The Motorcycle Diaries: Reunion with Rafael

I turn around the corner onto the main road (more or less the only one) in tiny El Chaltén on my way to the local Gomería I (I had a suspicion that my rear tire was losing air) and parked in front of the internet café I see Morena’s sister, another Kawasaki Tengai with Mexico stickers on its side. There was no doubt about it, it had to have been Rafael’s bike. I pulled over and entered and in front of the computer was Rafael. What a surprise! I had not seen nor heard about his location since leaving on the bus for Ushuaia and thought for sure by now he had to have reached Bariloche if not Mendoza (both cities further in the north).

It turns out that his bike had a problem (it would not start) and the fix proved more difficult than expected. Sergio had to send a spare part form Buenos Aires and it took the better part of a week until the bike as running again. Meanwhile Rafael had decided to make the trip to Ushuaia after all, by plane (we actually happened to be in Ushuaia at the same time, I just did not know about it). Continuing the trip on the motorcycle, I had actually reached Calafate and El Chaltén before him until he caught up with me.

We exchanged stories and experiences over a beer and I noticed how nice it feels to speak to a familiar friend. Unfortunately the reunion was short-lived because Rafael was going to leave the next morning while I wanted to stay a bit longer to take advantage of the spectacular scenery of El Chaltén. Hopefully our paths will cross again soon.