Day 32: The Day that Never Was

Today, was one of those (thankfully rare) days were things didn't really go to plan. Today we were supposed to cross the border to Argentina, heading for Salta, but alas, that was not meant to be. A pity, but some thing's you cannot control.

We optimistically got up at 6:15am, packed and met at the lobby at 6:45am, when our bags were loaded onto a taxi and taken to the bus station - a short distance from the hotel, which we walked.

We got there, a little after 7:30am and, with the bus not expected to depart until 8am, a frantic order of croissants and bread was taken for the bakery. Meanwhile, I used Vales Skype credit to try to get through to e-mobile who, for no good reason, had cut off my service. Sound! Anyway, our nice early start was completely pointless as the bus didn't turn up til 9:00am. Waiting in the freezing cold bus shelter with nothing to do but huddle together for warmth for an hour and a half, felt like something we really didn't need to get up early for.

We were on the bus for approximately 20 mins when the bus stopped. Queued behind a small number of articulated lorries, we were waiting for the all clear to depart the town to reach the Chilean/Argentinian border. We waited for over an hour, before anything happened. Over 4 hours actually. At which point, we got word that due to snow, the border was closed and we'd have to turn back. Hooray!

Just after 1pm we arrived back into San Pedro. Checked back into the hotel and I went off to find some lunch. Still feeling dodgy, I cautiously ordered food at a vegetarian restaurant, which was lovely, before returning to the group to find out the plan of action. Back at the hotel, a number of people had already booked flights to Santiago, from where G-Adventures had organised us to fly to Buenos Aires from, instead of Salta as originally planned. The alternative? A 26 hour bus ride, paid for by G-Adventures, from San Pedro to Santiago. This really did not appeal. I checked out my insurance, in the hope they'd cover the cost of the additional flights and then set about booking them. The problem was, so was everyone else. Wifi not supporting the frantic flight searching, Holly, Nat, Kat and I went wifi hunting. I brought them back to a delightful little cafe (which served gluten free treats, "Bum Kaldi") where I'd visited earlier and we got internetting. After a few attempts on the phone to book for the four of us, we decided to find an Internet cafe instead. This would require a computer.

All crammed around the one computer, me in the drivers seat, we located the website, found the flights we wanted and tried to book. Eight unsuccessful attempts later we gave up. It just did not want us to complete the booking! It was not meant to be. We decided to give it a break, and head back to the hotel - maybe we'd have more luck on Vales computer.

Tired from the early start, frustrated with the airline website and feeling that things were going against us, we made a group decision and resigned to taking the bus. Besides, it would save us $200 on flights and whatever else we'd need to spend on accommodation, additional transport and a day's activities in Santiago. We were in it together now - me, Nat, Kat, Holly, Julien and Vale - the brave 6 who were bussing it while the rest took the short (and expensive!) 1 1/2 hour flight to Santiago. Sure, it'd be an adventure!

With that issue resolved, we looked forward to a relaxing evening ahead and I looked forward to having a room all to myself for the night - at no extra cost!

At 8:00pm those who were still about met in the lobby to head out for dinner. We went to a place called Bollos, an atmospheric little restaurant with live music and a chirpy waiter who had an impressive ability to remember everyone's order (a spontaneous outburst of applause followed his recall of our complete order). Annoyingly, my simple meal of grilled chicken and boiled potatoes came out dripping in gluteny soy sauce and had to go back to the kitchen. An irritating addition to an already long and irritating day. Eventually the food I'd actually ordered arrived (albeit as everyone else was almost finished) and I quickly ate and disappeared off home to bed. My big cosy bed was calling me and a long day of bus travel awaited.

Accommodation: Hotel Puritama
Weather: warm, sunny shorts weather. Wasted however by time spent on a bus and trying to book flights! Ah well... more sun to come!