Getting Unstuck in Coyhaique,Chile

STUCK INSIDE OF COYHAIQUE,CHILE Jan.11^{th 2013}

Well, it has definitely been a long week of cold and windy weather, difficulty getting the parts I need to repair the motorcycle and the ensuing frustration when things don’t go as hoped or planned. There have been some ups- like some of the pictures will show. It hasn’t been all bad, but it has and continues to be a taxing challenge to keep my spirits up and not get depressed.

I’ve had some experiences where people (mechanics) said they would do something then didn’t. Promised to be somewhere at a certain time and didn’t show. Told me something, anything they thought would appease me with no intention of following through. After 50 years of travel down here, you’d think that I would have learned. I guess right now the stakes just seem a little higher. I’m anxious to get back on the road and not ‘waste another day’ walking around town. Thanks for listening, I needed to blow off steam.

 Now for some stories and pictures. The first two in-house pictures are of my room (any flat surface is open to be used)and a one nighter couple’s chimney stack used, quite ingeniously, as a heater to dry clothes that got washed with no time to dry them.

Being on a motorcycle and heading in a southerly direction with few avenues heading in that direction means you might run into people you’ve seen or traveled with before.

I’m walking down the street and look into the window in a restaurant and there is Randy and his wife Cindy. My jaw drops. Randy and I met thousands of miles north in Nazca, Peru and traveled together to Santiago, Chile where he left me for his wife who flew down to join him for a month on his motorcycle. So here we are. I get to meet her face to face, rather than hearing her voice over Skype as she and Randy conversed when he and I traveled together. That was a wonderful upper to run into them. They were also stranded, waiting for delivery of a new motorcycle tire so they could proceed further south as well.

Another upper?

When I arrived in town a week ago, I was checking out where to stay and as I mounted my bike a voice called out asking if I’d come down to Chile from Washington State. Not an uncommon question though usually in Spanish. This was clearly a southern tinged English. We chatted, he gave me his card saying,” let’s get together for lunch”. Mid-week I called and went to visit his house under construction about 10 kms. out of town in a beautiful valley. He was approaching retirement age but as a teaching medical physician he loved his work and didn’t want to let it go. His wife, a former fly fisher guide in Chile  and tour leader was equally energetic and they’d decided to settle in this valley for part of each year. They were lots of fun, gave me space to talk and flip flop between English and Spanish since both were fluent.

So here are some pictures when the sun came out and we did a day drive in the direction I will head as soon as my bike is fixed OR I just decided to go forward without getting it fixed, whichever comes first.

I ran into Randy and his wife Cindy in Coyhaique. Randy and I rode together from Nazca, Peru to Santiago, Chile. Randy left me for his wife who joined him at Christmas time in Santiago. They are riding together to Ushuaia.

The hostal I stayed in had the heater chimney going through the adjoining room. I thought this was an ingenious way to dry clothes.

My bedroom- any flat surface gets used.

Two more things I’ve experienced. This is not a small town (45,000) and yet most every store and there is a substantial downtown closes from 1-3 pm. Amazing and refreshing. The other is people stay up late, eat late and don’t get going early in the morning. Stores don’t open tell 10AM at the earliest. Is this the 21^st century? There is also a strong movement against dams and large scale industrial development. They seem to want to preserve what they have and quickly point to other parts of the world that have swallowed the ‘development pill’ and are no better off than they were before. These are an independent people, used to being considered ‘step children’ by the government in Santiago. Prices are high, most foods have to be brought a great distance either over water or by roads subject to frequent problems. Very expensive area.