Now let’s start with where I left off, though so much has
happened since then, it’s difficult to know where to go with this BLOG entry,
whilst keeping it brief!
I told you about the “stormer” of a day at the vineyard!
Well, it turns out we were very lucky to get back from the vineyards
alive!!!When we left O Fournier vineyard in really high winds, which were
blinding, we sat stationary in a queue of traffic on the road back to
Mendoza when this raging fire
was coming across the fields from the left of us. Turning was no easy feat
either and the taxi driver did a good job of keeping us alive, though he was a
bit drama queenish, which was doing nothing for Silvano’s nerves. He kept
shouting “Oh my god, oh my god”.
The Zonda wind was
one of the most amazing things I have seen. The wind which come’s whipping over
the
Andes at over 90km an hour had you gasping
for air. It was like standing in front of a hair dryer, with no way of escaping
the heat. The temperature was 28 degrees! Now I was rather hoping I’d have to
spend the night at the Angelica Zapatta winery, but the taxi driver took some
back roads and got us out of the fire. Turns out there were a few people killed
and a farm of lamas perished in the flames.
Now I know what you are thinking, if it isn’t irresponsible
enough to go travelling around the South America leaving your loved ones
behind, bringing your loved one out to spend a day in a raging zonda wind,
fires and crashing power cables and scaffolding is definitely irresponsible.
We got back to the hotel and felt very fortunate to have
escaped a pretty horrendous event... the worst Zonda wind in 30 years. Can’t
imagine that 2009 will be a good year for wine from the Uco Valle, if indeed
there are any vines left, but then, what I know about producing wine, you could
write on a postage stamp. Though I know a lot more now...... I know what I
like...Luca Malbec 2006, Salentien Gran Reserva to name but two!!!!!!
After our stay at the Boutique Hotel Villagio, and being
looked after by the ever so friendly Fredirico, we were due to leave when we
were told that the pass was closed and that it would be all day and possibly
the next day. I had to go back and replace the bus ticket. Fortunately we’d
given ourselves a bit of leeway so that Silvano wouldn’t miss her flight.... or
so we thought! Turns out the storms following the Zonda wind caused complete
chaos and closed the crossing for twelve days. The longest closure for a very
long time. I was assured that the bus would be going the next day, so we walked
back into town and to make up for the disappointment of not getting back to
Santiago- (to do some shopping), I booked a room at one of the top floors in
the Sheraton, Mendoza.
The next day, having been advised by the hotel that the
border crossing was still closed I went back to the bus station the next day to
get my money back and to book a flight, thinking we’d get back one way or
another. Well, that wasn’t going to happen either. There were no available
seats on any plane. I looked at the possibility of flying to
Temuco
and getting a bus/taxi back to
Santiago,
but it was all to no avail. It became clear that Silvano would not be getting
her flight back to
UK.
“How much more irresponsible can you get?”, I hear you say. Tortuous flight
out, raging fires and tornado winds, no flight back and to make matters worse,
there were no available seats until the 31 August. Not a great way for her to
start her new job; Stranded in
Mendoza!
Now there could be worse places to be stranded and we were
in the Sheraton, which was luxurious, but, for me, complete torture....air
conditioned rooms, fresh Egyptian cotton sheets, bath with hot water, room
service on demand. Now I mean this when I say that the hotel was torture.
Fortunately the company was great, albiet little panic stricken! It took us
four days of calls from the hotel (at a not insignificant price) to get an
alternative flight to the
UK
and though we couldn’t get a flight to
Scotland,
Iberia
managed to get her back to London Heathrow. She managed to get a flight to
Edinburgh by other means.
So I’m back in
Santiago
and waiting on bike to be fitted with new brakes and gear cables. I have taken
the bus journey to
Vina Del Mar
to enjoy the experience of the Pacific, before finding a way over the mountain
with my bike.Ahh the Pacific! The waves
even sound better than the
Atlantic. I swear
...... you can even hear them sing to you!
The police, tourist police and everyone in authority,
(including officina de Tourismo
Chile)
I have spoken to have told me I won’t be allowed to travel through the tunnels
on the way over the
Andes with my bike. Anyone
out there that has done it, please let me know how!The other challenge is the snow, but then
I’ve faced that before!!
Will get back with some news later, hopefully from the
Argentinian side. Meantime, enjoy some of my pics of the sun setting over the
Pacific, from the beautiful
Vina del
Mar.
