Bus to El Calafate (Fri 3/12)

Stats:
- Wicked winds, threatening clouds
- 3 1/2 hour bus ride

Today's weather was really good for one thing --- being inside - out of the wind. Man, it howled and growled. It reminded me of the line from the "Three Pigs" about 'huffing and puffing until I blow your house down'.  I really don't know how the people in El Chaltén live with it. I would be dead with headaches inside of a month.  If by some miracle I survived the first month, then in the second month I would be sent away for help due to sudden fits of outrage that involved cursing and wild gestures into the wind.  And should they leave me on the "outside", then I would be headed to jail by the end of the third month for killing someone.  Seriously, the wind could drive me to do horrifying and unexpected things.    

Well, I am back working with my thumbs on the iTouch after a few days of being held up in an internet cafe without WIFI anywhere. Okay, they claimed to have WIFI, but "having it" and "being able to use it" is like the ATM having cash.  This was the reason for my delayed postings.  And, a theme seems to emerging for the day, so my thumbs are going to go with it.  With the wind that is.  

Okay, you'll remember that the "ponies" were sold. We are still traveling with the panniers off the bikes. So, we walked to the bus station looking like two people in search of a couple of bikes...a pannier over each shoulder, another bag slung around neck and shoulders, and bike helmets bobbing along clipped onto something.  Luckily, the wind was at our back and it waited until we were safely inside the bus terminal before it really let loose. 
 
With an hour to kill, I started studying a bit of "human "nature".  The bus terminal was a long, narrow structure running east west. The doors opened on the north and south side of the building -- basically you can think of the doors as across the hall from each other. The wind was howling out of the north. The doors only worked to be open one at a time. For example, if the doors were open on the south side, then the wind pressure would not allow the north facing doors to open. Same physics applied to the opposite door configuration. Okay, you have the physicality and physics of the scene.  A bit about bus travel ---- everyone does it.  It is the way to get around in South America.  Car rentals are much more expensive (and crazy expensive as a one way rental), you can't always cross borders with them, buses are cheap and usually the long distance buses are pretty nice.  "Usually" is the key word, but anyway, everyone is on the bus....backpackers, fancy lady from France with her eyeglasses that match her sweater and shoes, daughter from Holland traveling with her mom, guy from NY with his high-end suitcase, and us.  Now, I was amazed watching people come into the bus terminal. As I have heard my mother say, "Were you raised in a barn?" People were blown into the north side door. They would struggle to open it against the wind. But here is the best part, they would walk into the terminal and leave the door open!  The wind would catch the door and slam it shut. Now, the same individual would exit the south side door and leave it open.  Someone else would appear at the north side door, but the vacuum made it impossible to open the door. The south door would slam shut and now they could open the door --- usually walking in and letting the doors slam. I mean really people --- when you go to bathroom, you seem to close the door once you are inside but maybe you have been backpacking so long that you have forgotten how door technology works!!  I was reminded of an English teacher in high school. From her classroom, she could see students leaving the campus in the middle of the day.  This activity was against school policy. She talked about her fantasy --- a rifle with a high powered scope so she could "pop off their kneecaps".  A woman sitting on the floor and I started to make eye contact. Pretty soon I realized the following: 1) she and I were equally aggravated with all these morons, clearly raised in barns, that did not understand how to close a door behind themselves, and 2) she and I would be roomates in jail as the wind would drive us both to extremes and we would be popping kneecaps!  She was wearing a very nice Marmot jacket in my favorite shade of green.  So, clearly she appreciates good gear and maybe we even share the same favorite color.   

From the front row in the bus, we watched the scenery. The wind howled and the bus lurched around on the road. With low, dark clouds, we returned to the Ruta 40 views --- rather dull...rolling hills, no tress, scrubby plants bent to conform with the wind patterns, and very dry grasses. The landscape included huge lakes of teal water. The lakes are fed by the Southern Icefield, so the water colors are fantastic. Over the lake, the clouds took on a shade of green. The wind whipped up whitecaps on the lake and waves crashed onto the shore that exploded six plus feet into the air. 

The dominate wind direction (yes, I know I have said this before) is out of the north.  So, anyone cycling northbound is suffering. During our trip, we met several northbound cyclists that described pushing this headwind.  I have been waiting to experience it. In fact, they talked about their riding strategies: ride early in the morning and ride during the night. Their days were spent trying to sleep in the storm drains that run under the road --- the only place to escape the wind. There are no services for many, many miles. I saw these storm drains and felt the headwind bouncing the bus and quickly concluded: I would never have reached the Carretera Austral from the south. Riders said they pushed the wind and advanced the bike about 3 1/2 miles in an hour. Not bad if you only have to go 3 1/2 miles. But, it you need to cover 120+ miles, then it is going to suck. This would have crushed my enthusiasm and you know how Arn feels about wind. He says, "It is my least favorite weather feature."

After the bus, we hopped in a taxi to our hotel. It is a lovely, contemporary place situated along the edge of the lake. The sofas in the lobby and bed cover are bright orange. They remind me of home and our new, big orange sofa. Arn says, "The place feels a bit sterile".  To this, I say, "Bring on sterile! Especially if it comes without roaches and it is clean!" I didn't tell you this, but two days ago a roach crossed the table while we were eating lunch. I didn't complain because the lunch was actually pretty good. Still, I hate bugs...in case you hadn't figured that out by now. 

We dropped our stuff in the room and shortly headed to the "downtown" area.  In a town of 15,000 people, the word "downtown" seems like an overstatement. We were in the market for a duffle bag. It was raining pretty hard, freezing cold, and still blowing hard. We worked through the shops -- most everything was tacky tourist traps offering "El Calafate" printed on anything you can imagine.  Well, almost anything because it was a long hunt to find a duffle bag large enough to hold the panniers. They can't be checked as panniers. The airlines will tear then up. We can't carry all four of them on the plane.  Finally, we found a duffle and escaped the miserable weather to our warm, dry hotel.

During our shopping expedition, we enjoyed what will be remembered as one of the funniest moments of the entire trip. We stopped in one of these hokey "expeditions" places. We asked about their "glacier hikes".  Well, it turns out we cannot go on their full day hike as Arn is TOO old!  You could have heard two gringos laughing all the back in Seattle. We told the woman about our cycling trip and she didn't believe that he is really 46 years old. The age cut off is 45. Still, she pulled out a brochure for a shorter trip that would be available to Arn. No worries, we had no plans to climb on ice with any such type of trip.  

My lack of interest in battling the elements resulted in dinner in the hotel. The wine, smoked trout salad and bread were great. Arn's ribeye steak was also prety good. Enough said. We are enjoying what feels like ripping fast internet. Tomorrow, we will see if Skype works.