Rada Tilly to Sarmiento to Esquel Day 39 40 41 Jan 17 18 19 2014

 

This turned out to be one of those eventful days……the night before while having dinner with a couple young Argentineans , Antonio had met earlier in Ushuaia, they convinced Antonio he should follow me on Route 26. Just over an 1/2 hour out of Rada, Antonio’s bike develops a wobble. We discover a number of broken spokes on the rear wheel and unload the bike hoping this will allow him to return to Comodoro for repairs…..no way. We have no luck in flagging a truck to get the bike to the city….people stop but are either not going that far or are unable to carry the bike…we decide to take the wheel off….no simple job without a centre stand.Antonio’s Argentinean friends stop to say they saw Antonio in town….I was late in getting a pic Wheel off Antonio departs with my bike which has also been unloaded while I stand guard in the sun over his bike and our stuff. It’s roughly 10am……while he is gone a number of people stop and I field questions with the usual…no hablo espanol…all try with hand gestures to see if they can help….I explain in kind that everything is ok. During the next 10 hours I am given water and a large chocolate cup cake by individuals who stop. Antonio returns around 1.30 pm…no wheel….after a lot of running around the Honda Rep takes him to a bicycle shop and he is repairing the wheel but it will not be ready until 6.30………we snooze in some bushes to get out of the sun and talk to people who stop…….. Antonio leaves at 5.30 and returns at 7.30…..we get the wheel back on and shortly after  pm are headed for Sarmiento. It is late when we arrive and set up is done in the shadows of a mild evening.

Next morning we depart  with Esquel as our destination…..scenery changes about 50 k from Sarmiento as we are approaching the foothills of the Andes. We lost a couple hours at Jose de San Martin while waiting in a line up for fuel. Reach Esquel around 6 pm…I am on reserve….the station has no fuel….just across the road is a campground…the nicest yet…we decide to stay a couple days before going through the Parque Y Reserva Nacional Los Alerces  which will take us on Ripio roads for 100 plus k and back to 40 and north towards Bariloche. Today is catch up the blog and do some maintenance on my bike. Antonio’s bike has  about 30 % more power than mine….hoping it is a clogged air filter problem….if not then I will just lag behind….sucks. Last evening we met a couple great families and though I couldn’t converse, Antonio spent the evening in conversation with them….the children were the nicest and most friendly kids with the young boy so gracious and polite and interested in our travels….he is seven . Camp great kids Another family next to us

From the campground I was able to get a pic of an excursion train which is quite old and runs on narrow gage track.