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Published: December 26th 2013
Wednesday 4
th December (Odyssey Day 26)
This morning we drove out to Cueva de las Manos (Cave of hands), which was about a couple of hours away. Half of the drive was on a dust road and really steep slopes. When driving over that sort of dirt track, billows of dust come into the truck through gaps around the door and stairs. We have taken to blocking the gaps with scrap pieces of cardboard to keep it to a minimum, and wearing scarves to cover over our lower face. What we could see of the valley below us was beautiful though, with the Pinturas River winding through.
The famous artwork is on the walls of the cliffs, under overhangs which shelter them from the elements and keep them in good condition. There are lots of coloured handprints which are made by placing the hand against the rock wall, and then blowing the paint over it with a pipe to create an outline. There are also simple drawings of local animals like lizards, and some hunting scenes. They are much like the hand prints and art in Kakadu,
Cueva de las Manos
AJ with the best preserved hand printsback home.
On the way back, we saw a couple of birds circling in the air just over the hill so we made a stop for photos. We thought at the time they might be Condors but decided after that they were more likely a type of Eagle. There were a couple of sheep carcasses by the road and clearly they were gathering for lunch. By the time we left them to eat, there were seven circling around. It was amazing to see.
We also made a stop on the way back at a Gauchito Gil shrine. These are all over the place in Argentina and generally we know if we go past one because Simon beeps the horn of the truck. This is apparently meant to ward off bad luck. He is a sort of local saint to the Argentinians, though not officially.
The storey goes that he was in the army fighting against the Paraguayans but after this war was over he was told to serve in the civil war that followed.
Cueva de las Manos
The circling birds He refused to fight against fellow Argentinians though and so deserted. He became the equivalent of England’s Robin Hood, and when he was caught he was executed on the spot. However he had warned the officer who killed him that he should wait until they returned to town as the man’s son was very ill but was ignored and promptly executed. When the officer arrived back home it was to discover that his son was indeed gravely ill. Seeing this, he invoked the name of Gauchito Gil in prayer and his son was saved.
Now Gauchito Gil is revered in Argentina and people leave offerings at the shrines in hope of a blessing. There are many of these shrines all over the place and they are all sizes but always red. You are supposed to leave an offering when you stop at a shrine, mostly things like cigarettes, hair and money. So while we were there Maddie shaved some hair from Simon to leave as an offering, though I have no idea what he was doing carrying a shaver around with him. Johnny was out of cigarettes so he left a sachet of
Gauchito Gil Shrine
Maddie shaving a lock from Simon packet soup…
When we got back to Perito Moreno, it was a free afternoon. Most of the group wandered through town. I volunteered to help Lou do the shopping for the bar since that is her ‘truck job’. We went to a brand new supermarket on the edge of town and cleaned them out of cans of beer. They don’t sell them any other way here. Mostly you just take what is in the little drinks fridge and that’s it. They don’t have any boxes even out back.
Simon was having a few issues with the truck so we went back to the campsite for him to tinker around a bit more.
It is so much warmer now that even a day ago. Incredible how quickly things can change when travelling such large distances.
Thursday 5
th December (Odyssey Day 27)
We departed this morning at 0700. I got a seat at one of the tables in the truck today and my legs were
El Bolson
Lovely cold glasses! not happy. I can’t imagine how uncomfortable it must be for the tall people to sit in those seats! It’s great if you want to chat with other people or want to use a table to write, but not much fun for the longer journeys.
We arrived in El Bolson quite late and managed a quick 30 minutes in town. Just in time to have a look through the artesian market stalls before they closed up. A good thing too since they are not open tomorrow when we have a free day in town.
I saw some really cool wire scorpions but don’t think they would make it home in the right shape if I bought one, so I made do with simply admiring the work for a while.
We are at a decent campsite, quite large and we have a big area to set up in. This way we can spread out a bit for the illusion of privacy.
The camp is part of a microbrewery, so a few of us
went up to have a couple of drinks. It was so nice to drink cold beer from a glass again, rather than the usual cans or steel cups!
From the bar we saw a small fire truck go past and thought that perhaps the burning off they had been doing down near our camping area had got out of hand. We all wandered down to have a look and discovered that another traveller in a tent near ours had tried to barbeque his dinner and started a little bushfire right there.
The fire was very close to our tents and a couple of people had to move theirs away. Fortunately though the wind was blowing away from us and we all watched while eating our dinner as they worked on it for quite a while.
Friday 6
th December (Odyssey Day 28)
It was a late start this morning. It’s an absolutely beautiful day. A few people planned to go walking, as there are a couple of hiking trails around the town.
El Bolson
Relaxing in town Simon and Emma took the truck up to Bariloche for repairs. It’s a much bigger town and therefore more likely to have what he needs. With the condition of some of the roads we travel over, it’s not surprising repairs are needed. Many of the roads down in the south were not surfaced, though we did go past quite a few long sections of roadwork.
I walked into town (which was about 30 minutes away) in the afternoon and did some people watching. It is a good town for that with interesting people all around. Quite a beautiful and relaxing feel to the place, and not too crowded.
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