Marcelo P. et sa femme Maria Teresa viennent nous chercher à 10 h 30 en voiture. Tous les quatre nous allons vers l’ouest, vers les pré- Andes. D’abord Marcelo essaye plusieurs stations services pour prendre du diesel. Apparemment il y a un problème de ravitaillement et certaines stations n’en ont pas. Il trouve une station mais il y a la queue.
Puis nous sortons de la ville. Assez rapidement la route devient presque vide, peu de circulation. Il faut dire que c’est maintenant la fin de la matinée et les gens qui vont à la campagne sont déjà partis. Nous sommes surpris de voir les bas-côtés assez verts. Mais tous les deux nous affirment que ce n’est pas normal. L’été a été plus pluvieux que normal. Ils n’ont jamais vu de l’herbe verte le long de la route comme maintenant. D'habitude c’est complètement grillé à cette époque de l’année.
Une vieille ligne de chemin de fer longe la route mais elle est abandonnée. A un endroit appelé Matagusanos (textuellement: tue vers, comme dans vers de terre) les ruines d’une station sont tout ce qui reste d’un arrêt. Nous montons et passons un col à 2600 m. Paysages grandioses, les Andes enneigées au loin, un lac asséché dans une vallée. Très peu de végétation. Puis nous redescendons un peu mais restons au dessus de 2000 m. Nous nous arrêtons dans un village, Rodeo. Une grande finca (exploitation agricole) la Finca del Martillo, est ouverte au public et a même un restaurant. Nous déjeunons donc, il est 4 h. Au menu des truites produites sur place, ils ont un peu de pisciculture et de la viande de « llama » (lama)! Marcelo et Maria Teresa partagent une truite et nous, Jens et moi nous partageons un plat de lama. On peut partager une part, en payant 15 pesos de plus. Et c’est bien assez surtout qu’on nous apporte des entrées variées et abondantes (olives noires et vertes, tomates séchées, aubergines au vinaigre, petits cubes de fromage …) servies avec du bon pain fait maison. Le lama, ce n’est pas la grande expérience culinaire.
Puis nous allons nous promener dans la finca. Ils ont des tomates, des olives, de la vigne, des aubergines, du maïs et… des framboises. Les framboises sont inattendues parce qu’elles ne poussent pas à San Juan, trop chaud. Mais ici, à 2000 m, c’est beaucoup plus frais. On voit aussi des plantations de peupliers, très hauts. Des ruches sont apparemment vides. Sur des grands plateaux des tomates, des aubergines et des prunes sont mises à sécher au soleil. Et le clou de la visite: les lamas et les guanacos.
Ensuite nous continuons vers un barrage qui s’appelle Cuesta del Viento parce qu’il souffle toutes les après-midi un vent fort. Le lac est très fréquenté par les windsurfs.
Nous commençons à revenir vers San Juan par une autre route. Après le barrage, la route est très sinueuse. Une voiture devant nous ne va pas vite et Marcelo veut la doubler. On reste derrière un bout de temps et on a le temps de lire sa plaque d’immatriculation: C’est une voiture immatriculée en Allemagne. Ici! Nous nous arrêtons à San Jose de Jachal pour manger une glace. Et après la route est droite, droite. Nous doublons des grands camions marqués « Oro de San Juan », des camions des mines d’or qui transportent du matériel.
Nous arrivons à San Juan à 7 h 30. Un très beau tour. Les paysages nous semblent exotiques, le peu de monde, les distances, la sécheresse, la pauvreté à certains endroits, la grandeur des montagnes, c’est vraiment différent de l’Europe.
Nous nous reposons un peu et repartons en vélo, pour aller diner chez Rodolfo et sa femme Olga. Marcelo M. et sa femme Fabiana sont invités aussi. Nous dinons dehors, il fait encore chaud. Rodolfo a fait un grill avec de la bonne viande. Le dessert, des pommes au four avec de la glace à la vanille, termine bien le repas. La discussion en vient à la police. Dans certaines provinces, la police, mal payée, est corrompue. Mais dans d’autres, elle ne l’est pas et est, vue par nos amis argentins, sévère, en particulier à Córdoba. Rodolfo nous a raconté qu’un jour, arrêté par un policier qui lui demandait sa profession, il a répondu: Juge. Le policier l’a promptement laissé repartir.
Très bonne soirée et retour en vélo à 1 h 30 du matin. Encore beaucoup de circulation sur la Libertador.
Marcelo P. and his wife Maria Teresa come to get us at 10.30 am by car. The four of us are heading west towards the pre-Andes. First Marcelo tries several gas stations to buy diesel. Apparently there is a problem of refueling the stations and some do not have diesel. He finds a station, but there is a queue.
We leave the city. Rather quickly the road becomes almost empty, little traffic. It must be said that by now it is late morning and people who go to the countryside are already gone. We are surprised to see the sides of the road fairly green. But they both say that it is not normal. The summer was wetter than normal. They have never seen green grass along the road as now at this time of the year. Usually it is completely dry in March.
An old railway line runs along the road but it is abandoned. At a place called Matagusanos (literally: killworms) the ruins of a station are all that remains of a stop on the railways line. The road climbs and we come to a pass at 2600 m. Beautiful landscapes, snow-capped Andes in the distance, a dry lake in a valley. Very little vegetation. Then we go down a little but remain above 2000 m. We stop in a village, Rodeo. A large finca (farm), la Finca del Martillo, is open to the public and even has a restaurant. We have lunch then, it is 4 pm. On the menu: locally produced trout, they have some pools with fish and “llama” (lama) meat! Marcelo and Maria Teresa share a trout, Jens and I share a dish of lama. We can share one serving, paying 15 pesos more. And it is enough, specially as they serve various starters (black and green olives, dried tomatoes, pickled eggplant, cheese cubes ...) served with plenty of good homemade bread. The lama is not a great dining experience.
