Day 6 – On the Road, Again

Bariloche to Esquel


Ruta 40 heading south out of Bariloche is extremely scenic – the map should have those big dots beside the route. The road winds down glacial-formed green valleys surrounded by snow capped peaks, descending into a desert with low hills, and finally into darn good ranch land around Esquel. The rain we experienced in Bariloche had moved on and it was clear, cool, sunny day. Ruta 40 was paved the whole way, but the quality was a little rough starting an hour out of Esquel. Traffic was rare.

We stopped in El Bolson for a lunch at a nice restaurant that perhaps didn’t have everything listed on the menu: Bobbie ordered the Asado Tire (beef short ribs), and five minutes later a car pulled up front and a guy walked into the restaurant carrying a side of beef. A few minutes later we heard a meat saw do its thing, and a while later … viola, here came Bobbie’s meal. El Bolson is a scenic mountain town and it was a great break at the restaurant.

Although we continue to see the Shrine of the Red Doghouses (we still don’t understand the meaning), we have started to see a new variety – the Shrine of the 2 Liter Plastic Jugs – and we did get an explanation on those. I’m obviously fascinated by these roadside shrines … Who builds them? What is the significance of the style of construction? Why at that spot? What is the meaning? Anyway, the Shrine of the 2 Liter Plastic Jugs is actually called “Difunta Correa” after a young mother named Correa, who was crossing the southern Argentine desert with just her infant when she died of heat exhaustion (Difunta means “dead” in Spanish). Her body continued to supply milk to the baby, who miraculously was still alive when found three days later. Afterwards, invoking her name resulted in other miracles. The 2 liter plastic jugs are filled with water (for her desert crossing) and left at the roadside shrines out of respect.



Now in Esquel, camping at a park just outside the city. Aftermath of earlier spillage disaster: inside of camper smells like sour milk.