Route 40
Day 1
After discovering that I was going to be the only one participating on my safari, I was give the option to go on a two day bus ride down the same LONG stretch of road.
The first day was horrible, even with the bus drivers kind gestures of cookies and lollies. 7am - 9pm, 14 hours of solid driving and no reclining seats, air-conditioning or unpaved roads. To add insult to injury I shared my trip alongside a grumpy spanish fellow thrashing about at the window seat with long legs and loud music.
I was prepared for the unpaved roads but not the fact that my MP3 player would give out. How are the next two months going to progress without music?
We arrive late at the hotel and I must prepare for the early morning excursion to the cave of the hands. I´ve taken some beautiful pictures, the vast emptiness is far reaching, rarely a sign of life except for the tiny stores that sell ham and cheese sandwiches. Argh!!
Day 2
Up at 6am to eat a breakfast of bread and jam. I think am developing a cavity with all the sweets and white bread we have to endure. After three hours in a minibus we arrive at the cave of the hands. An indigenous site with art dating back millions of years. Given the long distances, I am thankful that I bought a travel pillow. It has been my saviour, my accomplice in escape.
We arrive back with the bus that will take us all to El Chalten. Lucky I score two seats, and I sleep some more, in between read Gabriel Garcia Marguez, (an South America Novelist)
´Love in the time of Cholera´.
Armadillo, llama, wild turkeys, sheep and horses are some on the fauna, but few and far between.
Dusty and dry I constantly feel parched, but aware of the fact that we have no toilet on board, every opportunity to go for a leak, I take....just in case. From the Obelisk in Beunos Aires to the Patagonian Steeps. This girls got class.
After a lunch of, you guessed it, ham and cheese sandwiches, we travel on the rough roads alongside the Andes. Chile is on the other side of the clouds.
After another 4 hours where my teeth rattle around in my head and the excess ´Trudy´ gets a massage, we pull up to an oasis. In the middle of this desolate land are two ladies with tables full of home cooking, tortes and quiches. All piping hot. Nothing could have been better after the food of the last few days. If only I had room for the lemon meringue tart.
Back on the bus after 30 minutes of gastronomic delight, A little respite, given the loss of my MP3 player, old classics are playing on the bus.
Late into the night, we arrive at El Chalten, tired and cold, and my mochilla is covered in a thick layer of dust from the trip.
But I am primed and ready for my ice treking expedition tomorrow morning - 7am.
After discovering that I was going to be the only one participating on my safari, I was give the option to go on a two day bus ride down the same LONG stretch of road.
The first day was horrible, even with the bus drivers kind gestures of cookies and lollies. 7am - 9pm, 14 hours of solid driving and no reclining seats, air-conditioning or unpaved roads. To add insult to injury I shared my trip alongside a grumpy spanish fellow thrashing about at the window seat with long legs and loud music.
I was prepared for the unpaved roads but not the fact that my MP3 player would give out. How are the next two months going to progress without music?
We arrive late at the hotel and I must prepare for the early morning excursion to the cave of the hands. I´ve taken some beautiful pictures, the vast emptiness is far reaching, rarely a sign of life except for the tiny stores that sell ham and cheese sandwiches. Argh!!
Day 2
Up at 6am to eat a breakfast of bread and jam. I think am developing a cavity with all the sweets and white bread we have to endure. After three hours in a minibus we arrive at the cave of the hands. An indigenous site with art dating back millions of years. Given the long distances, I am thankful that I bought a travel pillow. It has been my saviour, my accomplice in escape.
We arrive back with the bus that will take us all to El Chalten. Lucky I score two seats, and I sleep some more, in between read Gabriel Garcia Marguez, (an South America Novelist)
´Love in the time of Cholera´.
Armadillo, llama, wild turkeys, sheep and horses are some on the fauna, but few and far between.
Dusty and dry I constantly feel parched, but aware of the fact that we have no toilet on board, every opportunity to go for a leak, I take....just in case. From the Obelisk in Beunos Aires to the Patagonian Steeps. This girls got class.
After a lunch of, you guessed it, ham and cheese sandwiches, we travel on the rough roads alongside the Andes. Chile is on the other side of the clouds.
After another 4 hours where my teeth rattle around in my head and the excess ´Trudy´ gets a massage, we pull up to an oasis. In the middle of this desolate land are two ladies with tables full of home cooking, tortes and quiches. All piping hot. Nothing could have been better after the food of the last few days. If only I had room for the lemon meringue tart.
Back on the bus after 30 minutes of gastronomic delight, A little respite, given the loss of my MP3 player, old classics are playing on the bus.
Late into the night, we arrive at El Chalten, tired and cold, and my mochilla is covered in a thick layer of dust from the trip.
But I am primed and ready for my ice treking expedition tomorrow morning - 7am.
posted by trudy.p at 7:41 am
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