Day 58
40,738 – 41,092 354 Miles today (18,392 Miles Overall)
Cayafate, Argentina – Villa Union, Argentina
The bed I slept on felt like it was made out of those little sticks you eat ice cream off of. Luckily this thing didnt break but swayed quite a bit whenever I blinked my eyes. I got up at sunrise and packed up as quietly as I could, missing my tent and all the noise I could make packing up. I hit the road and filled up with some fuel right around the block. I love this feeling. A full tank of fuel, a beautiful morning and a long ride ahead of me.
This morning felt extra lovely. It reminded me of Europe. The smells, the temperature, the vibe of the town. I was really excited and I was even more sad to leave. This town smelled like home in a way and I really wanted to stay but onwards we went. There was something about this morning that was quite different than any other I’ve had this whole trip to sum it up. Most of today was going to be paved roads from what I assumed.
The roads in the morning were absolutely beautiful but slowly turned into long and straight desert roads which were quite boring but I was still having fun with the mountains in the distance. I had about a 14 hour ride today if I was going to make it to Mendoza but who knows if I was going to make it. I had to stop for food. I ended up taking some super twisty roads and I didnt stop too long for photos today because it was mostly highway desert riding and I was on a mission to get to Mendoza. I saw a few guys riding road bikes pedaling down the desert roads and pulled over to ask them if they needed any water or anything. The guy was Dutch. We chatted for a bit while riding next to each other. It was quite a funny scene. He was talking shit about how Serbia lost the soccer game the day before. Bastard! hah
I stopped at a small town for fuel and didn’t see anywhere good to eat and kept on riding. Eventually I opened up the Ioverlander app and noticed there were some desert swimming holes coming up ahead. I parked in the dirt lot and saw a red car parked. I made my way down to the swimming holes and saw a tent and some sleeping bags. Looks like the people in the red car were camping there with a little baby. I went up to the second swimming hole and supposedly they got bigger as you go up but I didn’t want anyone stealing stuff from my bike right next to the road. I went for a swim for about 15 minutes and washed my clothes I’ve been wearing for the last three days that were pretty stinky. I set up my phone on a timer to take a picture of me in the water and out came this woman from the bushes with her kid over her shoulders. I said hi and she was putting the baby to sleep under the tent. I made my way back to the bike and was changing next to the river and she came up to me and told me that if I go up like 3-4 swimming holes the last one has a 5 meter waterfall and it’s beautiful. I told her I couldn’t because of the bike. I went back to the bike to pack up and realized I lost a sock so I went back down and met her husband. We chatted for a minute. They were from Patagonia and said they’ve been camping there for a few days and haven’t seen a single person. I told them how jealous I was of them and I made my way back to the bike as I heard her jumping off the 10′ wall into the swimming hole.
I wish I could camp here for a week. The water was so cold and clear it was perfect. I hope to come back here one day. Onwards I kept riding down the twisty roads. These roads were freshly paved and beautiful. So many turns, red desert rocks surrounding it, huge walls, cactus everywhere, rivers flowing through the valleys. This place is fucking heaven guys. I decided it was time to stop for food since I’m probably gonna pull into Mendoza at night time anyway. I found a small town coming up an hour after the swimming hole. I pulled into this restaurant which had two big adventure bikes out front. I sat down maybe 15′ from the riders and we started chatting. A few minutes later I was sitting with them.
My main question I had for Pinchon (Luis) was about the Argentinian steak I keep hearing about. He pointed to Bif De Chorizo. I ordered one. We were chatting about our trips we were taking and our bikes and how much of a POS my bike is. hah
Pinchon and Fanbian were from northern Argentina and were doing yet another big bike trip from Northern Argentina to Ushuaia and were not on their way back up north to go home. My steak came and fucking christ was I happy I finally found out what I needed to order to try this delicious thick Argentinian steak. I asked them where they were staying and Pinchon said up the block and for me it’s cheap. I asked him how much and it was 40,000 Pesos which is way out of my price range. I found a hotel up the block for 700 pesos if I was going to stay. After a few minutes he gave me his cell phone and told me to type in my passport number and my name for the hotel he’s staying at. I said no way man I can’t stay there tis too expensive. he replied with you’re my guest it’s on me. The bill came and Pinchon paid for my lunch and Fabians. I can’t believe it. I eventually typed in my info and we were on our way to the hotel.
I can’t believe my luck. This stranger meets me and is treating me to this expensive as hell hotel and food. What is my life? And why is this man being so sweet? I pulled into the hotel room and I couldn’t believe what i’m seeing. This is one of the nicest and most expensive hotels I’ve ever stayed at in my life. Huge property, vineyard on it, pool, everything is here. I got handed a room key and couldn’t believe how nice this place was. I took a shower after I jumped in the pool and rushed out to the fancy area where everyone hangs out to watch the Argentina vs Australia soccer game. We chatted a bit here and there about bikes and life. They called a bunch of friends to tell me what mechanic to go to in Mendoza which turned out I was already going to the best guy there. Pinchon slowly gave me all of his routes to take on my way south. He has done this trip many times in his life and I was getting the key secret routes to take through Argentina. Did I mention my luck?
After the game we went out to the pool and we chatted about all kinds of stuff. He kept giving me routes to take south and fuck was I happy! Pinchon is such a sweetheart. I worked on my blog after we all cleaned up in our hotel rooms while Fabian showered. Pinchon came out and we bullshitted some more. It was so nice actually hanging out with a local out here because I haven’t had that yet on this trip. He told me about how he made it this far and his story was beautiful. He’s 47 years young. When he was younger he went to Buenos Aires and found out about the credit card machine for how people pay for gas, food, clothes in the 90’s. He went back up north to his home and ended up running the northern part of the country with the credit card machine. He started to go to gas stations, grocery stores, clothing stores, and all kinds of stores trying to tell them about this new product and how people will be paying for things soon with credit cards and they needed this to accept payments. Fast forward to 2022 and he’s a very successful man.
We all got dinner, I had a thick thick typical steak and I was loving every single bite of it. Ugh was it good. We had such a good time and they are such great company. I asked him how he got into motorcycles. He told me he was young and broke and I think he was just starting the credit card company. His father passed away and he needed money to cover his fathers debt and pay for the funeral costs. He ended up selling his car and got a small scooter. On his way to the funeral home he had the biggest smile on my face. He said to himself, “Why the fuck am I smiling so much and so happy while im riding to my fathers funeral?”
IT’S THE SCOOTER! I FEEL ALIVE AND THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER HE SAID! Something clicked in his head and he and all of his friends slowly got motorcycles and they fucking loved it. I think most people feel this way, we feel alive, free, just out there. It’s brilliant. So simple yet so powerful. He figured it out pretty early on and now it’s his passion. He has done a few trips all over Argentina every year since he was young as well as around other parts of the world. I like this guy.
We chatted about Argentina and the lifestyle here, politics, and so many more things. He taught me alot. I told him he better come visit me in NY one day and he has an apartment to stay at with his own personal tour guide and a motorcycle he can use while he’s there. I hope he and his Gf come visit to repay him for what he has done for me today! We called it a night around midnight and decided we would wake up at 6 to meet in the parking lot at 7 to say bye to each other.
