Escape From Tranquilo

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This had gotten ridiculous. I really just wanted to leave Tranquilo, and I couldn't. I think “Escape from Tranquilo” (working title... maybe I'll go with “Tranquilo”) would make a great psychological thriller or horror movie. In some Hotel California type situation, it's impossible to leave this town no matter how hard you try. Oh, and no one can hear you scream, or something. I'm working on it...

And time is against me. I only have two weeks left on this trip, so there's a lot of stuff that I wanted to do that's not going to happen now. I was getting frustrating. I had spent half a day on Saturday trying to leave by any means necessary, and couldn't.

And now it was Sunday. Easter Sunday. Every bus that came through town was already full. I tried hitchhiking all day, and failed. But I did meet some Israeli's who were also trying to hitchhike and had a good chat with them. Travelling is very popular among Israeli's who've just finished their mandatory military service, and hitchhiking the Carretera Austral is one of the most popular things to do. They don't get paid for their mandatory military service, so they have to travel cheap. They spoke Spanish very well, which helps with hitchhiking. They also said that they've had the most luck trying late in the day when people are returning from work. They just seem more likely to pick people up, and maybe they feel sorry for you standing out there when it's getting late. But having camping gear also helps if you can't get a ride or get dropped off somewhere remote. So next time, if that's what I plan to do, I'll plan accordingly.

We also started talking about Israel. They told me that because I was Canadian, I would have access to more of the places to go than they do. The divide between the Israeli's and Palestinians runs deep, but they said that they themselves didn't personally feel any ill will towards them, and actually appreciate their culture and wish things weren't so divided. And there's a lot of people that feel the same, but it's taboo to openly express that in Israel. So that's encouraging and unfortunate at the same time. But it's another example of how perception of a place and its people based on media coverage from half way around the world can never tell the true story about what it's truly like.

They eventually got a ride, and we wished each other luck on our journey. I tried hitchhiking by myself for a little while longer, but it was getting late in the day so I left to go check on the possibility of the ride from Pancho. They weren't going to be leaving until eight, which was quite late. But at this point I just needed to get the hell out of Tranquilo. I was not spending another night there, even if that meant walking ten minutes down the road and sleeping in some bushes. I'd probably freeze to death in the night, but at least I'd die free... I had to leave, one way or another.

So I went back to try hitchhiking for a while, but eventually just gave up and went to use the internet to look for a place to stay in Coyahaique once I got dropped off. After about ten minutes. I heard my name being called from outside the window. It was Pancho, and he'd found a minibus heading to Coyahaique at the gas station with a spare seat. He told me the price, but even before he said it, the answer was already a yes. I just needed to go.

He drove me the one block to the gas station, gave me an apple for the road, and put me on the minibus. And after a day and half of actively trying to leave Tranquilo, I was finally heading north. I was free!

This minibus was obviously for locals, since no one spoke English, and we stopped right at peoples houses adding the way to pick up more passengers. And the email address written on the side of the bus was a hotmail address, so this was not a big time operation. But it really didn't matter.

Only one seat was empty out of 14 as we rolled north. I didn't know how long it would take, but I didn't really care as long as it went north. The road was gravel and very twisty. That combined with the full bus meant it was impossible to sleep. A couple of hours later we stopped in Castillo for a break. It was just after dark, and I only caught a glimpse of Cerro Castillo through the window of the minibus, but it would be very tempting to climb. As far as I know that's the big attraction here. If I hadn't burned two extra days in Tranquilo, I might have made it my next destination. But with only got two weeks left, and having already climbed mountains in Chalten, I'm fine with missing it. Also I really want to get as far away from Tranquilo as I could, just in case it reeled me back by with some evil cosmic force.

After Castillo, the road was paved. But it wasn't really smoother, and it was still twisty. We made it to Coyhaique at around 1030. The driver started dropping people off at their houses, and asked me where I was going. I showed him the address of the only hostel I had managed to write down while in the internet cafe in Tranquilo, and he took me there.

They had beds, and even though the price is a bit steep for what I had become used to paying, I was just happy to be somewhere else for a night. It was also the nicest hostel I'd seen all trip, so the price was worth it.

A bit dazed and confused, I climbed into bed and mentally planned my escape the next morning. I had momentum now, so there's no sense standing still.

