Tuesday, 11/14/23: A Quiet but Disappointing Day Following the Conference

Most of the SERVAS conference participants left by Tuesday morning.  However, I had scheduled my return bus trip from Mendoza to Santiago, Chile on Wednesday.  I learned that five of the conference participants were driving to the Villavicencio Thermal Baths an hour northwest of Mendoza on Tuesday.  They had a full car of five but on Monday, I spoke with Roxana Novoa from Peru who was also staying an extra day.  She agreed that sharing a cab up to the baths and spending the day there was a great idea. 


The thermal baths at Villavicencio, Argentina would have been a relaxing setting for the day following the conference. I was bummed that the trip to the baths didn’t work out.  Bad planning on my part, I suppose.    Photo source:  https://www.tripadvisor.es/Attraction_Review-g3364428-d2695261-Reviews-Reserva_Natural_Villavicencio-Las_Heras_Province_of_Mendoza_Cuyo.html#/media-atf/2695261/714917160:p/?albumid=-160&type=0&category=-160

 

When I found Roxana on Tuesday morning, she had changed her mind.  She was burned out from the hectic four-day conference and was going to relax at the Mendoza home of a local SERVAS member.  I didn’t fault her decision but what would I do now?  Today’s busses to Santiago were all full so I couldn’t change my reservation and go back to Chile a day early. 

I checked with the hotel staff about transport to the baths.  After making inquiries, they told me they could find me transportation there but all tickets to the baths for Tuesday were sold out.  Well, shit.  How was I supposed to know that they had a limit on the daily number of visitors?  I was disappointed but resigned myself to a quiet day of writing and walking a bit in the city.  I also went back to the same two eateries I had found the previous day. 




The dry landscape around Mendoza reminded me of parts of Arizona.


Jacarandas and a colorful wall mural along a Mendoza residential street



 


     


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