For my travels with Bobby, I decided to rough it with a ruck sac. I have only used them once before when I went hiking and camping in the Shenandoah with my good friends. I didn’t so much enjoy the pack back then but it’s necessary when hiking. Pulling a wheeled suitcase up a mountain doesn’t seem too practical.
I don’t have a ruck sac so I rummaged through my landlady’s backpacks to see what she had. 2 of the 3 had holes in them or were generally of bad quality so I went with the 3rd choice.
It worked out quite well for about 30 minutes but when I arrived at the bus station with Bobby on my way to Salta, one of my straps broke off. We ended up tying it to another part of the bag so it was fixed for a hot second but midway through my Salta trip it ripped off again. Let’s just say carrying a 1980’s ruck sac with one strap is not the most comfortable thing in the world.
When I got back to Jujuy with Alex I was so ready to ditch that stupid backpack. I didn’t care if it made me more authentic to graze the country like a true mochilera. As I’ve said before, I’m a sucker for comfort and there is a reason they made suitcases with wheels.
It was still siesta time in Jujuy so no one was out and about when I walked him around the city to show him my stomping grounds. We ended up running into a guy I had met at this hostel I recommend in Yok Wahi. I hadn’t been there in about 3 or 4 months so he invited us over there for dinner. We agreed and headed over there around 10pm for the asado they were preparing.
I had a really good time catching up with them and getting to know them better. About 90% of our conversation was in castellano so that was cool. Alex was a talk-a-holic in spanish so I got used to talking a lot in Spanish with him and whoever we came across. We drank boxed red wine with tonic water because that was what some of the guys were drinking. It was ok but I much prefer beer over boxed wine diluted by fizzy water. The asado was delicious and the cozy hostel and great company made the night one to remember.
