So, we are in a different country, right?  And one of the most obvious differences is in bathroom customs.  First off, few flush toilets (and I am only speaking for the ladies’ rooms obviously) come equipped with 1) working flush mechanisms, 2) toilet tissue, and 3) toilet seats.  But hell, what does it matter?  After a few days in the woods, any thing like running, clean water is pretty nifty.  Most Argeninian women carry toilet tissue in their purses, and many seem to carry soap as well.  The bathrooms are generally extremely clean, and there seems to be a small army of women employed to keep them so.  In campgrounds, the few bathrooms available are more or less deserted until after 6:00, or post-siesta, when everyone in the campground is standing in line to take a shower.

Personal grooming is very important here.  I feel a bit ackward, in my bike shorts and jersey, hair clean only because I jumped in the lake a couple of times, covered in dust from the dirt roads.  We are so clearly forigners, but so far that hasn’t earned us any dirty looks or negativity.  Quite the opposite. When we first started out, we didn’t know what to expect, from people along the way or from traffic.  It became clear that traffic was going to be mellow once we were off the major roadways.  Most cars pass us with a couple of quiet, gentle, sweet honks, or thumbs ups, or just big huge grins.  When people stop to talk to us, or when we are in a shop, they all enquire about us-where we’re from, where we’re going, where did I learn my spanish. No one thinks we are crazy for wanting to bike tour in South America.  No one even thinks it’s a bit weird.  Nice change.

Of course, the reason for that became clear as soon as we entered The Tourist Zone- from San Martin to where we are now (Villa Angostura).  We have seen a lot of bike tourists, mostly Argeninian, and met a couple of Europeans as well.  Not to mention the hordes of backpackers that are everywhere.  It’s great.  Imagine if you could travel all over the USA via bus with your pack, stay in campgrounds or cheap hostels in town, and it was considered a normal way to spend the summer (instead of something that crusty punks do via train hopping and spanging)?  Wouldn’t the US be a nicer place to live, with all those kids having seen Yosemite, and the Rockies, and all the amazing places?  Would the Park Service have to struggle so hard for funding?  Just a thought…