One Apple A Day #157
Bariloche Airport, January 3rd, 2017
We are both staring at the battered white Ford truck in front of us. It looks like he already seen a lot of roads. There are scratches and dents almost everywhere like wrinkles on an old face. A thin layer of dust covers everything, outside and inside. This is surely not the new car we were expecting. The guy who’s showing us the car has no clues on how to help us. He is just delivering the vehicle, so he tells us to drive to the town and talk with the owner of the agency.
While we drive for the first time on the Patagonia’s roads, we check the pickup. It is six years old with more than 150000 on its engine. Not what we have been promised for sure, but for now it seems to work.
After a few mistakes and U-turn, we finally find the town of Bariloche. The wind is the absolute king here. It blows strong forcing the people to bend while they walk. It runs between the buildings carrying used newspapers and dust. It should be summer here, but it looks a lot like a late autumn, with the cold and the wind.
After wandering around with no clues on where we are going, we finally find the rental agency. We start a very animated conversation with the owner, a blond guy who would fit perfectly in a Baywatch episode. In Spanish obviously, so we are not 100% sure of what we are saying. It is high season in Patagonia, so the old battered Ford Ranger is the only pickup available. Take it or leave it. And he assures us that it may look battered but it is reliable and it will take us anywhere without any issue.
With no other options, we decide to trust the Baywatch guy and to go with the flow. We walk back to our camioneta — this is how they call a truck in Argentina — to grab our bags. Approaching the car, now that we know we will travel together for the next three weeks, we see it with different eyes. Now we know that she’s the one.
We name her “Cricchetta” as a homage to Andy’s son, a big fan of Cars by Pixar.
It’s time to find our hotel and explore Bariloche.