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The Furthest South I can go in Chile!
The accidental ferry ride
The bus is at 0930 so I'm up, breakfasted and out by 0800. I took a photo of the village from the top of the hill so the hostel owner and I were able to "discuss" what I needed to do this morning. The bus goes from Cochrane to Villa O Higgins, passing an intersection (cruce in Spanish) It was this intersection I needed to get to. I got to the "rotunda", the car park type place where everyone leaves their cars (did I tell you there are no cars in this village? It's so cute!) and saw 2 men chatting next to a lorry whose engine was running. I approached them to ask if they were going to the cruce. Yes one of them said. He was going to Cochrane and would drop me off there. Great, so I jumped in and we made very small talk for 20 mins or so then he dropped me off at the junction. So was that classed as my 1st hitch hiking experience? Or not cos there was no thumb involved?
So I had an hour to kill. No problem. There was a bus shelter and the weather was dry and cloudy with not much wind. I hung out with a heard of goats for the 1st half hour then read my book. It got to 1030, 2 hours later and not one car had passed (or the bus!) going in either direction. I had decided at this point that the next (first) car going my way I would flag (thumb?) down. I only had one guys word for it that there was a bus at all. There may not be a bus for 2 days!! So another hour later that's exactly what I did. 2 army guys. I asked if they were going to Villa O Higgins. They said no but they were going somewhere else and would drop me there if I like? Great. I have no idea what you said or where that is but there's only one road so it's gotta closer to my destination. I jumped in with no fear. Maybe THIS was my 1st time. I used my thumb and everything! It didn't feel like it though.
They took me to a deserted port with a deserted looking ferry and a big ferry type passenger shelter giving me vague instructions to wait here and the bus to O Higgins would be here at 2pm. It was 11 now. No problem. I'm getting used to all this waiting. A man was in the shelter and I thought he was waiting for the bus too. He tried to tell me/ask me something but it wasn't happening. He walked onto the ferry saying hang on a wee minute, and came back telling me to come with him for coffee. Definitely I thought. I followed him onto the ferry (well I had 3 hours to kill right?) through a door and into a room filled with the captain and crew of the ferry all sitting there having coffee and snacks! I was invited to sit down and given coffee and freshly made bread and jam straight out the oven. Cool!
I need to rewind a bit before I tell you the next part of the story. When I was with Rafael, it became apparent that getting from Villa O Higgins to El Chalten would be somewhat tricky to say the least. The journey would involve buses, ferries and a huge amount of difficult walking through rivers. We had no idea if anything would be available as the start of the season isn't until November but we live in hope and were both up for the challenge. Check this out:
http://www.roughguides.com/destinations/south-america/chile/northern-patagonia/south-of-lago-general-carrera/argentina-the-hard-way-the-el-chalten-crossing/
So these guys were asking where I was going and the captain was very helpful and called his friend from the other ferry (the one I would need to catch) who said they were not running until November 7th! Also the Argentina border there doesn't open until November 1st. So that's it. I'm stuffed. There is only 133km (82 miles) between Ville O Higgins and El Chalten, but because of reasons nobody seems to know and all think the whole thing is ludicrous, I need to go all the way back up to Chile Chico, cross the border there (cos that one is open), and get the bus all the way back down on the Argentinian side to El chalten! 885 km (550miles) This will take me 3 days. I KNOW!!!
Anyway, everyone went off to do their things except the chef, who was still cooking yummy smelling food. I looked out the window and there were cars getting on the ferry now. I asked the chef what time they were leaving. He said at 12 but don't worry you have plenty of time. It was 1155 and he had just given me another coffee! OMG. I need to get off this thing pretty quick! I finished my coffee burning my throat then left the nice warm kitchen. I was too late. The ramp was up and we were moving! I said to the guys I need to get off! They signalled to the captain above us in his wee room. He honked the ferry horn! Then one of the guys said we will be back in 1 hour don't panic. I stopped panicking.
After half an hour when we reached the other side of the river, it became apparent to me that in fact this WAS the way to Ville O Higgins and that the bus that I needed was actually ON the ferry! This is probably what the army guys were telling me right from the start! But what was with the 2pm thing though? The ferry left at 12!
Anyway, the bus took us to Ville O Higgins in 2 hours. We conked out twice and waited for the driver to fix the bus, and we saw, would you believe it, CONDORS! They flew right above the bus. 3 of them. Massive! Gorgeous!
I thought this place would be much bigger than it is. There are two restaurants though, and electricity, and I found a place to stay pretty quickly. I am running out of cash. Normally there is a cash machine in each of these towns, but I only have enough for either my bed tonight OR my travel tomorrow. Maybe the bus driver will be happy to wait till I find a cash machine in Cochrane when we get there. Oh well.
I've been told I can get cash "that way". I went that way and into a shop, with no cash machine. I explained what I needed and she started doing the whole cash back thing. Perfect I thought. No. Cos neither of my cards worked! She suggested paying the hostel by bank transfer. Great idea! I went back to the hostel and my bank didn't recognise the "foreign" account number. AH! My emergency dollars! I have $200 US dollars stashed in a secret place (that I will not disclose in case word gets around). I'd forgotten all about that. It was suggested to me during my research that if the very worst happened and I was mugged or lost everything, that I would at least have my emergency dollars to buy everyone a beer while I pondered what to do next!
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