Many mornings we hit the road early so as to get the miles done before the sun gets too hot. Not all, but some mornings start with not a cloud in the sky giving us spectacular sunrises. We are looking forward to being in the mountains to really be able to appreciate them.
Hitting the road early. We were heading west, so early mornings meant no sun in our eyes
Mind you on this particular day maybe we should have stayed in bed a little longer, because first of all a bus driver (who was in the slow lane) decided to take the mog on as he overtook a cyclist but never bothered to look to his left (we were in the fast lane, believe it or not, lol) and kept going, and only that we slowed down I reckoned my side of the truck might be in a sad state of affairs. Brave bus driver mind you!!!!!!!!!!!, maybe we were tooooo small for him to see!
Anyway the day didn’t improve as we came to a cross roads with traffic in front of us ( including a police car) that all drove straight through the cross roads. As it happens there was a STOP sign that we all ignored, but we did slow and check that it was safe. However up ahead about 100 meters, there were six or seven police officers processing a line of vehicles for not coming to a complete stop, and guess what ‘yes’ we were in that line. No amount of ‘no entiendo’ worked, in fact the police officer called an English speaking colleague to speak to Merv on the phone and to explain exactly why and what we were being charged with. We were skeptical at first in case this was a shake down, but the police officers were not accepting money from anybody and the only way to pay the fine was in a bank, and before we signed any documentation we had our Spanish Dictionary ( yes even on the side of the road) out translating the below fine. We were reassured again that it was above board when another lady showed us hers, she too with a sad face, The two forms were identical. The fine was initially A$ 1377.80 (A$ means Argentinian Dollar or Peso) but if you pay within 10 days, you are given a 50% discount, hence you pay A$688.90., quite clever on their part!
Not feeling too good having got a fine.
For those who might travel on Ruta 19 from Santa Fe to Cordoba, watch this spot! It looks like a permanent setup as they catch so many people.
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The image of the cop making money off his computer marks the spot! If you hover over the cop, you’ll get the precise co-ordinates. You’ve been warned!
Other notes: The only documents the police wanted to see were Merv’s Irish driving license, and the Temporary Import document for the truck. No passports, insurance etc.
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