Rancagua, Osorno and Puerto
Montt
Thursday Feb 7th
11:30 pm - Friday 10 am
Our 11:00 pm departure never
occurred. Bad traffic in Santiago was stalling the bus for a few 'minutes'.
Minutes turn to hours and our hopes started to sink once more. We saw at
least 20 different buses pulled into the station, sharply picking up fellow
passengers and moved on.
 |
| ' You want me to fit all that here?!' |
Midnight came. It was
officially Friday. By 3:00 pm this day we had to be at the airport and by 6:00
pm we were expected in Punta Arenas. Our energy was low. After all, it
was been 48 hrs of mishaps, of broken cars, lost buses and eternal
wait. Thirty minutes later, hope came with the sight of a Bus Del Norte
machine. We rushed into the loading zone with all our belongings. Our load
lighter since the bike box was already in Osorno waiting for us.
 |
Just in case you forgot how the bike box look.
Very easy to spot! |
As the luggage compartment
doors open, we quickly understood their hesitation to take the bike box in this
trip. The space was really limited. I couldn't comprehend how we were going to
fit all our gigantic bags in the space left. The bus operator could not
comprehend either. Bags
were re-positioned shuffled and stacked. Space was commissioned from different
compartments and one bag made it into the driver’s pit. We were all aboard,
welcomed with a snack and a seat to rest and sleep.
 |
| That's me, looking sad due to the 'no bike' news. |
Morning came quick as the bus
stopped in different stations. Passengers came in and out the bus through the
whole trip. But mainly down giving us hope for free space for our beloved
triangular double-bike box. As soon as the bus stopped in Osorno, Sam and
I jumped out and headed to the office. We just had to pick up the bike box and
take it into the bus. The box had arrived the night before. Or so we
thought.
Our bike box is very easy to
spot. It is a white triangular box that resembles a gigantic piece of
cheese more than a bike box. From the first sight into the office we knew it
was not there. Fear, frustration and hopelessness flew through my entire
body. We were still racing the clock to the airport and yet another mishap
presented itself to us. Gear check for the Race was tomorrow. We had
already missed skills test and we couldn't check our gear without two bikes!
 |
| Special Slackers delivery to the Cargo Station in Puerto Montt. |
Once more we told our story:
the car purchase, the broken car, the lost bus tickets, the race. People
felt empathy and became more willing to help. At one point everyone in
the office was searching for the box, including the driver. Phone calls were
made, supervisors were called upon stage while we gazed through the glass wall
and hope for a glance of good luck.
Finally word came from the
driver: 'We cannot wait any longer. The bus must leave'. Desperation came
followed immediately by some news. A new plan had been forged: the bike
box was at Osorno but at a different terminal. It was sitting in a cargo
terminal a few miles from us. Our bus could not go there or
wait any longer. Our option was to send the box directly to Puerto Montt's
cargo station. The bus driver will leave us there and we just had to contact
out truck pick up to change locations. After all we've been through in the past
days, this seemed simple enough.
We re-boarded our bus and
continued on our way to Puerto Montt. Our minds filled with questions: would
the box make it in time? Why couldn't they send the box directly there
from the first place? Would we be able to contact our truck driver?
A few hours later we arrived
to the Puerto Montt, Bus Del Norte’s cargo station. All bags were accounted for
and placed on the sidewalk. I entered the office to, once more, not find the
bike box.
 |
Sam helping download the truck...
wrongly thinking the box was here... not! |
Calls were made and we were
assured the box was on its way. Since arriving to Chile most of our
communication with the outside world have been possible thanks to our DeLorme inReach system. It allows us to send 160 characters
messages through email without the need of an internet connection. However, all
we had for the bus driver was a phone number. And even though Taz was helping
us contact the truck driver, the fact that it was not possible for us to walk
to the other bus station with our entire gear and bike box was lost in
translation. We needed to speak to him directly.
 |
| Wiiiii!!!! The bike box is here!!! |
A gentleman from the cargo
station loaned us his cellphone to contact the truck driver and gave him directions
to get there. As truck after truck came into the station we rushed to them to
find bags of merchandise and luggage but not a single bike box.
About 45 minutes after the
bus left us in Porto Montt a small truck came bearing good news. The sight of a
bike box had never before brought so much happiness to three people. We had all
our gear!
Our truck driver was already
waiting for us and the rest of our luggage was already packed. We rushed the
bike box into the back of the pick up truck and rushed to the airport.
 |
How do you fit 550 lbs of gear and 4 people in a pick-up truck?
Hoping one of them is not claustrophobic! |
Me: 'How far is the
airport?'
Driver: 'I don’t really know,
I've never been there'.
Me: 'oh oh'.
No comments:
Post a Comment