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Esquel huh
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5 hour bus ride to Esquel which I don`t know crap about so I read about it in my book on the bus ride. The dude on the bus next to me is on his computer and his arms are so hairy they look like Chia Pets and his right arm keeps rubbing against my left arm as he types on the computer and I sort of want to chop his arm off so it doesn`t give me a skin abrasion. Gross. I wish I had on a long sleeve shirt this particlular day. Find a hostel and there is a sign on the door that says ¨Knock at the flat door¨. Ummmm, ok, this door looks pretty flat to me. What the fuck does that mean, the flat door? I`m utterly confused. So, I knock at the door, which is fucking flat and the owner (Nicholas) of the hostel (which is also his house) comes out of another door. He`s a younger dude and cool but he asks if I did not see the sign. I told him I did and that the door was flat so I knocked. He tells me that isn`t the flat door, that the flat door is around the otherside and I go look at it and it`s no flater than the front door. What is going on? Ok, I finally get it, flat means flat as in England, meaning room, not flat in the way I was thinking. I guess flat door means bedroom door or something. He asks me what he should put on the sign instead and I tell him to put Back Door instead of Flat Door. Anyways, confusing start to my day.
I meet two English peeps Andy and Gill who have been traveling for 1.5 years and they are married so it`s like an extended honeymoon (I have actually met a lot of English people who have recently gotten married and have traveled or plan on traveling for like 6 months to a year or so, I think that is awesome). I´m looking at my pictures on the computer in Nicholas´s house and the Andy and Gill actually want to hear stories related to my pictures so I go over the more funnier ones. That`s cool of them to be genuinley interested in my pics and travels. Gill starts writing in her diary and I tell her remember when she writes about me that coolest is spelled c o o l e s t. Not much going on in Esquel as it`s just a small town of 25,000 inhabitants but it serves as the jump off point for Alerces National Park. I take a stroll through town and eat at this awesome little restaurant. I get the biggest piece of chicken I have ever had and a drink called A Snowboard which consists of whiskey, champagne, pineapple juice and triple sec and it`s phenomenal. I could drink 10 of these. I will have to remember this concoction when I get home. Some dude like 3 tables away from me keeps looking over his shoulder like every 7 seconds at me. It`s odd, he looks over his left shoulder towards the window and then over his right should directly at me. It`s like he has terrets or something but with motion as opposed to making noises. Why does he keep staring, maybe he wants to get punched in the mouth. It`s a bit unsettling but the Snowboard makes everything ok, ohhh, the wonderful attributes of alcohol..
Esquel Feb 10
I figure why I am here I may as well check out the Natl Park. Catch a bus at 8am and it takes a lengthy 2.5 hours to arrive. The seats are pretty small and my knees are stuck under my chin for the duration of the ride. Not really sure what to do here so I go for a trek around the river which is stunning with the mountains in the background. I see a boat docked and people hopping on, hmm, I like boats so I decide to check it out. It`s $100P which seems like a bit much but whatever, I see where it takes me. You can ride on top of the boat, which I totally do and I get a wonderful view of the snow capped mountains and a glacier hanging precariously off the side of a mountain. The boat docks and we go on this tour of the forest and everyone on this tour (everyone!) speaks spanish and I am the only one who needs and English translation, I suck (I could have gotten by in Spanish probably but I would have missed out on some details). The tour guide is awesome as she tells me just to stay close to her and as we walk from one section to the next she explains everything she said to everyone else to me in English. She gives all these detailed explanations about the forest and flora and shit that I could care less about but I faint interest. We walk by a lake that is fucking green, swear, green, it was pretty cool (looked like the Jolly Green Giant took a really long piss in it). I have no pics as I didn`t bring my camera (stupid). Then we come across the star attraction, an Alerce tree called El Abuelo (the grandfather) as it is 2,600 years old. The crazy thing about these trees is that they only grow 1mm a year in diameter. The tour guide shows me an Alerce tree that is 20 years old and it only comes up my waist (these trees grow slower than midgets).
Some little kid there who speaks excellent English starts asking me 100`s of questions regarding American pop culture once his dad asked me where I was from and the kid found out I was from the US. He asks if I like the Red Hot Chile Peppers, what my favorite band is, what my favorite movie is, do I like The Simpsons etc etc etc, what the fuck is this the Inquisition. BTW, it`s really hard to pinpoint your favorite movie of all time, I guess I would have to go with Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark or possibly Return of the Jedi. I mean there are 50 movies I would rather watch than either of these two right now but when I think about the impact these movies had on me as a child and how they have stood the test of time with me than I have to go with one of them. The best thing is that this kid`s dad looks just like the Argentinian version of Al Bundy and when they find out I am from Chicago the family starts cracking up and making fun of pops. He really does look like Al Bundy too, more so than John Stamos looks like a fag. We have a lot of fun with this and his kid and I become best friends for the day. I get back to Esquel and I have to catch a bus to El Chaten at 2:15am which pretty much negates me getting any sleep as I may as well just stay awake until I get on the bus. I have a 28 hour bus ride ahead of me, the longest of my SA career and I need to be as tired as possible for this mess of a journey.
Fin
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