Travel Tales

I'll get this out of the way and then I can talk about the house!

Travelling is full of adventures and the unexpected, and this trip especially so.

New accommodations, new rental car agency, new time of year.

The flight was fine - on time and no turbulence - through customs in a flash and without any question of the set of pots and pans and knives in the luggage - the Vamos rental guy was out front with our name on a sign and 5 minutes later we were in the car going to the rental site.  All as per plan.

35 minutes later, we are still completing the rental forms - my she is chatty!  Check out the car - scratch here, bump there nothing extraordinary.  Check the mileage - 180,000 km!  This poor car must be ready to die!  Show us how the GPS works - oh, it doesn't! After checking and calling the mechanic, turns out the lighter is broken - she is closing the office (it is now after 6 and dark) and the mechanic needs light to fix it so he will take us around back to the shop and then we can head out from there  - sure - how bad can it be.

Well, think chain link, barbed wire compound - a wrecking yard from any horror film you might have seen - groups of men huddled being rowdy in the corners where there was some light - cars parked everywhere - stray dogs roaming about - and it is raining.  He drives to the end, we get out and move under a corrugated metal shelter - he is under the dash - cars come and go from the compound, headlights blinding - not sure if we should laugh, cry or pray!

All fixed and on our way - 2 km down the road - a really dark stretch of road, particularly so as the headlights don't seem to be working - just keep driving to the hotel, we can deal with this later.

Hotel is fine, dinner and drinks help.  Next day, finish the errands, call the car rental return the car, another 40 minutes - finally all done with that issue.  Oh, by the way, you said you were heading to the Pacific Coast - check before you leave because all the roads are closed.

That was true for sure - the new Caldera highway collapsed - the old highway was blocked by mudslides - the only road open, because they were actively clearing the slides as they happened, was the old mountain road to the south - referred to in the paper as "treacherous" and referred to by the locals as "la ruta de muerte" - - the road of death - isn't that comforting.  While we had driven that way before, it is long and mountainous and winding - a difficult 5 hour drive.

We were making good time, lots of traffic but not slow.  Then we were well into the mountains - right in the clouds - little visibility and suddenly stopped.  The police said a mudslide and it would be cleared - - stuck for an hour but on our way.  3 more slides as we made our way - minor in comparison.

So rain and mud and flooded rivers have been the theme of our travel.