(Sorry no photos)
Arriving in the Mendoza bus station we were immediately accosted by someone offering ‘cambio blu’ this is the informal exchange of currency. We were surprised it was done so openly. The Government has pegged the Argentinian pesos at 10:1 to the US dollar. We were able to exchange for 15:1. We did however later find that the rate went down if you had small dollar bills.

On leaving the bus station we passed through suburbs trying to avoid the main roads. Most middle class habitation was of bungalow construction with coppi tile roofs. Each bungalow had a metal cage with a stand in the front for the rubbish. There were also deep drainage ditches In front of the houses. Dangerous for anyone returning home at night after one too many beers. Rob said he had read that they were for irrigating the trees, which seemed to line every street. Bungalows in less well-off areas have roofs constructed of wooden planking, covered in roofing felt and then some sort of metallic foil to reflect the sun.

On cycling up one road in a slightly down at heel area the people in two separate cars started waving at us. We eventually stopped. None of them spoke English but we managed to understand that the road was not safe. The one car then escorted us back to the main road and the start of a bike path, which would take us to the camp-site. The second car then turned up. The driver had gone off to find his English-speaking girlfriend, who explained that the campsite was not safe at night. Our things would be stolen. She then directed us to a road with a large number of hotels and hostels. It was a bank holiday so many of them had signs outside saying they were full. Eventually we found one that was full of elderly ladies, who I reckoned would at least go to bed at a reasonable hour. The other bigger bonus was heating. The night time temperature in Mendoza was close to freezing and distinctly unpleasant camping for wimpy Vanessa.

We booked in for two nights as the Monday was still a bank holiday – we wrongly thought there would be no shopping opportunities on that day. We planned to finally start cycling on the Tuesday. The Monday was spent wandering around the centre of Mendoza and studying the food options in the main supermarket, which was open. Rob was horrified at the prices. Many of the products were more expensive than in Europe. Meat and bread are cheap and that is apparently what most Argentinians eat. Dried fruit the staple snack of many cyclists is an expensive luxury.