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Published: September 30th 2006
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Nick:
Well its now been just under 400 miles since our last update. We´ve seen a lot since then, most of which comprised of a distant horizon and a really big sky and all the while the scene is puncutated by cows, horses or trucks... Our first days riding was pretty uneventful as we crossed vast swathes of agricultural land. The roads a so straight that the road autority has had to put signs for a bend in the road, so that you then sit up and wake up. By bends I mean a 5' kink in the alphalt. The only excitement to be had when the tarmac sunddenly disappeared as road workers had scraped up the surface to leave miles and miles of gouged striations, all of whom were vying for the attentions of my tyres so it constantly felt like the bike was going to go flying one way or the other. Our first night was spent in a town call Azul. It was, like many Argentine towns, organised into square blocks. After many turns we arrived at our destination: a workshop/garage called La Posta Del Viajero en Moto. Once inside one finds a a few bunks, a
New friends!
Sandra and Javier of Dakar Motos, BA wood fire, sink and gas stove, and the whole room is decorated by the messages of a decade's worth of past moto-travellers, from Japan to South Africa, UK to US. The whole place is built and run by Jorge, a welder, metal worker with an obsession for studying the human condition. He opens his place up for any traveller to stay, free of charge, on the only understanding that you look after it, consider yourself at home, away from home, and stick around for an "asado" (argentine BBQ). Suffice to say if there were more people in the world with Jorge´s views on life and other human beings, we would be a in a far happier place!!
The next day we continued south-west in order to get to the Sierra de la Ventana, a mountain range in the middle of an otherwise very flat terrain, famous for the bloody big hole through the side of its highest peak (hence the name Ventana or Window). We then stayed a local camping site for our first night of "roughing" it during which I racked up at least 45 mins of sleep, courtesy of the wind (had to re-assure myself on several
Another new friend!
Jorge of the Motorcycle travellers outpost occasions that the bike was still up right during the night!). On the way there it was not the tarmac trying to shove us around, but the wind and I found myself riding at a 30' angle.... in a straight line. Getting to this site also gave me an inkling of off-roading as I covered all of 300 mtrs on rocky dirt. Very interesting with a 400kg bike, but no worse than the day before!! Still, breakfast outdoors was a nice start to the day with mountains all around.
Now for some acknowledgements:
To Ray: The tent did beautifully, on a night when I expected to wake up, upside down, 50 miles from where we went to sleep.
The everyone involved in obtaining a certain pair of tassles. These are now on and, as a result we have been hounded by the Argentine Style Police for what they call a Crime of Fashion. Thanks a bunch....
And to a select few friends in Southampton: for some stupid reason, I find myself humming the Banjo "jam" tune from Deliverance. This in itself is not so bad, except, having never seen the film I can only remember the first
The sign of our passing...
Maybe the next traveller will read this and wonder about us, the way we pondered on the past visitors at Jorge's bar: Dadada da-da da-da da daaa...
Straight roads, lack of sleep and the same bar of Banjo music is enough to drive someone mad. When it was't that it was the Duck Song....so all is not well en ma heed!
Krissu:
Our 3rd day on the road: so far Argentina has been as flat as a pancake! There are fields, lots of fields and occasionally, a few trees. And millions of little, hairy and very cute cows everywhere ("argentinean steaks"??? They don´t only taste good but look good, too!) 😊 The roads are as straight as a straight can be, not even a tinyest bend... On a moto it means pure boredom. Not that I complain. When we have eventually reached the places we wanted to get to, we have had a fantastic time. Argentineans are so friendly: they open their home to you even though you are a total stranger. People smile at you, offer their help whenever possible and tell you the must-see places in their country. It makes me realise how cagey lives we live in our highly sophisticated environments...
Yesterday we attempted our first camping: we got to a small mountain range in the middle
On the road to nowhere...
... being chased by suspicious looking shadows! of the plain fields, a very akward sight. There was a lovely little camping area under some massively tall eucalyptus trees. The winds here are legendary - 40 miles/hr, easily! We managed to get our little tent up with no complications (!!!) and moved in immediately. After a hearty meal of Chinese instant nudles and Italian pasta shells in tomato sauce we enjoyed a cold American "cerveza" (you can only buy a litre at a time - as minimum!) and warmed ourselves in front of a big fireplace in the camping centre. Finally, we crawled back to the tent. Thank you, Ray, for the mountaneering tent: the winds were unbarebly strong and the noise was deathening!!! But against all odds we woke up in the morning not looking at the blue skies but the green ceiling of the tent :-) Aching and puff-eyed but intact and alive :-) ... now where is my coffee, Nicholas Marsh!!!
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