towns by bus, but it isn´t really interesting enough to me for me to make the effort. i want to relax and enjoy the city today. i will also see if i can get a bus to the next place i want to go (san rafael) without having to go through mendoza. i´m right on the edge of the wine district here, and will be in it in both of those towns. i will leave for one of them tomorrow.

well, that should bring you up to date. you can see that i am typing more. the pain i had the first couple of times i tried to type has mos tly gone away. my thumb continues to hit the space bar, but i have tried to go back and delete all those extra spaces. today is one week from when i had the surgery. that means i have 3-5 weeks to go before all of this will be in the past and there will be no more cast on my hand. that doesn´t sound like much time at all!