I tried to make my escape early in the morning, but discovered that there is no one at reception, and I haven't paid for the room... Ok... so I fold up the money with a note and slip it under the door. I decide to wait until 5 after 8 just in case someone finally showed up, and they did right as I was putting on my bag, someone shows up. It was better to be able to explain my note (and get my change) and check out properly.

I'm trying to get to Futaleufu, which is right by the border with Argentina, and where Brett had spent the summer working as a raft guide. It would make a good final destination for a last stop in Chile before ducking back into Chile. Chile deserves more time than I've given it, I'll have to return when I can afford to move more slowly.

At the bus station I find two options for going North. One is to take a bus at around three o'clock and get to La Junta, about three quarters of the way there, then try to grab a bus to Futa, but there probably wouldn't be a bus from La Junta until the following day. Next option is to take a minibus tomorrow at eight in the morning to Sta Lucia, change buses at 6 o'clock at get all the way to Futa. Either way, I get there tomorrow. I really didn't know what I wanted to do, so I head back to the hostel for some breakfast and time to think it over.

I decided to stay in Coyhaique for the day, and take the bus to Futa tomorrow. Might as well do all the travelling in one day, or at least try. I read some of the (old) Chilean lonely planet in the hostel, and read that there's a saying in Chilean Patagonia that goes "Those who hurry, waste time." This is really making a lot of sense to me now. You can spend all day trying to get to a place, and not see any of the place you are already in. So I decided to stay in Coyahaique for the day.

But at the same time, the clock is still ticking, and I had some goals for this trip. Somehow in the next two weeks I've got to get back to Argentina, go to El Bolson, Bariloche, Mendoza, Iguazu, and Uruguay to tick all of the boxes I had in mind. And I have to end up in Buenos Aires to catch my flight on the fourteenth. That's probably about 3-4000 km of distance to cover there as well. So I checked some flight options to cut down travel times, but even then I think something's going to have to give.

But it's too early to start lamenting the fact that the trip is going to end eventually, however hard it is not to think about what I won't get to do. I don't want to let myself regret coming to Chile... If only there was more time! As always...

With my bus ticket in hand for tomorrow, and a breakfast in my belly, I set off on a hike up a mountain just outside of town. The hostel recommended it, because it offered 360 degree panoramic views of the mountains around Coyhaique, and the town itself. Well, truthfully it's about 230 degrees. There's another slightly bigger mountain with a weather station on it directly to the south. There was no way to get there from where I was without going down, and back up.

The trail sure was dusty. The soil is very silty/sandy, and it was six inches deep in places. My knee is kind of bugging me (I really need to stretch out my leg muscles) so it slowed me down a bit, but all in all it was a solid way to spend the day.

On the way down, I found lens cap for a camera, and brought it back to hostel. It turned out it belonged to the Italian guy sleeping on the bed below me, which is totally wild luck! He had been up on the mountain the previous day and hadn't even realised that's where he'd dropped his lens cap.

One other tidbit about Coyahaique, in the morning, there was a thick haze and it smelled like a BC forest fire. But it wasn't a forest fire. Natural gas in this part of Chile is so expensive that people heat their homes with wood, and it leaves a haze over the town on a cool morning. So it not only looks like a BC around here with the mountains, but smells like it too.

Actually, Vanessa told me over Skype that from the way I had been describing Patagonia that it sounded like I was in Spanish BC, and I think that's pretty apt, so I'm adopting that term.

After standing in the longest grocery store line in history (half an hour) while getting supplies for the bus ride, I headed out to a pizza place for dinner, and I ran into Rosio (from El Puesto, the guest house that ran the kayak tours). So the string of random coincidences continues.

Having visited El Puesto every day for three days trying to arrange my kayaking expedition, I'd gotten to know her a bit, and she kindly invited me to join her and her friend Jose Manuel for pizza. Rosio is going to New Zealand in October to study, and Jose Manuel is an Environmental Engineer and plans to go to either Canada are New Zealand to finish learning English. But his English was pretty solid, so I don't think it'll be too tough for him.

This unexpected encounter turned into a fun evening of good conversation, beer, and pizza. And when they put spicy sausage on a pizza here, it sure is spicy! It was delicious, but I had to put out the fire with some beer every now and then. It's been a while since I've had some properly spicy food.

This evening went on later than I had originally planned, and I didn't get back to the hostel until one, and it was locked. I was lucky there was someone still inside who let me in. It was going to be a short sleep, but at least it would be a short sleep indoors.

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