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Published: February 19th 2008
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Ok it wasn't quite the road to nowhere but the bus ride from El Chalten to Perito Moreno is like an as yet unfilmed Werner Herzog film: hours and hours go by with nothing happening, the scenery along Ruta 40 is mesmerising in its sameness and its vast emptiness.
The trip itself:
Day 1 El Chalten to Perito Moreno town (not glacier)
As the 40 odd (sic) passengers gathered for the bus in El Chalten there was a certain group mood of expectation and perhaps anxiety. We had all signed up for either the one day trip to Perito Moreno along R40 or some like us were doing the whole two days to Bariloche and were not totally sure what we were letting ourselves in for. Perhaps the rain and wind did not help.
The road out from El Chalten connects with R40 after about 90 minutes of mainly smooth tarmac...lovely with views across Lago Viedma to the mountains and the glacier. At the junction we stop for a few minutes and get a great view of Fitzroy peak in the distance.
Looking north we see tarmac and wonder if the state government made good on that plan
to pave the road by 2007, after all it is only 600km from here to Chubut province. As you probably can guess the tarmac only lasted a few kilometres before the ripio and gravel surface began. After some unremembered time we stopped for a coffee and comfort stop before pressing on for lunch at Estancia Siberia, some irony there as we were really in the middle of nowhere.
At one point we went onto some very new tarmac for a few tens of kilometres, the passengers even applauded when it started, not knowing it was a minor blip. We saw a few road crews in action but I think R40 in Santa Cruz province will still be ripio for a year or five yet
On and on we went until one of the passengers started vomiting so we had an unscheduled stop for her to be helped, and a few minutes later we reached what the driver called the last toilets for four hours: some bushes by a river.
As the afternoon wore on into evening Susan carried on reading the Shellseekers, over 500 pages on this day. About 9pm we reached the
From the bus window
the shadow is the bus very small village of Baja Caracoles, about the time we should have reached Perito Moreno. This last leg took us until nearly midnight stopping to pick up some poor souls who had broken down a very long way from the nearest ACA (Argentine AA) or indeed a phone or a mobile signal.
We finally arrived in Perito Moreno, dusty and tired, but relieved, dropped the bags in the hotel room and made a swift trip to the bar, getting there two minutes before last orders. Cold Quilmes and a few crisps made a welcome dinner.
Day 2 Perito Moreno to Bariloche
And next morning we had a different bus, mainly the same passengers, to do the next 800km to Bariloche. This time only 135 km of ripio before genuine tarmac. The day went quite quickly, especially when sometime in the afternoon we started to see the occasional hill and tree, and suddenly we were nearing Esquel and I realised the scenery was really nice again.
At El Bolson we stopped for drinks, on the bus company, at this glorified hut that had everything made from strawberries and raspberries. Fresh raspberry juice was fantastic, so much so that I had to go back and buy another one for 2 pesos.
The road then begins to be surrounded by hills and forests with some glorious views across lakes and mountains. Two hours on we were in Bariloche, with loads of people, paved pavements, chocolate, sunshine etc.
Somewhere along the way we had been talking with Fernando, the bus guide, about Bariloche and arranged to rent a cabana from his parents for next week. Neat solution.
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