Despite a few scares with the ol' Landcruiser, la aventura a Patagonia continues...
Day 5
"After fifty-two hours of driving, I'm glad to have left both the desert and the car. The Andes are a nice change in scenery from the arid Atacama desert. We've arrived to Mendoza, Argentina but are too physically and mentally exhausted to explore the city. I fell asleep in a chair while waiting for the mechanic to service the camioneta. Bad news, the oil leak is irreparable and we're losing 1/2 - 3/4 of a litre per day. Good news, no oil changes necessary for the rest of the road trip... Just keep topping her up."
Day 6
"Mendoza is wine country. Today is our first day not on the road. A bottle of wine sets me back $1.60 US on the low end and $12 US on the high end. There are vineyards and bodegas to visit, and world-renowned Argentinian bistec to be had."
Day 7
"Late start this morning... Probably should've laid off the wine a little earlier. Nevertheless, we're on the road and hoping to make San Carlos de Bariloche in under 24 hours."
"The turn-off for Ruta 40 Sur was tough to identify. We drove past it twice before realizing it was the gravel road to our right. May not make our timeline."
"The road got worse - from gravel to dirt. But this is why we bought a 4WD Toyota Landcruiser, so we kept pushing forward. Unfortunately, we eventually got stopped and turned around by a construction worker. For the six hours we've been on the road, we're only 120 km away from Mendoza. We're definitely not making it to Bariloche in under 24 hours."
Day 8
"Made some espresso and milanesa sandwiches for breakfast on the side of the highway before push-starting the truck. In addition to the problem starting the truck, which happens every morning, we can't get it to run at RPMs greater than 1500. Crawled the 15 km into the next pueblo, Malargüe, to fix it up. Fortunately, its an old Toyota with few moving parts and we only paid $50 US to fix it. Unfortunately, we're in Argentina where siesta shuts down the whole country from one to five in the afternoon. Meaning, we won't be back on the road until then."
"We're really in it now. Rugged mountains, sandstorms hurling golf ball-sized rocks, and gauchos. Ruta 40 turned into gravel once again. A hundred kilometre stretch took us over four hours to negotiate. In the two days since we left Mendoza, we've covered less than 450 km. If this is an indication of the rest of the roads to, and in, Patagonia, I'm afraid we may not make Ushuaia."
"Running on fumes and this pueblo has no gas station. Forced to knock on doors in search of fuel, anything to take us to the next town. First door I knocked on turned out to be some sort of boarding school or orphanage. It caught me off guard. I was swarmed by the kids and staff, and needed to greet each and every one of them before they would even hear out the reason of my being there. I was escorted to the police headquarters where an officer hooked us up with several litres of gasoline free-of-charge. My driving shift begins in three hours."
Day 9
"It was 01:30 and I had an eight hour driving shift ahead of me. And the shits. I had to pull over about three times an hour and brave the unrelenting winds, while Tom slept in the back without a worry in the world. But if all goes well, and Yvon Chouinard is right, drinking the un-purified water will have been worth it - I'll be able to drink river water all throughout Patagonia... Furthermore, at least I got the front row seat when the sun rose - we had reached the gateway to Patagonia."
 |
| Patagonia |
Day 5
"After fifty-two hours of driving, I'm glad to have left both the desert and the car. The Andes are a nice change in scenery from the arid Atacama desert. We've arrived to Mendoza, Argentina but are too physically and mentally exhausted to explore the city. I fell asleep in a chair while waiting for the mechanic to service the camioneta. Bad news, the oil leak is irreparable and we're losing 1/2 - 3/4 of a litre per day. Good news, no oil changes necessary for the rest of the road trip... Just keep topping her up."
 |
| Los Andes near Mendoza, Argentina |
Day 6
"Mendoza is wine country. Today is our first day not on the road. A bottle of wine sets me back $1.60 US on the low end and $12 US on the high end. There are vineyards and bodegas to visit, and world-renowned Argentinian bistec to be had."
 |
| Bodega Lopez |
Day 7
"Late start this morning... Probably should've laid off the wine a little earlier. Nevertheless, we're on the road and hoping to make San Carlos de Bariloche in under 24 hours."
"The turn-off for Ruta 40 Sur was tough to identify. We drove past it twice before realizing it was the gravel road to our right. May not make our timeline."
 |
| Ruta 40 |
"The road got worse - from gravel to dirt. But this is why we bought a 4WD Toyota Landcruiser, so we kept pushing forward. Unfortunately, we eventually got stopped and turned around by a construction worker. For the six hours we've been on the road, we're only 120 km away from Mendoza. We're definitely not making it to Bariloche in under 24 hours."
 |
| From gravel to dirt on Ruta 40 to Patagonia |
 |
| We definitely put our 4WD to use |
Day 8
"Made some espresso and milanesa sandwiches for breakfast on the side of the highway before push-starting the truck. In addition to the problem starting the truck, which happens every morning, we can't get it to run at RPMs greater than 1500. Crawled the 15 km into the next pueblo, Malargüe, to fix it up. Fortunately, its an old Toyota with few moving parts and we only paid $50 US to fix it. Unfortunately, we're in Argentina where siesta shuts down the whole country from one to five in the afternoon. Meaning, we won't be back on the road until then."
 |
| Tom cooking some breakfast at the side of Ruta 40 |
"We're really in it now. Rugged mountains, sandstorms hurling golf ball-sized rocks, and gauchos. Ruta 40 turned into gravel once again. A hundred kilometre stretch took us over four hours to negotiate. In the two days since we left Mendoza, we've covered less than 450 km. If this is an indication of the rest of the roads to, and in, Patagonia, I'm afraid we may not make Ushuaia."
 |
| Gaucho Territory |
 |
| Gaúcho |
"Running on fumes and this pueblo has no gas station. Forced to knock on doors in search of fuel, anything to take us to the next town. First door I knocked on turned out to be some sort of boarding school or orphanage. It caught me off guard. I was swarmed by the kids and staff, and needed to greet each and every one of them before they would even hear out the reason of my being there. I was escorted to the police headquarters where an officer hooked us up with several litres of gasoline free-of-charge. My driving shift begins in three hours."
Day 9
"It was 01:30 and I had an eight hour driving shift ahead of me. And the shits. I had to pull over about three times an hour and brave the unrelenting winds, while Tom slept in the back without a worry in the world. But if all goes well, and Yvon Chouinard is right, drinking the un-purified water will have been worth it - I'll be able to drink river water all throughout Patagonia... Furthermore, at least I got the front row seat when the sun rose - we had reached the gateway to Patagonia."
 |
| The gateway to Patagonia |
 |
| Lago Nahuel Huapi, Patagonia, Argentina |
No comments:
Post a Comment