God Bless Asphalt. I know it may sound unpopular and not-eco-friendly but after 5 days and almost 700 km of awful dirt road where your top speed barely reaches 50km/h, a flat tire and a major problem with the engine (more on this on the next post..), seeing a paved road in front of you has more or less the same effect that an oasis has on a thirsty wonderer in the hottest of the deserts.
Having said that, this has been by far the most intriguing and interesting part of the trip; and the fact that only such a terrible road connects these remote areas of the country, contributes to keep the feeling of loneliness and wilderness which makes this a unique experience. Waving at other travellers when you pass them, is something that you might see only on desolate roads, where everybody shares the same feeling, and even just a quick movement of your hand, creates a connection that truly starts many miles behind.
The first day we decided to go for an off-track visit to a farm (“Estancia”), where we had the luck to find an awesome blue sky which enhanced the red coloured ground (which reminded us of Australia) and the yellow fields that surrounded the whole instalment. The light of the late afternoon gave us a fantastic opportunity to capture some details like the lining fluttering against the blue sky.
After a nice night indoors, drinking wine and telling stories in front of the fire, we left early to begin what we knew would have been the tough bit.
If you ever come this way and decide to descend Patagonia through the “Ruta 40”, prepare yourself with endless patience, a full second tank of petrol (Argentinians don’t seem to be particularly attentive on refilling their petrol stations and the phrase “no tengo super, nada mas.” with a big stupid smile on their faces is way more common that you might expect) and most definitely a camera.
If on one side this will stretch your enthusiasm for driving, on the other side it will pay back a thousand times in terms of scenic views and never-ending sunsets.
The landscape is mostly shaped by the wind, which will be your companion for the whole road and more. The wind is so strong that it can sometimes literally hold you up, push your vehicle for miles and change your plan according to where and if you want to sleep. At the same time it avoids any plant higher than one foot to grow and this is the main characteristic that you’ll have to face. I personally loved it, as it’s something profoundly diverse than anything else I have ever seen and the only other place in the world that can generate such a hostile environment is probably the Siberian tundra.
Hundreds of miles of no-man-land, or more accurately I would say “few men land”, as Patagonia is one of the lowest population density areas in the world and except for the sporadic and ghost towns (like that one where we changed the tire), you won’t find any human evidence, apart from a few fences limiting the territory where sheep and lamas share the ground with pumas and ostriches.
The second to last day of Ruta40, exhausted after a whole day of travel, at sunset we found this turquoise-blue lake in the middle of nowhere, and believe me it was surreal. After many hours of barren landscape where everything is so flat that it’s difficult to understand where the ground ends and the sky begins, discovering this unexpected gem at the magic hour reminded us why we’re here.
