What a difference a day makes,

What a difference a day makes,


After my tough couple of days I decided a full days rest off the bike was needed, I booked into a hotel in San Antonio Oeste. It’s a small town and I enjoyed just sitting in cafes drinking coffee and watching the world go by, I had a nice lunch and went to the supermarket my first though was, how many complaints would Tesco get if they played music this loud? I enjoyed walking round the supermarket and just seeing the differences, I got a few supplies and a wooden spoon. On the way back to the hotel I spotted a bike shop I couldn't believe I had missed it earlier, that night I went through my kit again (by the way I will do another kit list of what stayed on my next rest day). I couldn't bring myself to get rid of my chain set I'm going to need it at some point. I decided my fleece liner would go it only cost £20 and I could get another one shipped out. The next morning I went to the bike shop and got a full service on my gears and everything oiled up, I then got 12 litres of water, I wasn't going to run out, the wheels might collapse but I wasn't going to run out of water. I chomped through the miles and camped just before Sierra Grande, the next day the scenery changed it was rolling ground and hills it was stunning. It was great to be climbing again buoyed on by this I stormed down to Puerto Madryn. I had two punchers today that's 4 in total now, it’s the plants every single one has spikes.

On the way down at about 2pm I saw a restaurant by the side of the road I wasn't sure if it was open I decided to go and have a look, to say the building needed decorating would be kind it looked like it was about to fall down. I went in, there were quite a lot of people in their eating I went and took a seat at the window so I could keep an eye on my bike. An old man stooped over, shuffled up to the table, I asked for a menu in Spanish, he gave me a blank look I resorted to signs I pointed to the people next to me eating and motioned I wanted the same. He understood I had ordered something, he cleared up two tables were people had left both had half full dishes of bread he emptied one into the other and placed it on my table. I was guessing he didn't have a certificate of hygiene hanging in the kitchen. This was a real Argentinian working man’s place to eat. After a while he put an empty plate on my table and shuffled off and came back with a pot I had seen him with before. It dawned on me there was no choice you had one dish, he piled my plate with a mixture of pasta, beef and a few vegetables. I tucked in I couldn't manage it all and paid the pricey sum of £2 for it, as I walked outside I smiled for I knew for certain my leftovers would have gone straight back into that pot.