Badlanders MCC Website

 

I ended my last BLOG update with a comment about the lovely Hugo and Estelle.

 

As I dropped down out of the hills cutting through the Cordillera, though some really cold temperatures, I really wasn’t looking forward to a night of camping.  I arrived at Rio Villegas to find a little village. Could have been the land that time forgot, but it was very pretty. I stopped at the first building which was a house/come shop. It turns out it was the heart of the community; the only place to buy anything for miles.

 

I asked if there was any possibility I might find a hostel, and that I was on route to El Bolson ( Hippy territory). He said that there were no hostels in Rio Villegas, only El Bolson. I then asked if it would be possible to  camp in his grounds. He turned to his wife and said something with the words “campino- and I think- el loco” Anyway, he proceeded to say- no hostel, my home! I said yes, but I would not be a nuisance, I’d just get up in the morning, pack tent and head off. “No” he said “my home”. It became clear that he was offering a bed for the evening!  Heaven. A bed and warmth. What i wasn’t expecting was to be fed like a king!

 

Estelle made torta fritas, queso and then this huge choriza casserole. I was also treated to a local drink ( Illama- like an orange liqueur and we shared a bottle of wine he got out of the shop! We spent the night communicating incredibly well considering our respective incompetence on each other’s language. Hugo had worked in IT, before deciding to change lifestyle! He finished his work in Rio Negro, though talked about there being history, and moved to Rio Villegas a couple of months ago to run this shop and despite downsizing and facing innumerable power cuts ( no less than four that night), he said he was much happier. Hugo and Estelle, had five grown up children and two grandchildren who lived in Rio Negro. Hugo and Estelle were Jehovah witnesses, though their family weren’t.

 

Whilst they were able to drink, though Estelle preffered not to, they did not celebrate in the normal fashion, with a customary “Salut”! When I held my glass up and uttered the words “Salut”, he pulled out a couple of Jehovah Witness magazines as an explanation as to why! Though I said-  “Ahhh, si, intiendo”.... I simply didn’t understand.

 

However, their hospitality was quite simply unnecessary and undeserved, but welcomed and really appreciated. It turned out that I had to go through their bedroom to get to mine! So I knew I was in bed for the night. That said, although I was up at about 7.30 I lay still until i could hear some movement. I eventually did hear something and got up at 8.30. When I got through to the living area, breakfast was waiting. After some coffee, pan and dulce con leche, within an hour I was off on my journey to Bolson. I offered to pay Hugo some money before I left, but he was having none of it. I was their guest!

 

Truly another two of life’s great people!

 

I then had my first experience of a corrupt Argentinean copper. I stopped at the Nacional parque police control section and asked if it might be possible to use their toilet ( strong coffee and casserole from the night before were the culprits). The guy in charge was the spitting image of the prison governor in Midnight Express! Really ugly! He looked at me and said dinero! I pretended not to understand. He said something else, which sounded like no dinero, no bano. Then looked into the forest, opened his arms and said “El Bano”. I promptly turned around and walked out of the building. I also made my best effort to get my own back. Let’s leave it at that will we!

 

I probably paid a price for getting my own back. I was cycling for about an hour up this hill out of Rio Villegas and couldn’t get above 4mph. I thought either the brake was binding or something must be jammed in the on the wheel, tyre or something. It was either that or my legs just weren’t working from yesterday’s full day of cycling. I assumed it was the latter, because the bike seemed ok. About a further 2km up the hill, I thought no,...something’s wrong. I leaned the bike against a crash barrier and then walked around the bike, only to find the trailer wheel completely flat. I’d been pulling what was almost a dead weight up this hill. As if it wasn’t hard enough cycling mountains with a heavy load, I decided to increase difficulty factor with a flat tyre.  Anyway, I fixed the puncture and then I was off, this time at a faster speed- a frightening top speed 5.4 mph! Wow!

 

The scenery throughout this stretch of cycling was fantastic, and because there is no civilisation, so to speak, you are also less likely to see El perro!

 

I arrived in El Bolson in time to book a hotel. As it was my birthday, I was rather looking forward to a bath, but it wasn’t to be. Only a shower....which was by anyone’s standards, a gross exaggeration! It was the sort that you have to run around in to get wet! A huge disappointment!

 

There was also no Wi FI...a router problem, it seemed! I got changed and walked down to the nearest decent looking restaurant I could find, to treat myself to a pre – birthday meal and drink. The restaurant was great- a huge steak accompanied by a half bottle of Trapiche Malbec. I also decided to push the boat out and have a sweet! An ice cream in whisky looked rather appealing when I scanned the menu! I asked the waitress what whisky she would be using. She said, “what whisky would you like”? “You don’t happen to have a Highland Park do you?” (After all, its not a whisky that I drink very often!!!!!!) She went away and came back and said “yes we do”. I said would it be possible to use that whisky. “Of course”, she said. Then she proceeded to pour a quarter bottle into this bowl with a couple of scoops of coffee ice cream, topped with some nuts. When it arrived, I scooped out the ice cream and nuts and supped this whisky! Now, it cost me nearly twenty pounds the last time I treated myself to a Highland Park in El Calafate (sorry guys- I misunderstood the price that the barman quoted me). When I received the bill at £20 I nearly fainted! And it was measured out in a proper spirit measure; the first time I have ever seen one used here.

 

So I calculated the value of my sweet which was a stonking 23 pesos- about £4, should have been about £250 in “El Calafate money”. So, altogether a bargain and the best pre-birthday meal ever! Though it didn’t feel like that the next day!