The bus from Puerto Madryn was late. One hour late in fact. By the time we arrived in Comodoro Rivadavia, it was already well past midnight. It was from here that I would be taking my next bus over to Chile. After a wander around town to see what it was like, I returned to the bus station, found a patch of floor, and settled in for a few hours of fitful sleep.
The long road through the pampa from Puerto Madryn to Comodoro Rivadavia.
Sometime before 5am, the volume of noise was so much that I could not sleep, and it seemed futile to lie on the floor and just pretend. So after getting up and going through all the morning routines I could manage in the public eye of the bus station, I found myself waiting around another hour before the ticket office opened for my bus.
Assessing the Situation
As I waited a lot of people gathered around this booth. I started to become worried that there would not be a seat for me with all of these people waiting to buy a ticket here too. It was around 5.30am that suddenly everyone disappeared. They all literally walked out the door. I stood there alone next to the ticket booth, thankful that I now had a better chance at getting a seat. Then I started to wonder why almost twenty people simply walked out the door... and where they disappeared to? Then I began to worry that perhaps they knew something that I didn't.
Others also sleeping out by the bus terminal.
So after slipping out the door, I found a large crowd of people standing around a bus heading to Chile. Being a little confused I pushed my way through the multitudes and found the driver. After a couple of questions he told me clearly that the bus was totally filled and there was no room for anybody else. He also mentioned that if I had not purchased a ticket then it was impossible that I would get on his bus. This worried me quite a lot - would there be a seat for me on the next bus due in only one hour if all of these people had pre-purchased their tickets?
Actually, I was not expecting that there would be two buses heading to Chile. The only information given to me was that there was one bus that left twice a week. Incredibly, I had decided on a whim to leave Puerto Madryn on the very day that would get me here for one of the bi-weekly buses. But now I needed a seat, and the more I saw and heard the more impossible it seemed that I would get a seat.
Is There A Seat Available Sir?
It seemed futile to wait around at this bus when I still did not have a ticket, so I headed back into the bus terminal for the ticket booth. To my surprise the lights had been turned on and there was somebody inside, even though it was still 20 minutes before their scheduled opening. But shockingly, a man was now standing at the ticket window, waiting to purchase a ticket. I was in a mild state of panic. If by some miraculous chance there was going to be a seat it would probably be only one or two, and that man may secure the very last one.
Stopping in front of the only other ticket window for this booth, I stared at the only person in the booth as he was working away in the back office. The moment he stood up and looked our way, I shot out a question to him, "Sir, is there a seat available for the 7am bus to Chile?" Then I waited.
He looked at me for a moment and then said, "no," so definitely that my heart sank towards my shoes. Here I was stuck in some town for at least half a week before there was any chance of getting to Chile. I did not know what to do. My mind started to race with all of the possibilities that may exist to try and get me to Chile a little earlier. Hitching, walking, buses via other routes, or bus-hitch combinations all started flooding my mind.
Some of the hundreds of oil pumps in the pampas of Argentina.
Are You Absolutely Sure?
In the middle of all of my scheeming and planning came a very clear thought, "There is a seat for you on this bus." With the thought also came a certainty that I really would have a seat on this bus even though it contradicted everything I was thinking and that I had seen and heard. So because of the certainty welling up in me I leaned over the counter and looked directly at the man once more, asking, "Are you absolutely certain that there are no seats left on this bus?"
My confidence shook him for a moment, and he replied that he would check on the computer, just to be sure. I waited patiently as he started up the computers and logged into the system that would tell him. While he was waiting for the computers to start, he attended the other man who had been at the other window. The man who I saw only moments before as competition for whatever slim chance there would have been to secure a seat. Now I was not so concerned, as I felt completely certain that I would have a seat. Even with this certainty inside me, my head was still worrying about him, but to my relief, he only wanted a ticket to another place and for another day. There would be no conflicts with him now.
Our sealed road turned into a dirt one as we got further from civilization.
After finally being able to check the computer, the office clerk looked up with a somewhat quizzical face. "How many seats did you want?" He asked me, to which I replied, "Just one." He shook his head as he told me that there was only one seat available. I was as thrilled as he was surprised, and gladly recieved my ticket. I was going to Chile after all.
The Icing on the Cake
It was only the night before that I had shot off a couple of prayers that God would find me a seat on this bus, and that He would also make it a window seat so I could take photos. Now that I had my ticket in my hand I was so thankful that I could even be on the bus that it never occurred to me to ask where I was seated. Being the last seat, I was expecting that it would be right up the back of the bus on the aisle next to the toilet. It wasn't.
Climbing into the bus after most had already boarded, I started looking at the seat numbers and was really surprised to see that my seat was located in the second front row. This was wonderful, but to put the icing on the cake I discovered that my seat was also the window seat. Now I could take my photos too. It was all just so unlikely.
Some people would say that it was luck, or even coincidence that all this happened, and maybe they are right. I prefer to think that God really is involved in the details of my life. In any case, I had a great journey to Chile and enjoyed every moment of it. Below are some of the photos of my journey...
An old patagonian farm house.
The Argentine - Chilean Border.
Our dirt road continued in through Chile.
Reaching the mountains turned the brown lands into a lush green pasture.
Winding our way down into the valley of Coyhaique, Chile. My destination.