Monumental cock up

I can only describe what followed the Uyuni trip as the most monumental cock in which I took my own incompetence to a new level. Since leaving Cusco nearly 20 days ago everything has been geared around getting to Salta, in Northern Argentina, by the 25th November for the start of the world acrobatic paragliding championships.

It was midday on Wed 24th November when I crossed the border from Bolivia into Chile at the end of the Uyuni trip. Wait, isn’t Chile a different country from Argentina? Well never mind San Pedro de Atacama is only 3 hours from the Argentine border, get the afternoon bus out of town and I’ll be in Salta by midnight.

Oh you mean the bus that only runs on Tue, Fri, and Sun. (Insert many expletives in many languages here)

Still travelling with Sandeep and Ruben, the three of us resigned ourselves to 2 days in San Pedro which I’m sure would have been fine had I not wished to be anywhere else but there. At least I’d still get to see Sat and Sun of the championships.

So we filled the days with visits to Valle de la Luna, Valle de la Muerte, and midnight sandboarding, eventually getting into Salta on Friday evening.

- A 7 am start on Sat to get the bus to the launch site of Dique Cabra Corral,
- Except the first bus arrived at 9.30, took 1.5 hours to get there and ……
- It was the wrong place. The launch site had been moved 30 mins back towards Salta.
- By 11:30 I had been dropped off by the bus driver at the correct place but ….
- Still faced a 1.5 mile walk down a country lane to the event site.

What excitement when I finally rounded the last bend, saw people milling about everywhere, and ran down to the landing zone just in time to catch …….. the **@*$@# PRIZE GIVING.

The competition was actually a day shorter than published on the web site, and due to a forecast of strong winds they’d stopped flying at midday on Sat.

I’m too upset to write more and will remain here in Salta until I love the world again.

Hasta luego

~ by edsham on October 31, 2007.