13 December 2010

This morning my car was blocked in by another car. I had breakfast, some toast with jam and nescafe, while I waited for the owner to come down and move it. I picked up a student who was hitchhiking on the highway and gave him a ride a few miles up the road. Then I exited for Puyehue and the Argentina border. I didn’t fill up on gas because the book I had said there was gas near Puyehue but I didn’t see it. I had to drive 30 miles back from the border to Entre Lagos to find the gas station because I did not want to risk running out of gas in the Andes. The reason I did not see the gas station on the way to the border is because it is in town away from the main highway and therefore hidden.

Exiting Chile was easier than entering. No one inspected my belongings or my car. I didn’t have to unload everything and run each item through the x-ray. The drive between border stations runs through a large mountainous, snowy, national park. There was snow alongside the road and on the ground higher up. Chile was overcast but the sky cleared up to a bright happy blue as I entered Argentina. I saw a semi laying on it’s side. Dangerous curves.

Angled road ahead?

Immigration in Argentina was quick and painless but customs took a while. Slow computers perhaps? No car inspection here either. The customs official looked like a younger Roger Ebert. The drive from the border through the park was spectacular with panoramic mountain and lake views. I think there was a bike race because I saw bicyclists and at a curve there were two men taking photos of them with large professional cameras. I stopped many times to take photos of the scenery. Yellow and purple flowers bloomed along the highway. Some trees had a strange orange fruit or mold hanging from them. Summer in Patagonia was just beginning.

Not far from the border is Villa la Angostura which is composed of many resorts. Tourists were everywhere. The road wound round and between the mountains, each curve revealing a new marvel.

Way past Bariloche and close to Esquel the mountains begin to fade and give way to smaller hills and wide windy valleys. The gusts are extremely fast and dangerous. I thought my car was going to be blown off the road but I managed to keep it at a steady 80 mph. A large van behind me flashed it’s lights at me then pulled up beside me. A woman was yelling and pointing at my car like something was wrong but I couldn’t hear her or figure out what she was going on about. All of a sudden they started cutting back over into my lane to avoid an oncoming car, pushing me off the road. It’s times like these I wish I had a working horn.

Very windy

Further on the I stopped to take a picture of a sign warning of high winds. I saw my rear license plate was only hanging by one bolt so I fixed it. The van that almost ran me off the road zoomed by and honked. I think the lady was trying to tell me about my license plate. I sped back onto the road and into Esquel for gas. I ate a sandwich inside. There was a fat gaucho whistling loudly and talking on his cell phone. He looked French with his beret and shoe-slippers and his wide colorful sash. 

When I walked out I saw my rear plate was gone. Immediately I knew the wind had whisked it away right where I had fixed it. I headed off in a hurry before the wind could blow it too far.

But the cops at the towns entrance decided to stop me. They took my papers, looked in the car, and then called the captain over who did a thorough inspection of all my vehicles contents. All the while I was explaining the situation with my license plate: that the wind had blown it off and I needed to go search for it. Finally they let me go.

Frantically I looked from side to side as I slowly drove up the road. I saw nothing. I got  to the sign where I had taken a photo and then turned around to do another search. Still I didn’t see a thing.

Then all of a sudden I saw it! Upside down and stuck to a fence post by the wind. Praise God! What a mercy. It could’ve blown of into the field but He kept it right there for me. I threw it in my car, hurried back to show the captain, then proceeded on my way towards Tecka. I picked up a guy and gave him a lift to Tecka. There was a large statue in memory of a local man who had died in the Falklands War. It was still light out so I kept going for Gobernador Costa. But there were no hotels. The only hotel was full and wherever the attendant pointed me to in town, I couldn’t find it despite cruising up and down each street.

On the way out of town I saw what looked like little cabins but they were all dark and I didn’t see anything that could be the receptionists office. I knocked on the door of the house next door and asked the lady who answered. She called the owner for me. I’m not sure if she told me to wait for the owner or if they weren’t available but I waited for a minute then decided to leave. There was a lot of construction on some of the cabins and it all looked closed anyway. I also did not want to wait for an indeterminate amount of time.

I drove to San Martin and there was nothing so in the dark I headed towards Sarmiento. I hate driving in the dark here because it is especially dangerous. There are potholes you can’t see as well as curves you can’t see. I was cruising along at 70 when I hit the guanaco. I saw it run out just in time to slow down and clip its legs. I got out to inspect the car. No blood or damage. I shined a flashlight behind me and didn’t see a corpse. I’m sure the animal will die.

I was the only one on the road for a long way. At times I could see the headlights of semis from a long way off. A car eventually caught up with me and passed me. I made it safely to Sarmiento around midnight and pulled into the first hotel I saw. I had to pound and knock around before someone came out.  Thankfully they had a room.