Then we walk through the finca. They have tomatoes, olives, grapes, eggplants, corn and raspberries .... Raspberries are unexpected because they do not grow in San Juan, it is too hot. But here, at 2000 m it is much cooler. We also see plantations of poplars, very high. Some hives are apparently empty. On large trays tomatoes, eggplant and plums are driing in the sun. And the highlight of the visit: lamas and guanacos.
Then we continue towards a dam, called Cuesta del Viento because a strong wind is blowing every afternoon. The lake is popular with windsurfers.
We start then our return toward San Juan by another route. After the dam, the road is very curvy. A car ahead of us does not go very fast and Marcelo wants to pass it. We stay behind for a while and we have time to read its license plate: this car is registered in Germany. Here! We stop in San Jose de Jachal to eat ice cream. And after that the road is straight, straight. We pass several trucks marked "Oro de San Juan”, trucks from the gold mines that carry equipment.
We arrive in San Juan at 7 am 30. A very nice tour. The landscapes seem exotic, the few people living in the countryside, the long distances, the drought, poverty in some places, the height of the mountains, it's really different from Europe.
We rest a little and leave on bike, we are invited to dinner by Rodolfo and his wife Olga. Marcelo M. and Fabiana, his wife are also invited. We dine out in the garden, it is still warm. Rodolfo grills good meat. The dessert of baked apples with vanilla ice cream finishes the meal on a nice note. At one moment the discussion turns to the police. In some provinces, the police, poorly paid, is corrupt. But in others it is not and is seen by our friends from Argentina as severe, especially in Córdoba. Rodolfo told us that one day, he was stopped by a policeman who asked his profession. He answered: Judge. The officer promptly let him go.
Very good evening and return by bike at 1.30 am. Still a lot of traffic on Libertador.
We leave the city. Rather quickly the road becomes almost empty, little traffic. It must be said that by now it is late morning and people who go to the countryside are already gone. We are surprised to see the sides of the road fairly green. But they both say that it is not normal. The summer was wetter than normal. They have never seen green grass along the road as now at this time of the year. Usually it is completely dry in March.
An old railway line runs along the road but it is abandoned. At a place called Matagusanos (literally: killworms) the ruins of a station are all that remains of a stop on the railways line. The road climbs and we come to a pass at 2600 m. Beautiful landscapes, snow-capped Andes in the distance, a dry lake in a valley. Very little vegetation. Then we go down a little but remain above 2000 m. We stop in a village, Rodeo. A large finca (farm), la Finca del Martillo, is open to the public and even has a restaurant. We have lunch then, it is 4 pm. On the menu: locally produced trout, they have some pools with fish and “llama” (lama) meat! Marcelo and Maria Teresa share a trout, Jens and I share a dish of lama. We can share one serving, paying 15 pesos more. And it is enough, specially as they serve various starters (black and green olives, dried tomatoes, pickled eggplant, cheese cubes ...) served with plenty of good homemade bread. The lama is not a great dining experience.
Then we walk through the finca. They have tomatoes, olives, grapes, eggplants, corn and raspberries .... Raspberries are unexpected because they do not grow in San Juan, it is too hot. But here, at 2000 m it is much cooler. We also see plantations of poplars, very high. Some hives are apparently empty. On large trays tomatoes, eggplant and plums are driing in the sun. And the highlight of the visit: lamas and guanacos.
Then we continue towards a dam, called Cuesta del Viento because a strong wind is blowing every afternoon. The lake is popular with windsurfers.
We start then our return toward San Juan by another route. After the dam, the road is very curvy. A car ahead of us does not go very fast and Marcelo wants to pass it. We stay behind for a while and we have time to read its license plate: this car is registered in Germany. Here! We stop in San Jose de Jachal to eat ice cream. And after that the road is straight, straight. We pass several trucks marked "Oro de San Juan”, trucks from the gold mines that carry equipment.
We arrive in San Juan at 7 am 30. A very nice tour. The landscapes seem exotic, the few people living in the countryside, the long distances, the drought, poverty in some places, the height of the mountains, it's really different from Europe.
We rest a little and leave on bike, we are invited to dinner by Rodolfo and his wife Olga. Marcelo M. and Fabiana, his wife are also invited. We dine out in the garden, it is still warm. Rodolfo grills good meat. The dessert of baked apples with vanilla ice cream finishes the meal on a nice note. At one moment the discussion turns to the police. In some provinces, the police, poorly paid, is corrupt. But in others it is not and is seen by our friends from Argentina as severe, especially in Córdoba. Rodolfo told us that one day, he was stopped by a policeman who asked his profession. He answered: Judge. The officer promptly let him go.
Very good evening and return by bike at 1.30 am. Still a lot of traffic on Libertador.
Jeannette, Maria Teresa, Marcelo, Jens
Le col
The pass
Un petit sanctuaire au col
A little shrine at the pass
Un lac séché
A dry lake
La finca: tomates
Choux, bettes et à gauche lavande
Cabbages, chars, and at left lavander
Prunes et tomates qui sèchent au soleil
Prunes and tomatoes drying in the sun
Lamelles d'aubergines mises à sécher au soleil
Sliced aubergines drying in the sun
Tomates
Framboises
Raspberries
Chemin entre les peupliers
A trail between the poplars
Les lamas
Le lac Cuesta del Viento
The lake Cuesta del Viento
Rodolfo, Olga
Fabiana, Marcelo
Corbeille
Basket
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