Motorbike RTW: Argentina: Tea Time in Mendoza

Tea seems to be the favoured refreshment here. Ordering tea means a presentation of hot water and a selection of teabags in a stylised box. We drink it 'sin leche, sin chuker'. There are lots of flavours to choose from all in very prettily decorated packets. On this long day getting here we were really looking forward to a cup of tea.

On one of our excursions into a previous town we had purchased a mini pan/grill combo set for easy bbq. Today bought some burgers en route to finding a campsite. Our eventual arrival at camping 'el manguello' in Mendoza was too late for a bbq, so we chose the primus burner option to cook our burger supper. Shortly after putting the burgers and mini pan on top of our 45year old petrol fuelled primus, it blew it's safety valve with a big flash of flame, a bit like an oil rig fire. B poured a bottle of water over the flames after rescuing the burgers which were cooked to perfection. We assume that the 120 cms square base of the grill pan directed too much heat back down onto the stove, causing the safety valve to activate. With no facilities to boil water, of which we now didn’t even have any, no tea.

Thursday 8th February was spent riding around the beautiful cool tree lined avenues of Mendoza looking for a replacement cooker. The supermarket, Coto, had just the thing: a bigger gas platform and screw on backpacker canisters. B had another cigar and coffee with his new mate in town. We bought 4 x T-bones for one euro each for another go at a bbq and afternoon tea. The afternoon was lazed away swimming and sleeping under cool shady trees on lush green grass. At 6pm, sundowner time came ready for a cup of tea and the fitting on the ring does not match with the screw on the canister. We had already put the 'instant incinerator' on the concrete bbq stand. (This a cardboard box filled with charcoal with a 100 x100mm base made out of tomato box timber/kindling. There is a small air vent at the base through which the kindling is lit. Brilliant).

Desperate for a cup of tea, we left the burning box and rode 8kms back to Coto to get an exchange or refund. They could not match the parts and willingly gave us a refund. By the time we got back to camp the fire was perfect for our T bone supper. We used our collapsible silicone kettle with the stainless base directly on the fire to boil water and after filling the flask ready for early morning tea, we finally had our afternoon tea at 10pm.

On Friday we Googled for any specialist campshops in the area and rode back into the beautiful city of Mendoza, where there was a cluster of such shops opposite a Carrefour Hypermarket. Success. We chose a neat screw type gas canister with even neater selfstarting flash ignitor on a universal ring. It was quite expensive, but absolutely necessary. We have thought about sending 5kgs of excess luggage back to France and found a DHL. The expense outweighed the value of the goods. The plan now is to re-arrange the weight distribution on the bike by packing the heavier stuff lower down. We enjoy another lazy afternoon swimming and sleeping on lush green grass under shady trees. Even the dogs have their own separate splash pool which they dip in and enjoy at their leisure. We love it here so much we paid to stay another day. It was just as well because when we went to boil the kettle for afternoon tea, the electronic ignitor on the new cooker didn't work. B found his cigar lighter to rescue tea-time. The shops here are open from 9 to 13h00 then its SIESTA. It is now Saturday and we are supposed to be leaving. Ho-hum, we ride back into the beautiful city of Mendoza to exchange or refund this super-duper cooker. We found the Carrefour again with its motorcycle lockup cage, parked, locked up and took ourselves on a walk around Mendoza. We walked past the campshop for a successful exchange (yes we tested the ignitor starter in the shop) and many other fabulous shops displaying quality leather capes, cloaks and llama ponchos. We spent millions with our eyes and finally bought a ROUTE 40 sticker for 30pesos to put on the front mudguard. Our walk took us through a promenade filled with cafes and music. How could we not resist stopping for a beer and salad. On the HU (horizons unlimited) website it was suggested that a few copies of all documents kept separately in plastic pouch was a good border-crossing idea so that’s what we did. On our walk around all the blocks we noticed the numbers in groups of 100 per block. By knowing the number of your destination you can work out how many blocks away it is. At the crossroads, the corners of the buildings are cut off at 45 degrees to allow maximum visibility for oncoming traffic, whatever the direction. This town planner deserves an A*.

While the town had its SIESTA we worked. B washed the grease/dust off the bike with pretty useless engine cleaner and adjusted the chain. The Scott oiler works well and B dripped engine oil on the tools which had been submerged on river crossings. The toolkit was showing signs of rust. I spent the afternoon weighing and comparing, separating heavy and light, useful and useless stuff. By teatime we are packed. Our young neighbours, the chef and the tourism student, shared their bbq T-bone with us, cooked the Argentinian way - well done.

Four fabulous days, tea time sorted, and 100kms ride around and about the beautiful tree-lined avenues of Mendoza. One more sleep here and we depart tomorrow, Sunday.