Argentina loves Ham

After a week in Santiago we headed back to Mendoza in Argentina. The journey itself should only take about four hours, but took us close to the whole day after we arrived at the border and found ourselves to be the 27th bus in line waiting to cross (I counted).

With only two customs officers working for over 30 busloads of people, it took an achingly long five hours to get our passports stamped and luggage checked. Once we arrived in Mendoza we had to take another bus to Buenos Aires, so Stacey and I decided to splash out (read: I convinced Stacey that we should splash out) and upgrade to Full Suite bus seats.

The Full Suite bus is really more like a plane; with personal LCD screens, blankets, curtain dividers, seats that recline 180 degrees and a foot rest that comes right up - meaning a fully flat bed and an actual chance at a decent sleep. There was even a safety video at the start of the trip, much like a plane, where they announced that the toilet could be used for liquids only, no 'solids'. At first I thought I has misheard this (after all, what is one meant to do with one's solids? What if you really need to go?) but then they repeated it, just to be sure. No solids, not ever. We were also told not to take our shoes off, but I did anyway, and I didn't regret it for a second. (Who wants to sleep with their shoes on? I ask you!).

The Full Suite bus also meant an upgrade in terms of food. Usually on buses you get a ham sandwich (the ultimate combination of two Argentinian favourites: bread and ham). On our last bus we'd had a platter with about five different types of ham, followed by ricotta balls with chunks of ham. Needless to say it is hard to be vegetarian here. After my meat frenzy, which lasted about a month, I was really getting over it. I've been doing my best, but sometimes you just have to eat ham.

This time we received a cold plate, followed by a hot plate. The hot plate was a piece of beef, rolled up with cheese and ham, and served with mashed pumpkin and potato. The cold plate consisted of a bread roll, a piece of garlic bread with (spiced?) ham, a slice of ham with a slice of cheese, some cold rice with peas and carrots, a packet of breadsticks, a small savoury ham, egg and cheese pie; and the kicker: a slice of sponge roll, with a rolled-up piece of ham wedged in the middle. Honestly!

Nicola