I got a few hours sleep. I was awake by 5am and dozed on for a bit, catching a brief glimpse of the sunrise. We were due in to Commodoro Rivadavia at 6am. Outside the landscape had changed. We´d left the lake district with its picturesque mountains and valleys far behind. Dawn revealed a flat sparse, dusty landscape. A gorse covered plain.
I snoozed for a little longer expecting we´d arrive in Commodoro very soon. The bus arrived nearly an hour late, around 7am. I didn´t realise this at the time until a little later after we´d left the bus. The bus station here was rough looking. It was busy, a lot of ´characters´hanging about. Indeed the town its self didn´t look much. There was nothing appealing about staying here any longer than it took to get the next bus out of the place. I wasn´t looking forward to hanging around here for the next two hours. Its not that the place was dangerous. It just wasn´t appealing at all. I looked at my clock and saw that it was 7.20. Great!! only another 40 mins to hang around this kip. I now realise we were late arriving and its an unexpected bonus. The terminal was clammy, smelled of engine fumes and had too many greasy looking honchos. I just wanted to be on the next bus.
Soon enough we boarded and the bus rolled south at 8am. For over an hour, perhap two, we followed the coast. The sea was calm and flat. Long stretches of deserted beach passed by. Above the sky was blue, mottled with a scattering of light clouds. On the right hand side of the bus the parched, dusty plain stretched away inland. We left the coastline at some point and quickly the flat plain stretched out all around. The journey down to Rio Gallegos was something over 800km. We were due there at 18.30 this evening. On the tv screens Blood diamond was being shown. Its the first time I´ve watched a dvd at 8am in the morning. Great film!!
Throughout the rest of the day the landscape changed very little. Mostly it was flat, sometimes interrupted by low hills or ridges. Sometimes it dipped into a low plain for a while before rising again to a high plain. Towns were few and far between. The big distractions came with the sight of llamas and then ostriches/emus and then the biggest surprise of all.... pink flamingos!! I wasn´t expecting to see these. We stopped twice to break up the journey. We got to stretch our legs for a few minutes, then it was back on the bus to watch the land and sky pass by.
We finally reached Rio Gallegos, a port town and none too appealing either, at around 7pm. We had been delayed a few miles outside town for 40 mins while police officers stopped all traffic. An officer took details of everyone on board. From the bus terminal I limped for 10 mins to the hostel I wished to stay at and checked in. My hip was very stiff this evening after 36hrs on buses.
We´re far south in Patagonia now. I expected it to be cold but its very pleasant and the roaring winds I´ver heard about are merely blustery on this particular evening. Its very brigh and mild as the sun begins to lower in the sky. I´m in a room with an American lad, a german girl and an Italian guy, all heading for Ushuaia. I´m the only one going to El Calafate. Making my dinner I eat with a very jovial Israeli couple in their early 20´s. They´re quite different to other Israelis I´ve seen so far who can be quite distant as they generally travel in packs. This couple, however a ver friendly, slightly on the rotund side and with no airs or graces about them. It was enjoyable talking to them as they teased one another. At around 11pm the elctricty went off so there was nothing else to do but go to bed.
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