Argentina (Part 1)

Day 45: Finally crossed the border at 06:30 after a thirty minute wait at the bottom of a monster series of switch backs climbing to over 9k'. Argentina welcomed me with a bill for $175, although it is good for ten years.

Did my best to sleep during the last 3.5 hours to Mendoza but it was broken at best. 52 consecutive hours is a record that I hope we don't have to break. Mechanic agrees that a thirty year old motor leaking oil is par for the course. Hope four gallons of oil will be enough to make the trip. Nearly fell asleep standing up. Decided to go with a wine and baguette dinner, get a good night's sleep and figure out logistics of the last 3k kilometers in the morning.

Day 46: Between Google Earth and Ruta 0 I think we have a solid plan. Should give us the best possibility at picking up hitch hikers, great vistas, a good multi-day hike (hopefully the W in Torres del Paine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torres_del_Paine_National_Park), and a shot at Ushuaia with enough time to start heading North. Need to get to Bariloche in one day. It will be brutal but it will set us up for safety days during Patagonia. Grand plans for Mendoza basically turned into eating giant steaks and veging out over a few bottles of wine.

Day 47: Starting five hours late, but in a significantly better mood. Hope to make it up with car camping. Sun to the East, Andes to the West, blue skies and vineyards all around, and the Panamericana Sur stretching as far as the eye can see. By the first chorus of Fleetwood Mac's "Second Hand News", thoughts of a "timeline" were long gone, and by the time we hit Tunuyan I was giving the locals an air piano and drum clinic at every intersection with Billy Joel's "Angry Young Man". Some may have picked up some pointers but most looked like they assumed "gringo on drogas". Took us three tries to stay on the Panamericana only to find that major sections were under construction and the gravel access roads weren't drive able. Snuck onto the construction portion only to be turned around after 10km. After we were turned around we decided to make the best of the delay and test out the 4wd on some basic dirt obstacles. She performed flawlessly and I don't think we will have to navigate anything more difficult than that...but what do I know. Six hours later we are 123km from Mendoza... Latitude 34° South and the climate feels like Northern California with olive groves taking the place of vineyards. Passed through a national park on the Ruta 144 connector to Ruta 40 Panamericana with one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen. Now I'm bummed we are driving at night. First Mate attempt, complete failure. Convinced the woman selling us the cups must have had a cup of sugar in hers. They say it's an acquired taste but I can't remember ever acquiring a taste this bad in my life. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerba_mate) Just as I was falling in love with San Rafael, I think they gave us bad gas. Limping into Malargüe tonight.

Day 48: Mechanic seems to think we are running on five cylinders. I'm a little skeptical but he says he can fix it in an hour, so if it is the fuel at least it won't be too long to find out. Still need to figure out the early morning starting issues. For a culture so particular about a 24 hour clock, they sure don't mind the similarity between "dos y media" and "doce y media". Leave it to the Canadian to pick up on the extra "eh". Of course it wasn't "doce y media", that would be right in the middle of siesta. Originally hoped to be on the road by 10:30 now it's looking closer to 16:00. We are experts at losing time in translation. Good news, three hours labor and a new starter for a 1984 Land Cruiser, $45. In all the excitement of getting back on the road, I assumed 5/8 tank was enough and didn't fill a spare. Ruta0 showed approximately 40 miles of gravel, but with construction it was closer to 75, with nothing but vistas, high winds and gaucho camps to keep you company. Asked three different passers-by over the course of 30 miles how much further to paved road and to the nearest gas station. Gravel for my sanity, gas for our safety. First two were way off, only adding to anxiety, but as the sun set a confident caballero gave us estimates of 15 miles to paved road and 15 more to fuel. Sure enough, right at 15 miles, vocal elation at the sight of a haggard, 1.5 lane asphalt road was impossible to repress. The joy was short lived however as we approched the first town in over 125 miles with nary a filling station in sight. So we did the next logical thing, and began knocking on doors. As luck would have it, we picked an open all night regional school, and after 30 obligatory handshakes to awe struck students and amused faculty we were taken to the town police officer. After a brief exchange, he obliged us with two gallons to crest the next hill and complete the last 15 miles to the service station.

Day 49: Besides stops for Jeremy Antonyshyn irritable bowl syndrome, a result of his quest to become the next Yvon Chouinard, we safely arrived in Bariloche...and it's closed. Evidently going to the bathroom in 60mph winds, with only one pair of clean jeans to your name, challenges the bathroom difficulty of the "Arabella" cargo "ship". Deciding to head to Chile for some camping and fishing along the lakes, we learned that the Gendarmerie frown upon leaving the country with 15 gallons of spare fuel. After such a close call just a day ago, we now find ourself in an embarrassment of riches. Having to decide how best to use this fuel we returned to Villa la Angostura to pick up a French couple looking for a ride to San Martin de Los Andes. On the way to San Martin however, we lost the brakes. We successfully limped into San Martin thankful to have lost brakes here and not 60 miles into Chilean Patagonia. Small downside being it is still Sunday and everything is closed. Decided to give tent camping a dry run for the hiking portion of Torres del Paine. Finally had a proper Argentinean steak and it may have been the best of my life. I know Shawn Gordon won't believe it, but I think the Roquefort cheese sauce may convince him. It will most certainly be the best steak breakfast sandwich of my life.

Day 50: That run at camping was a lot of things but certainly not dry. Patagonia welcomed us with the first rainstorm of the trip, but we did manage to stay dry inside the tent. Getting the tent and fly dry before leaving however, may be an issue. Truck wouldn't start again this morning, decided to have it towed rather than popping the clutch to hopefully avoid this issue down the road. Trying to shift from a traveling to vacation mindset but the weather isn't making that a possibility. Seems like San Martin has a fair amount of hiking and mountain biking, and as much as I'd love to see this town in the sun we've decided to push for Puerto Montt as soon as possible. "You got your passion, you got your pride, but don't you know only fools are satisfied? Dream on but don't imagine they'll all come true. When will you realize, Vienna waits for you? Slow down you crazy child. Take the phone off the hook and disappear for awhile. It's alright, you can afford to lose a day or two When will you realize Vienna waits for you?" - Billy Joel, "Vienna"