Monday, March 18th: We arrived in Mendoza in the
early evening and went to the BMW shop to introduce ourselves. After an hour of chatting
with the shop guys we ended up looking for a place to stay later than we wanted, and it
was now after dark. A guy on the street near the center of town spotted us as tourists and
offered to help us. He showed us a brochure of a beautiful hotel for $40/pesos (less then
US$20). We followed him to the hotel, where the room was not the same as the color
brochure. We told him we wanted something better, and cheaper. He managed to find us a
great 2-bedroom apartment on the 13th floor of the tallest building in Mendoza,
smack dab in the middle of the city for $35/pesos a night (US$14).
Tuesday, March 19th: Went out to investigate the language schools and found
a good one which charged us $440/pesos (US$175) for the two of us for 20 hours.
That night, while on our way to check out the shopping mall, we met a guy on an older
BMW R bike. He was on his way to a weekly BMW club meeting/asado dinner. He invited us to
come along and meet the members. I didnt go because I was pretty tired but Chris
went. The club is basically for older BMWs and the local mechanic, Carlos was there.
He invited Chris to stop by his shop the next day to have a look at some of our problems.
Wednesday, March 20th: Chris went to the shop and found a Belgian guy there
named Marco who had a R100GS with sidecar and a dog. Since Marco didnt speak
English, and Chris didnt speak French/Flemish, they both communicated to each other
in basic Spanish.
Thursday, March 21st: We confirmed our class schedule at the language
institute, and met with our teacher Adriana. We would start classes the following day, 2
hours a day for 10 days.
Later in the day Chris returned to Carlos shop. Just before dark, Marcos
friend Renau arrived on a bicycle and the two of them left, Marco on foot. Chris left a
few minutes later on his bike. Around the next block, Chris saw in the dim light, a few
guys pushing each other and he thought nothing of it---like they were drinking or playing.
Then he recognized one of the guys as Marco, and then he saw punches thrown. He quickly
drove up to the scene, honked his horn and yelled at the guys. Marco was being mugged, and
when the group saw Chris, they thought he was the police and quickly scattered. It turned
out that the guys first went after Renaus bicycle, but he managed to peddle away.
They then turned on Marco and were trying to steal his bum-bag. It was 3 vs 1, and Marco
was doing rather well when Chris arrived, but Marco later confessed he never saw the third
guy.
Friday, March 22nd: Attended our first Spanish (Castallano) class. We sat in
a small classroom with a chalkboard and small wooden school desks chair with a
writing plank attached. Adriana was terrific, and we left the class feeling great about
our decision to stay.
Later in the day, Chris returned to Carlos shop to check on Marco. He was fine
and his bike was getting back into one piece. He would be leaving the following morning.
At the shop was another Belgium guy named Paul, who we had met in Bariloche, and he later
met other bikers as well. Paul had picked up a bike in Santiago and was now no longer
backpacking around South America.
In the evening, while Chris was walking with our landlady, they witnessed an attempted
mugging on the street in front of our apartment building. We are convinced now that the
quality of life is starting to get bad here because of the economic situation.
Sunday, March 24th: Went to meet Paul at his hostel, but he was out. Instead
we met Herbert, a German biker we met in Futaleufú back in January. He spent the previous
week with our friend Annet, and said she would be arriving in Mendoza shortly.
Monday, March 25th: Annet arrives and we have a nice catching-up dinner
together. She decides also to take Spanish classes while waiting for her boyfriend to
arrive in Mendoza on the 6th of April.
Tuesday, March 26th: Met Jeremy from New Zealand after our class and had
lunch together. Hes on a highly modified F650 Dakar and traveling around South
America. We spotted his bike at a hostel in town and left our card for him. After Jeremy
leaves in the afternoon Chris, Annet and I went for ride to test out my bike. About 35
kilometers out of town we see a sign for an enduro park about 5 kilometers down a dirt
road and take it. About 300 meters from the park, Chris shock breaks again while he
has Annet on the back. No, Annet is not a large woman! Annet and I had to hitchhike back
to town while Chris took my bike. Alex and Steffi (who we met in the hostel in Puerto
Natales, Chile in February) arrive.
Wednesday, March 27th: Chris goes out with a Police tow-truck to get his
bike. The Germans made dinner at our place and we have an interesting night catching
up on each others travels.