The hub of transport activity..
Trip Start
Jun 07, 2008
1
73
147
Trip End
May 01, 2009
Neuquen,
Patagonia,
Argentina
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
On the way from Bariloche to Neuquen the bus broke down, the first of my trip so not bad going really, about an hour and a half from Neuquen. Luckily a passing bus picked us up and delivered us to the bus station at Neuquen. Unfortunately, the luggage was still on the stranded bus. The vehicle sent to collect the luggage broke down and another was dispatched, so finally after a 3 hour wait our backpacks finally arrived. In the interim I had used the time wisely and booked all my bus tickets to the places I wanted to visit in the next few days and my ticket onto Mendoza.. Steffi and some new friends we'd made while waiting for the luggage went off on their way to Mendoza
booo
. Now at about 9pm, time to go and find somewhere to stay. The cheapest place I could find was 50 pesos per night, about double the usual rate!! Neuquen has to be quite the most frustrating place to visit to.. I arrived at this bus terminal, as afore mentioned a few months back when I came through here on my way south, with the bus terminal being very impressive and modern. One would have thought, however, that for the "hub of transport" that it claims to be they would of sorted the bus links between the terminal and the city only 3 -4 kilometers away.. Ok, yes I could have taken a taxi to and fro but for 10 - 15 Pesos a time instead of 2, I was in a money saving mode.. Getting from the bus station initially was ok. The trouble came when trying to find a bus from town back to the bus terminal to catch my bus to Villa El Chocon the first of the sites I wanted to visit.
To start with not many of the buses had numbers on them to give an inkling of a route and to compound the problem even at the main bus stop in the city, there is no information on the bus routes anyway. Having asked numerous people and bus drivers how to get to the bus station, I did manage to glean, from a nice lady standing at the bus stop, that one has to buy a ticket prior to boarding the red bus's as you have to swipe the machine on the bus as the driver doesn't sell tickets
Can ya fix it?
. OK cool where do I purchase such a ticket? Oh at the main bus terminal she says... Oh the main bus terminal I'm trying to get to? I inquire. Si, she says.... She understood well the dry ironic smile I threw her way while I gently started to come to a simmer inside... So after standing in the searing heat and asking many other bus drivers how I should get to the bus station, and who all directed me to different bus's, which weren't going to the bus station either, a bus arrived that I recognised as the one which had brought me to the town the night before.. What joy! But the was now on his break, so a further 20 mins delay off we went.. I finally made it to the bus station and took my bus to Villa El Chocon. PHEW!!
