Reunion in San Luis

Beginning the hard journey back up the country to meet Laura would represent a problem in its own right- not being able to wait that long! We had agreed to meet in a small town called San Luis, that was at the cross roads of her proposed journey and mine, en route to the wine growing area of Mendoza for Asado (or BBQ) with the infamous Argentine steak. Like on the way to Usuaia where I buried my head into a small pocket of Buenos Aires as a portal to Antarctica I did that on the way back as well. At this point I really did not need to start wandering around a city well known for its crime that exists in areas spread out over the city and not in distinct pockets that can be avoided. This would be a disaster in my ultimate aim of reaching Antarctic without problems (which ocurred anyway thanks to the useless Aerolineas airline) and now in reaching Laura for the defined midday on the 10th March in the central plaza of San Luis.  Sometimes you just need to accept that you will miss places and not to try to do everything. Not only did I have no real time to see Buenos Aires properly, but where is the fun in spending a lot of a little budget to the Tango without your girlfriend? Choices. So being able to catch up with an old friend on the way back who happened to be in town for the exact same day as I was, was an opportunity not to be missed. It was great to see Emanuele, one of many friends I have not seen since we left in early September, although I think when I commented "you have changed your hair", his face saying "you should look in the mirror mate!" clearly pointed to the change that I was in the midst of. So a long lunch by the waters edge on a film shoot for Special K and ride in a private car to the bus station was the highlight of my time in Buenos Aires.  Sure, the Soho region was nice to relax in with the sun and I did visit a good restaurant that demonstrated that the Argentine cut "Bife de Chorizo", a kind of serloin with more fat in, was indeed softer and had fantastic flavour.  I just needed to move on. That evening I took the bus west towards Mendoza, the sky blazing red and orange like I have not seen in South America yet. A clearless night that suggests a blazingly hot day tomorrow. I woke at key stops during the night abruptly, disturbed by the lights coming on as they do at key stops. At 6am however I was at San Luis and hunting down an Internet cafe to find out where Laura was staying. I walked into her room at 8:10am just as she was waking up. A grand reunion. We left that hostel quickly (note: Generally many of the Hostelling International hostels are over priced for what you get and are run down in smaller towns) and upgraded to a decent hotel for a night to break and treat Laura for her roughing it style camping effort. We spent that day looking around a sizable and pleasant town of San Luis, visiting the church we were due to meet up outside.

Not in the guidebooks but certainly big enough to be, a nice blend of modern and historical, good looking people. Argentina has plenty of places like this though, those you do not have a bad word to say about it, except that they are more expensive than the dusty small towns in the country. After a night in our massive double bed, swimming pool and sauna (which we didnt actually use) we headed back to the bus station keen to get on to our hugely anticipated Mendoza adventure. Together again. It is strange that you spend 11 months with someone 24 hours a day and get used to their contribution to the travelling effort. You become accustomed to compromising and watching out for someone else. Then when it is gone it is empty, there is a hole.  This is a good feeling as it makes you realise that the other person is integral to your experience and that makes it of value to have your travelling partner- whoever they may be. Being alone is different, you have more freedom of choice, but are less often guided into situations that you would not choose, for good or bad. I always thought I would value travelling alone more as I could push the barriers further, but in retrospect this is not the case. I am put into situations that I would not have had to face before. Facing up to aggresive men flirting with Laura, going down one road instead of another in a city, not taking the risk of drinking in a certain bar. These small scenarios guide your destiny in travelling.  Whether you are alone or with someone I realise is not the point, it is embracing each and every situation and making each work to the full for the most interesting and intense experiences, which is the aim of the majority of traveller we have met. We sat and had a cheap beer next to the station I left just a day ago and finally set off once more into the fading afternoon light towards the west and Mendoza.