Mendoza 11-29

2 days on a buses brought me to Mendoza. I had considered going through northern argentina but was actually not feeling like exploring new sites, meeting new people and then leaving, I was itching to return to El Bolson where could invest my time with friends from 2005 and hang it in one area to get to know it better. So I figured one stop to break up the journey and here begins the story of a fateful day. I arrived 4:30am into Mendoza, a decent sized city popular on the tourist route through Argentina. Turns out it was so popular 3 hostels I looked at had no open beds! I of course had not made reservations in advance. That's a sign I thought I'll return to the bus station and continue on to El Bolson today. At the bus station I ran into a tout promoting his hostel, turns out his father and brother were tandem pilots and there would be a jeep going up to launch that afternoon leaving from the hostel. Decision made for me I walked over chatted with his father over tea made arangements to meet up at 2:30 for the ride to launch then crashed out in the last available bunk bed in a room full of sleeping travelers. Napping for a few hours I woke to hang out and watch the movie Edward Scissorhands with a group of Israelis, no big deal but typical of the traveling that doesn't hold much interest for me these days. The jeep left at 4pm for launch, on the ride up I got to know a swiss couple going up for their first tandem flight. We shared typical traveler conversation they were eager to learn about paragliding and how it was to travel around flying different areas. An hour drive, 30 mins rough 4x4 climb brought us to launch. Ready to get out to vehicle I realize I thing immediately, it is windy. Desert