#32 Tyres, Tea, and Politics: Part 2 - Rio Grande

Our original worn tyre

It turns our that both Rio Grande and Ushuaia, our eventual destination, are located on an island obstructed not only by water but also Chilean territory. That meant crossing two borders and taking a boat ferry to reach another city described aptly by Lonely Planet as 'just a bleak pit stop for most travelers'. I have griped to numerous people now abut why the border can't simply be moved slightly to the west to allow an easier crossing.

On Emmanuel and Jorge's recommendation we took the back roads to avoid the numerous trucks that take this path. Advice we ignored on the way back North. It's a pretty disturbing feeling being in the middle of nowhere in the event of a breakdown, particularly when you're riding on a treadless tyre. With our passports stamped (we're on about page four now, with so many Argentina / Chile stamps) we were ready to complete the final leg, it being by now around 7.30pm. Of course that's when we noticed the flat. With surprisingly little fuss we set about putting our puncture repair kit and pump to the test. I think Reece had been expecting it but hadn't wanted to stop so far from civilisation. As luck would have it, another biker had pulled up in a snazzy looking BMW and was able to lend us his 12V tyre pump, so we weren't stuck there all night with our bicycle pump.

In Rio Gallegos Emmanuel had given me a small tank bag to pass on to a guy he had set us up with in Rio Grande. It only occurred to me at the second border crossing perhaps what his real intentions may have been all along: he was running some sort of smuggling business into Tierra del Fuego albeit on a small scale, as the bag was less than 20cm in diameter. To alleviate my fears I quickly searched the bag and found nothing. Still slightly skeptical Reece assured me that Ushuaia was unlikely to have a roaring drug trade and if someone was going to use me as a mule it would be to carry much more than could fit in this bag

In amongst the drama we had run out of time to ring this guy about the tyre. Of course when we went to find the number later that evening we realised the cellphone was missing. Not such a big deal as to be honest it has been nothing but a hassle (we were told it would work in Chile, but found that not to be the case when we tried to make calls following our accident). But the same bag contained my notebook that I have being keeping numbers of contacts we met along the way, keepsakes, reccommendations for visits etc. Just another in the long list of things we have lost on the road :-(  So of course we couldn't get in contact meaning our only option was to turn up at the shop. By the time we arrived it was nearly 9pm so thinking it would be closed we found a place to sleep (horrible, smoky, and the 'shower' consisted of a shower head two feet from the toilet).

Signs, monuments, and whole plazas asserting sovereignty over
the Islas Malvinas (Falkland Islands) can be seen in Patagonian Argentina.

The next day it was up early and to the shop with the hope of riding into Ushuaia that day. On arrival we noticed a sign with the shops opening hours: 4pm to 10pm! We could have gone in the night before and been in a better position. We had little to do but sit and wait on the curb to see if someone turned up, so that's what we did. The plan worked when a guy with a definite biker look about him (black flat cap, rather large belly, etc) but there was no sign of Guillermo, and I still had this 'tank bag' to give him. Within minutes we had two new tyres for a third of the SM Motors quoted price and all that needed to be done was install them.

Another few hours of mate drinking, google translated conversations, and lots of photos of bikes, and then Gulliermo turned up and I was able to rid myself of the bag. My inkling was that Emmanuel had arranged for him to act as our translator, as he didn't seem to have any connection to the bike store aside from being a keen motorcyclist. We were given stickers to put on our panniers before (finally) riding on to where we have been heading this whole trip: the southern most city in the world, Ushuaia.