Argentine Adventures #4: Lost in Mendoza

A bad hostel, walking in circles, and running late for my flight!

My first two nights were pretty good, but sleep was not my friend last night. The hostel (with a 4.7/5 rating on Google and Airbnb) was… well, significantly below my expectations. Felt safe, but not clean. The door squeaked horribly every time I touched it (my poor neighbours!). The mattress was some hard foam. And the pillow was the same that Jacob rested his head on at Bethel.

My room in the dingy hostel

I like to think I’m pretty flexible, but… this was a lot. Plus, I could hear everything from the street below through the window and blinds I couldn’t figure out how to shut. And then, I increasingly felt a sore throat, eep! Perhaps from sharing the mate?—everyone shares straws without washing in between users. I really hope I don’t get hepatitis… but also, I was close to many people, and there was no soap in the bathrooms. It was silly of me not to bring hand sanitiser.

Well, I got 4 or 5 hours of sleep at least.

Mendoza's trees and streets were beautiful!

Walking in circles

Since I never got a proper dinner last night, I was very hungry when I woke up. But the sun didn’t rise until after 8, and most shops don’t open until 10! Anyway, I eventually found myself desayuno (breakfast) at about 8:30. Somewhat accidentally ordered avocado on toast. My Spanish is casi nada (almost nothing) today, and few people in Mendoza seem to speak English.

I wandered around until I remembered my need for a SIM card. After walking up and down the main strip about five times, I decided to go with Claro, the closest option, rather than a cheaper provider that I couldn’t find anywhere. Paid $35AUD for 10GB for 30 days. That’s far more than I need, so probably not the best deal, but it was the only one I could find.

I kept wandering in circles, trying to find the biggest plaza (park). Was too tired and bewildered, so gave up and settled on a smaller park before walking back to my hostel. Bought water for $2000ARS and a banana for $500 (about $3.26AUD total).

Packed up, got to my Uber with plenty of time… or so I thought.

Breakfast. The eggs were fine, but the yoghurt was SO WEIRD.

Have I missed it?

Wandered around—again, I was fairly out of it—and eventually decided that I should buy lunch. Don’t know why this felt so unintuitive. Got the cheapest toasted wrap at a fancy-looking restaurant for about $8,000ARS ($10.44AUD). It took a long time to arrive. When I was waiting, I realised: my plane is leaving, very soon… boarding time is much before take off.

I rushed down to get my boarding pass—and the check-in lady told me my flight was already boarding! Dashed back up through the tiny security and got to the gate—but I couldn’t see the flight! Had it left without me?

I begged strangers for help until I found one who spoke English. He pointed me to another gate through a tiny passageway that had escaped my attention. I ran through and got there just in time to be the last person to board. Ah, thank you, God!! It would have been awful to stuff my Buenos Aires friends around. I don’t want to stay here, especially not in that hostel, and I’m starting to feel quite sick.

Up next: arrival in Buenos Aires, my new home!