Hitching Glory!

As a treat for hitchhiking down south, I decided to treat myself for a bus up north.  Fate, however, had a different plan.

 
 Both of these pictures were from day hikes out of El Chalten.  Beautiful and worth it!

I met a younger American/Israeli woman who asked if I wanted to hitchhike with her North a bit. I think she was a little nervous and she, as I later realized, knew very little Spanish.  I decided a bit more hitching would be nice and we got up early the next morning to hit the road.  Leaving at 8 am and stopping in a few stores for some supplies we waited on the outskirts of town to get a ride. 

I have always been warned by other travelers not to hitch or a specific route was harder than the last.  Time and time again I´ve heard, going from South to North on Route 40 (which is like our Route 66) is difficult. I´ve heard of a woman taking up to 2 weeks to get up North. So, stopping at the store we built up our supplies....like cookies and a chocolate I ate almost immediately.

Knowing that it was Sunday and Easter did not help our chances of being picked up.  Neither did the realization that were were actually on the wrong side of town and going the wrong way.  Good grief.  Not a bright moment!!! J  An hour and a half after ready to hitch we finally were in the right spot!  We got picked up within 20 min by this couple who spoke English. First time I had been picked up by English speakers!  The brought us about an hour East to where we would pick up Route 40.  We said goodbye to the very nice couple as they went South.  The new view was.... desolate.  There was nothing in an hour each direction you looked, literally.  The intersection was the only change in the straight roads and we joked that we were going to walk back into town.  The wind picked up and I was wearing every piece of warm clothing I could find J

 

Everytime we looked to the South for a potential ride our eyes would water.  Stumbling around trying to find good footing, Ella and I got a ride.  YES!  It is so exciting when a car stops!  The man who helped us out told us that we were not allowed to speak English in the car, for the sake of his young son not understanding.  

Ella had a quiet ride.  He took us until nightfall though to Perito Moreno. During our ride we saw two motorcycles blown over on the gravel road by the wind.  Crazy glad that we were not hitching still!!  We stopped and helped out, riders fine but it was going to be a long day for them.

That night we found a diamond in the rough cabin to sleep in for cheap and set off early the next morning in two different directions.  We both took buses this day J  The next day I decided to hitch again, mainly cause I forgot how expensive buses were!  I got to Esquel around 1:30 am and found a hostel nearby.  Next morning I showered and left early for the main gas station in town.  It was cold.  Frosty cold!  After 40 min or so I tried to run my fingers through my wet hair and found it frozen.  Sweet.  I got a ride from a very nice family of 3 men who in the end bought me coffee and pastries after our hour long ride.  They left me at a gas station where I asked the attendant if it was a good day to hitch.  She said no and pointed me to the bus terminal.  The next bus was at 9pm.  I figured I could put in 4 hours of trying before giving up.  

Not too long after, I was picked up by 2 very old men who were incredibly jovial.  One was obviously drunk...in the morning? But not driving so i didn´t care : )  They said they were going to Campos and I said that was fine as long as it was one the same road.  They didn´t answer as to weather it was near a small town.  When dropped off it was so much more desolate than I could have ever imagined.  After waiting till their dust cleared I went to a ditch for a bathroom break.  Once in a very uncompromising position I heard a car.  Damn it!  Rather than run to the road trying to button my pants, I let it go.  That was going to be one of less than a dozen cars to pass over the next hour.  I did notice that in my ditch there were quite a few bones.  No idea from what... a rat, a bird, a rhino...I´m not too good at being a physical anthropologist :)

I played a rock throwing game with myself.  My right arm won.

I tried to make friends with a lizard who I just chased for 15 meters.

I groomed myself.

I stretched.

I sang.

I danced.

Whistled.

Tanned.

Cleaned my boots.

Ate most of my food.

Noticed giant holes in the ground and wondered how big those spiders would look in the night when I was probably going to end up camping.  Or how long it would take for me to convince myself they were going to eat me.

At least no wind!

And then a car stopped.  Sigh...relief!  Such sweet relief!  Plenty of space for my things. Mate (traditional tea) to drink and he even offered the rest of his cookies : ) He was going to exact direction I needed and we got into town just after sunset.  Perfect.  He is also going up north the day I want as well and we are meeting again for a last free ride.  Sweet!!!

I finally checked the numbers and I have hitched 12,300 miles in Argentina.  AWESOME.  Someone told me that that was a savings of just under $1000 usd.  Again, awesome.   As always, belly full and good memories!