Puerto Natales to Esquel

If you know Argentina you know that we did not go from Puerto Natales to Esquel in two days by bicycle. We took buses for this stretch to go back north where the weather suits our clothes a bit better. Bike touring is not a good arctic activity in a windy climate we have decided. It seemed like the further south we went the windier and colder it got which is no surprise. This is one of the reasons we elected to do the Lake District last or latter and to go down Torres del Paine while it was still summer. It did not get necessarily any rainier the further south we went but the odds of strong winds did seem to increase and those two things typically go together. Cold wind and rain in a remote location for a cyclist is a bit unnerving and my survival instincts are front and center. Some of these areas there were no trees for shelter and the ranches were few and far between.  Higher risk adventure due to weather is not something I seek out, maybe it appeals to some who need the extra challenge. The elements can be battled with extra robust gear but that requires that you schlep it all around.

We have heard from other bloggers on the Carratera Austral that their blogging audience died off and people probably just got tired of vicarious bike touring.  I am going to keep writing as I like to write and maybe some cyclists coming down here will get something out of it.

We have figured out the ropes a bit with the getting the bikes on the buses. Typically there is no set fee and you pay cash to the driver. That means there is no formal policy and the price can change.  So the best bet is to show up with your bike but take all the panniers off so it doesn’t look so impossible.  Also taking the front wheel off makes it look more packable. The less you make the driver think he has to deal with bike the better. Usually there is no problem getting the bikes on the big modern touring buses. Most of the drivers do not seem to mind if you load it on the bus yourself. Maybe that way they are not responsible for any damage. The extra fee is usually only ten or twenty dollars per bike do it yourself or not. We have yet to have any damage.

When we got to the big terminal in Rio Gallegos there was a guy hanging out there from Portland Oregon who had been there for a few days waiting for his bike to show up. He flew into Buenos Aires and was told by the bus company that the bike would have to go truck freight. He should have shopped the different bus lines. Hopefully he will connect with his bike.

We pulled into Rio Gallegos about five and asked about a bus to Esquel quite a ways north in Argentina. There was a red eye one leaving at eight thirty. These red eye trips are better on buses than planes though as this one was modern with “cama” seats that recline quite a ways back, not all the way flat but you can sleep in them.  I had a few Ambien for special occasions like this only they showed two movies back to back until twelve pm, which is what I guess you do after you have dinner at nine thirty here. One of the movies was the Bucket List with Morgan Freman the late night one was a violent cop show with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. Fourteen murders commited by cops in that one. We got to relive each one. It was educational.

After getting the tickets in Rio Gallegos we had couple hours to kill ad decided to go into town to get some Argentinian cash and dinner.  Rio Gallegos is a fairly big costal town and appeared to maybe be fifty thousand or more. As we rode toward the center of town we asked this guy on his bike where the banks were. He told us to just follow him as he was in no hurry on his way to the gym.  It turns out all the ATMs were not working for us or anyone else apparently because it was payday. So it turns out this guy is the tax collector for the whole town and is well connected. Horacio the tax man took us over to a friend of his who owns a hotel and the hotel owner was nice enough to run the Visa card and get us some cash.  Horace then took us to a sandwich place. Being seven thirty we were way early for dinner but they had the Simpsons on TV while we waited for them to cook the chicken for the sandwiches.  The simpsons are very big in Chile and Argentina.  I had a chocolate head of Homer on a lolly pop stick yesterday that Laurie got me. The sandwiches were “complete” sandwiches so that meant in addition to ham and eggs on the sandwich we got a plate full of hot dogs wrapped in dough. We were hoping for a subway type sandwich where you could ask for vegetables and get it but in this case asking for vegetables got us one piece of lettuce on top. There may have been a tomato.  You learn to smile and enjoy what you get. They do  and it is not worth being upset about. Plus you have to admit that all that saturated fat does taste good and no need for chap stick for a day or two. Horace had been to Cape Cod and Martha 's Vineyard as part of a Rotary club trip. When we brought up the timing of the evening meal he thought it funny that Americans ate so early like seven thirty. "What do you do after that?"  Laughs all around.

Laurie went into a fairly big modern grocery store next to the bus stop to get some food for the long bus trip while i waited out side to watch the bikes.  At the check out they had one big line with multiple checkers like at the bank or airport in the US. When she got to the front of the line she waited to be motioned by a checker only several of them just sat there reading or fiddling with their phones. No one in the long line seemed to pay much attention to her. Finally she turned around to ask the woman behind her if she should go and the woman lost it and yelled at her to go. The women here seldom show much of any emotion and seemingly have a great deal of patience but maybe underneath they don't or are just joining the modern world.

It appears to be a requirement in all Argentinian cities that anyone under thirty has to drive a car without a muffler. About half of these hot rods are such a laugh as they would have to be worth fifty bucks tops at a junk yard. Esquel would be a nice little town if it weren’t for that.  I would say in Chile they are far less prevalent and would even go so far as to say that it is a reason to chose to travel in Chile over Argentina. 

There are joggers here in Esquel and not just one or two! We went out for a ride without the panniers and there were fitness riders.  The riders were all coming back on this nice paved low traffic road about two thirty in the afternoon. Laurie figured it out.  They were doing a bike ride on their siesta! A two or three hour siesta in the middle of the afternoon for a bike ride how cool is that?

On the bus ride up we sat next to an English woman from Buenos Aires who was a manager for a big drug company there.  She told us a few interesting things about Buenos Aires and Argentinian culture.  She said that Buenos Aires is a high stress city and that they have the highest percentage of psychologist visits of any town on the planet or so she claimed. They apparently talk about it pretty openly although one on one they do not typically talk about their problems. But in big groups then they do! 

Managing the drug company was a challenge for a number of reasons. One was that they do not do compromise well. This is apparently do to many years of political culture where you just do whatever the party in charge wants no ifs ands or buts.  They also do not have a word in Spanish for accountability. If she asked someone to do something that person would then fire off an email to a few people about the task so they would not be on the hook for it.  Also because they are used to a top down hierarchy if you do not have a title and are above them then nothing gets done you ask. So this woman had to have a title made for herself.  She was involved with quality control of some sort.  Also if you are a guy who can get things done at the last minute you are considered a valuable employee so they try to make situations happen where they can show this ability off. 

Then there is the kissing on the cheek thing which is very big in Santiago and Buenos Aires. She said that co-workers would keep track of whether or not you kissed them.  They would say I passed you in the hall twice already today and you haven’t kissed me yet what is up with that! Laurie just loves the kiss on the cheek thing.

Because of how much she made she was entitled to better insurance than most argentines and the office girls told her that on her plan she was entitled to one surgery of her choice every year.

That is it for this evening off to Trevilin and Futaleufu hopefully tomorrow on bikes!

After going out for a fitness ride today we have decided we much prefer cycling as tourists better. It is easier to go the distance if you are trying to get somewhere and then just keep going and going and going.

Tom