Friday, 15 November 2013 – IN Vallenar
Yes, that’s right, IN, not around Vallenar.
We’ve been stuck in and around Hosteria Vallenar without a car, having been asked to check in with Alamos in Santiago every couple of hours as they try to get a progress report from the garage in Vallenar. I asked for the garages address to take a look myself, but they claim not to have their address. When the clutch on Brian’s car burned out in Brazil in 1999, he put himself in a chair in the workshop and watched four pairs of Brazilian underneath his car working to (sort of) fix the problem. I wouldn’t go that for but we don’t know for sure what is wrong and therefore the timescale in which it could be fixed.
We’ve spotted a Europcar franchise in town but it was shut when we went to take a look. Tonight we were promised that at 11:00 hrs tomorrow morning, the car would go on an inspection ramp and they’d take a look. Of course, to us it is the most important issue in the world, but I’m sure it’s the same for other customers who already had their cars booked in. Clearly Chile needs more mechanics. ‘Patience!’ is what I preach but find hard to take here.
That’s about as far as I can stretch out today’s non-report. No images taken – no Stops recorded. Hopefully more positive news tomorrow!
The Cactus Trip Diaries 