Now, my bus from Montevideo had a destination of Fray Bentos, a town on the border of Argentina. Upon arrival I would need find my own way across the border to catch another bus at 12:35 at a highway stop just outside of Gualeyguaychú, that bus would take me for the next 15 hours up to Puerto Iguazú where I was planning on doing the only thing there is to do in Puerto Iguazú, see the Iguazú Waterfalls. One of the natural wonders of the world and coined as the widest falls in the world. I was looking forward to this major touristic hit to pull me out of my slump that had dampened my days in Montevideo.
Yet I explained this strange feeling that occupied my stomach and mind as I was headed for Fray Bentos. I was kinda hoping I could simply walk across the border.. well the bridge (Rio Uruguay separates the two countries, thus a brdige was built to connect the two sides). Although upon arrival I was told that the bridge was not close and that there was no commuting buses going across the border until the next morning, not an option, I had to arrive in under 3 hours. Thus the only option was to take a taxi for the 50 odd kilometers to where I would get the bus. This taxi turned out to cost 1600 Uruguayan pesos, thats around 75 dollar taxi fare! I didn´t have the money so I had to run 15 blocks to find an ATM, get food and rush back, time was ticking down, but I wasn´t panicking yet, I was more pissed off about the cost of the taxi, the inconvenience of it all, and the growing nervousness in my stomach. I had nothing to be nervous about, what was going on here?
Anyways I took the cab, arrived at the Gualeyguaychú bus station where I was supposed to change a piece of paper for my bus ticket at the Andesmar agency there. Upon arrival I am told there is no Andesmar agency in Gualeyguaychú... I´m thinking, ¨you have got to be kidding me¨. I get a second opinion (which is always a good idea) and he tells me that I have to go directly to the stop on the highway, there they will give it to me. A bit of relief but a part of me still feels impending danger. Somewhere in the back of my mind I was thinking ¨its not gonna work out, I´m gonna be sleeping on the damn ground tonight!¨ We arrive at the highway stop. A big store, restaurant, telephones, internet, souvenir shop, this place has EVERYTHING, minus an ATM. I only had equivalent to a few dollars left in my pocket, I literally couldn´t afford to miss this bus. As we pull in a saw the clear ¨Andesmar¨ sign on the front of the building which was a plus. I looked for an agency, nothing, I asked the people working the counter. They said ¨yeah you can get your tickets here, but we can´t print it, and there are no buses coming today, all the buses leaving Buenos Aires were called off. Only for the 16th. There was some strike called, just for that one day! I was in denial for a short period of time, making sure I had heard right, I forced all the information out of the guy that I could. He said I could call such and such a number in the morning and change it. I had no other choice but to wait the 24hours until 12:35 the night of the 17th.
I slept on the ground that night, in my tent, beside the building, farm feilds around, a strong smell of manure filled the air and a pack of sheep were contained behind a fence maybe 10 meters from my tent. I stayed up late and say the blues away, with the nightly janitor awkwardly doing his duties nearby.
I was awaken around 9am by the sound the turning of a large uncovered engine that seemed as if it was right outside my tent and .... getting louder, thus ... closer. I thought am I going to be run over by some bitter famer because I camping near his sheep, they told this place was tranquilo, no pasa nada!. I hurriedly opened the tent and looked outside, there was the farmer 5 meters away on his big green tractor. But he didn´t care at all so I lay back down. Shortly after I tried calling the such and such a number. They told me I needed to contact the people that isued the paper given. Another exterior company. Just adding another peice of paper between me and my ticket, the claimed efficiency that is added clearly isn´t worth it... I tried contacting them too, no luck. Sent them an email, no reply.
If it was not for the generosity and care of the people working at this bus stop. I would not have made it. They took it upon themselves to get me that ticket. I got to several of them by the end of that slow, painful 24 hours. They allowed me to make calls, use the internet both without charge. They were aware that I had no money and had no desire to spend more money on this unexpected stop. They worked relentlessly on the phones and by mid-day got my my ticket. I was overjoyed. Following that they offered to give me some food, for free, cause they knew I had only brought enough to sustain myself for an overnight busride. I was expecting a frugal sandwich or something. They bring out a pitcher of cold water, a bowl of breads, a full plate of rice, potatoes and meat. Again I was overjoyed... I couldn´t thank them enough, and they passed it off as nothing, ¨no no por nada, por nada!¨ I was amazed and extremely grateful. I waited until evening, reading, watching TV, writing, I became the bum of the bus stop it was hilarious. By the time night came around and the employees were off work some would come up and greet me or remark ¨whoa that guys still here!¨ I scampered onto the bus when it came thinking ¨finally¨.
I was on the road north. To the sub-tropical province of Misiones, the tri-border of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. The Iguazú Falls. The uneasy feeling in my stomach was non-existent. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment