would like two tickets to Uspallata)
Bus counter lady: ¿Que?
Us: "Quisiero dos boletos para 'oospayata'" (I would like two tickets to Uspallata)
Bus counter lady: ¿Que? ¿Donde?
Us: "Oospayata"? (Uspallata -hurriedly consulting phrase book)
Bus counter lady: ¿"Oospayata"?
Us: ¿Si?
Bus counter lady: ¿"Oospayata"?
Us: *Showing guide book and pointing*
Bus counter lady: Ah, si! Upashaata! Si!
Us: Huh?! But but but, it's spelt Us-pa-lla-ta. Double l pronounced "y" like we thought, no? No? Ok. Double l pronounced "sh" then. And what about that s? Swallow it?! Alright!
Our quick education in the Argentine accent was at the bus stop in Mendoza. We were fumbling around trying to buy tickets to a little valley town in the Andes called Uspallata. The bus folks didn't seem to understand what we were saying until we showed them the name written down. Then it dawned on us that we were a bit off! We came away with slightly bruised egos since we thought our Portuguese and Spanish was now passable enough to at least buy tickets. But we proceeded to have a very amusing time by randomly shouting out Andehmar (Andesmar) and shaama (llama) and Ahtor (Astor) Piazzola!
Soon all confusion was sorted out and we had two tickets for a bus early the next morning to Uspallata, and another bus from there on to Puente del Inca ("Bridge of the Incas") and back. The ticket operator assured us that the only bus back left at 7:30 pm. We shrugged, it didn't really matter to us what time we came back. Little did we know ...
As soon as the bus door opened at Puente del Inca, the loud wind whipped inside and chilled every bone in every living things there was.
It was freezing cold. And loud. And hard to concentrate. The bridge itself is a marvelous thing, naturally carved out of rock, with a sulphur hot spring beneath it. Beneath the stone formation is a little spa which had to be abandoned due to structural instability. Abandoned train lines stretch into the distance adding to the lonely and desolate landscape. Snow-capped peaks tower above, shorn of trees and often even grass, leaving dry and dusty slopes with jagged rock formations. Unfortunately the bone-chilling wind soon caught up with us and we proceeded to have some hot coffee and sandwiches. Indoors!
After a brief pause, we made inquiries as to how far we would have to go to get a glimpse of
Aconcagua - the highest peak in the Americas. Discovering that Aconcagua National Park was only three kilometers away, we started off for it, throwing on whatever warm clothes we had with us and braving the still biting wind. Fortunately at least the sky was clear and the sun was out, otherwise it could have been worse! We made slow progress towards the park, stopping often to admire the landscape and click photographs. The base of the park itself has a little loop leading to a viewpoint offering breath-taking panoramic views of the range around Aconcagua. The top of the big one itself was obscured by clouds but that made the scene no less stunning, and this was just the start of our time in the Andes. We were thrilled!
Quickly though, there was a dampener on our elation. Just as we were about to make our way back to Puente del Inca we saw a bus from our company whizz by around 5:30. We were a little bewildered because they had assured us that there were no buses back till 7:30! And we were too far away to flag it down. Well, we thought, maybe it's going somewhere else and continued trudging back to Puente. We reached to find almost everything shut! There was hardly a place to sit indoors and the sun was setting with no let up in the wind, making it even colder than before. There was no response at the one hostel around and the only cafe was winding up. We finally found an old fellow whose living room also served as a restaurant (or was that just his two little dining tables?!). It seemed shut but he invited us in and offered us a pizza, which is all he had. We were ravenous and dug in. We broke open a bottle of wine that we happened to have on us, and the meal wasn't too bad! There was also a television blaring an old Argentine movie, with what seemed to be gaucho-like characters. It was reminiscent of 1970s Bollywood and was about a downtrodden guy and a landowner with some sort of romance thrown in. Very melodramatic! Even though we didn't understand a word it was thoroughly enjoyable.
Our bus finally arrived and we gratefully clambered in, out of the cold, dozing all the way to Mendoza after a full and rewarding day.
(P.S. The rest of our photographs from Mendoza are here)
No comments:
Post a Comment