Sunday 27th December 2009

View from a broken down car

We filled up with diesel, bought provisions and headed out of town for the less adventurous part of the holiday.

Less than half an hour later, we were sat on the roadside with a car with no electrics. We mulled over what to do and agreed that Kevin would try and get a lift back to town whilst Joan guarded the car. The first car pulled up but the driver and his wife were from Brazil and spoke only portuguese. After looking under the bonnet, they eventually gave Kevin a lift to the police checkpoint on the border of Esquel. Here the police stopped a lorry driver and told the driver to take Kevin to a petrol station.

Kevin tried to call the number the hire car company had given us, but could not read the script which is different. Therefore the lady at the petrol station helped him. After trying several numbers Kevin spoke to the lad at the Alamo office in Bariloche. Eventually he called back and said a pick up would come to collect Kevin. An old, battered pick up turned up filled with three young "dudes" and a couple of dogs. They explained they were friends of the Alamo worker and were going to look at the car.

About two and a half hours later, Kevin returned to the car where Joan had not been abducted by Rutger Hauer (see the classic road movie "The Hitcher.")

Again the bonnet was opened and there was much discussion, but in the end the car was abandoned on the roadside and we were dropped back off in Esquel. We spoke to the lad from Alamo and he just told us to catch a bus back to Bariloche tomorrow. It appears there is no roadside rescue organised by Alamo.

So we booked back into the same hotel as last night, reorganised our bags and headed off to the bus station. As there are few trains in Argentina, buses are a major form of travel. At the bus station, we had to reserve our seats for the 9.30 am departure. The bus station is eight cuadras (blocks) north of town. We then had a wander around to see if there were any different restaurants open, and concluded that there weren't! So it was pizza again in a restaurant that had only half the things listed on the menu, even though it is next to a big supermarket.