Tomorrow Traslasierra will be left behind for a week to ten days and To the Catacombs will be silent during that time. First stop will be in the province of Mendoza, at a tiny four table restaurant called La Vaca (The Cow) which doubles as a tiny grocery store. I have been eating there for two years now, whenever I pass through Monte Coman, the ghost town in which La Vaca is located. I came upon the place coincidentally: I was passing through at lunchtime, and Monte Coman is about four hours from Catacombs Headquarters. To give you an idea what sort of country this is, once I had passed through the nearby town of Villa Dolores, some twelve miles from here, there was not another traffic light to be seen for the duration of the 280 mile (448 km) journey.
La Vaca is a classic road food joint, and photos of it will appear in the not-too-distant future.
We (my son is here) will then go on to Real del Padre, where the father of a friend (if you read Spanish, check out his Museo Comechingon site) will meet us to give us some good old fashioned local guidance for the San Rafael area. An English couple who classify as Catacombe
rs will also be visited. Hopefully, I will return with good news about available land for those ready to make the move.Next on the itinerary is El Bolsón, down at the 42nd parallel, where the price of gasoline is cut in half and one can think of oneself as truly being In Patagonia. There we will go visit the monks at what I have nicknamed Leibowitz Abbey, then see if we can get together with the folks at nearby La Confluencia. We will likely go down into the province of Chubut, to Cholila (refuge of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid), Trevelyn (settle by the Welsh and still a supplier of good scones) and Esquel, keeping our eyes skinned for Catacomber possibilities.
The news from the North continues to alarm me, so much so that I find myself listening more often to the now twenty five years old Third World anthem El Sur También Existe. Is the USA fated to go the way of the USSR? Is there a North American Union in the offing? Is Europe destined to become a perverted remake of the Roman Empire? Questions, questions...
My answer was to voluntarily devolve to a simpler standard of living, a simpler way of life, and it suits me well so far. Yes, I still have a car and will enjoy the use of it for as long as is possible. Yes, I have electricity and broadband, wireless internet, and a freezer and power tools, but no, I don't have television, no, I don't have air conditioning or non-wood heating, and no, I don't have a cell phone or a Blackberry or even an electric razor.
This reconnaissance mission will be the first of a number to be undertaken with the intention of finding likely sites for Catacomb creation. Please don't forget me while I'm away, and stop back in a week or so to see what I've turned up in my travels.
Meanwhile: ¡Vaya con Dios!
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