European Time Warp
Trip Start
Oct 20, 2008
1
37
41
Trip End
Feb 28, 2009
Esquel,
Patagonia,
Argentina
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
The gentlemen next to me left his television on all night and snored very loudly so once again I had a restless night of sleep. I think I am going to start wearing earplugs to bed. The ride once again beautiful, the road weaving through the Andes as we make our way to the Argentinian border. We stopped at a car museum in the middle of the country and had a personal tour of the museum. The museums specialty is Studebaker's.
At the border the procedure leaving Chile and entering Argentina slow but simple and we crossed the borders in less than an hour and a half. As I am riding through the mountains I once again have a scary moment. While rounding a tight blind curve I see a 6" oil slick across my lane. A car is heading towards me in the opposite lane. I have no option but to ride through the slick, I straighten the bike pull in the clutch and apply the brakes as much as possible prior to hitting the slick and releasing the brakes just before contact with the slick and without crossing the yellow line. The bike slips and slides underneath me, I stay calm and relaxed but thinking oh oh.... Iīm in trouble now. I kept the bike upright as she continues to slide, I slowly roll off the throttle and finally the tires regain traction. The Andes have a new peak now as the pucker mark in my seat is permanent. I pull over next to a lake to shake off the nerves and recollect myself. As we ride towards El Bison we pass azure blue lakes, small streams and large forests. The land slowly changing to low shrub and vegetation. The homes in El Bison are very European with clean brick work or white stucco, wood doors, windows and soffits. The steep pitches of the roof tops indicating heavy snow fall here during the course of winter. We have received our first quote of 1000.00 u.s. to ship the bikes home and we are still waiting for more.
January 20th
As we leave El Bison this morning we stop at the train station, Mike hoping there was a museum or an old train around but with disappointment there is not, we stop to gas up and I notice that there is a huge drum of hot water. Mate is such a strong part of this culture that when people fill up with gas they also fill up their thermosīs with hot water to satisfy their thirst for this herbal drink. As we continue carving our way through the Andes the vegetation becomes more stunted and the winds begin to get very strong. We turn onto the famous Ruta 40 and the winds howl across the earth. A couple of motorcyclists pass us apx 100 kms to our next stop of Esquel we give a big friendly wave and they become small dots on the horizon. Less than 15 minutes later they are pulled over and have one of the bikes partly torn apart. We stop to offer our assistance. One of the motorcycles will not start. These folks needed help and Mike and I set about eliminating the possibilities, we checked the fuses all is good,we pulled one spark plug and fired the bike there is spark. The Brazilian explains in his best Portuguese he ran out of gas so we then conclude it may be the gas filter. We bypass it and notice there is no gas being pumped from the tank to the carbs by the accelerator pump. We by pass the pump running a hose from a high held jerry can to the carb hose. The bikes fires but is only running on one cylinder. We pull that cylinders plug and there is no spark. After several minutes of trouble shooting the bike it will only run on one cylinder only. The owner decides to try and ride it to Esquel. I take all of Mikeīs gear and load it onto my bike while the troubled motorcyclists wife rides with Mike to Esquel. The now single cylinder Honda spewing raw gas into the air barely able to reach 60 kph as we ride against the wind. We finally made it to town and luckily there was a Honda Dealer as we entered it. We stopped and the mechanic could help the owner of the troubled bike. We reloaded Mikes bike and wished our troubled friends the best of luck. The called us their Angels as we shook hands and departed. We found a campsite with the intention of camping for the night, however they had dorm beds available for an extra $1.25 per night and we opted for this option.
January 21st
Today is the three month anniversary since we've left home. We have traveled a long way and are very near to our goal. The excitement is building with each kilometer. We keep reminding each other of the times when we were planning the trip, the wonder and mystique of Patagonia and Teirra del Fuego seemed so surreal and here we are living it. I attempted to go trout fishing today but the local tackle shop advised me other wise. Using a spinner rod on most rivers in Patagonia is forbidden and only fly fishing is allowed. I give up resentfully on the idea and spend the afternoon reading.
Comments
MATE
If Mate is so popular there, maybe you should try and sell it to Timmies when you get home. You could franchise it out or something. Maybe it would catch on here too....... Good luck with the remainder of the journey. I can imagine the waves of emotion you'll be having about now. Partly wanting to get done and home and the other part not wanting it to end.
Take care Moe.
MATE
If Mate is so popular there, maybe you should try and sell it to Timmies when you get home. You could franchise it out or something. Maybe it would catch on here too....... Good luck with the remainder of the journey. I can imagine the waves of emotion you'll be having about now. Partly wanting to get done and home and the other part not wanting it to end.
Take care Moe.