Easy enough day today. We left Valle Fertil and headed south to the outskirts of the city of San Juan. No bad roads! On the way we stopped at the little sanctuary dedicated to Difunta Correa, where her remains are now buried. We were told the story by two hitchhikers we had picked up a few days ago. It’s a true story. In the early 1800s, the Army took away a young lady’s husband. She, very devoted, escaped with her infant son to seek for him from the city of San Juan, but once in the desert, she lost her way and died of dehydration. Her dead body was found a few days later by some hunters, but her baby was still alive and trying to suckle from her dead mom’s breast. They thought it was a miracle. A month later, a terrible storm tore up the area. Animals were scattered and lost throughout the area. The hunters, who owned several cattle prayed to the lady to help them with the storm, and the next day they found all their animals huddled together not far away.
They built her a small sanctuary, which is visited by thousands of devoted Argentinians. Little altars are built all along the roads, with hundreds of full plastic water bottles left there to symbolically quench her thirst and keep her alive.
We are staying in a lovely finca, with 6 dogs and a cat. The owners own vineyards all around, and we are encircled by them. We have our own house and our own infinity pool. What more can we ask for?
We spent the evening in the town of San Juan, which was surprisingly animated for it being a Monday. Argentinian towns always become alive at night. Restaurants do not open until 9PM, so you can understand why.
Ciao.
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