Dear Argentina,
I honestly appreciate your efforts at cleaning up your country by placing trash cans every 10K in certain areas. I think they would be more effective, however, if you spaced them out throughout the country rather than placing all of them within a very small portion of your vast country.
But a more dire need, I must say, is the need for outhouses along the road. I am really, really tired of finding piles of poo in each and every place we might possibly find a bit of shade.
Sincerely,
Nancy the cyclist
I’ve been resisting this post. It’s been building for quite a while and today finally sent me over the edge – I am officially disgusted with Argentina. This country is a toilet.
If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you will know that we’ve spent hours in drainage tunnels beneath the roads. In the barren desert environment, the tunnels are the only places to escape the sun or wind. They were lovely, relaxing places – until January.
Immediately after New Years, tourist season began in earnest. Thousands of cars jam packed with entire families ply the Argentine roads exploring every nook and cranny of the country. I’m thrilled that Argentines head out to see their country – but am disgusted by what they leave behind.
Don’t get me wrong – I totally understand the need to use the toilet and I understand distances are long between towns. Very long. I don’t blame those hordes of tourists for stopping by the drainage ditches in order to hide from oncoming traffic. But dang! That doesn’t mean I have to like it.
The problem is that – after nearly two months of heavy tourist traffic – there are piles of poo in every possible hiding place where we might find a bit of shade. And it’s stuck there until a good rain comes and washes it all away.
The solution seems so easy – place outhouses every 50 or 75 kilometers during the summer season. Or maybe replace every sixth trashcan with an outhouse. It just doesn’t seem like it would be all that hard to do…
(I’ll spare you the pics – I thought about taking some, but figured you could probably imagine my dilemma without the visual aids.)
Kilometers today: 134
Kilometers to date: 26792
Distance remaining: 1091
I’ll comment on this blog of yours Nancy as I find it true!! Disgusting. I don’t cycle long distances in South America where distances are so great. I have only cycled in Europe where convieniences are found everywhere…as there is a town every few KM. But driving a car thru South America on our many trips you have brought to my mind not only that ” I ” am stopping out in the boonies and looking for that hidden place, but how many others as well must do the same. True in a deserted landscape… that one tree is the place everyone else also thinks of. Many times I have had to hold my breath while making these stops. Necessary because for kilometers no services have been available. Since its short and fast I don’t let it bother me. Now I will keep in mind the cyclist or walkers who need those spots for shade and rest. I’ll dig out my shovel from under the car seat that has been neatly stowed away for years waiting to find an occasion to be used. It’s there as its on the list of what to carry on trips across S.A. I will put my grain of sand in that way, and think of who opened my eyes. But gov’s should look into their local and extranjero tourist needs and set up outhouses. Very True. Not only Argentina, but I have experienced this in Bolivia, Peru and Chile as well. So will hope and pray for a outhouse future. Thanks for the insight.
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Hello. I’m an Argentine road engineer, and I found your blog very interesting.
I doubt that the government will fund and maintain public bathrooms. Every cent counts, and schools and road themselves are by far a priority. Because of lacking of paved roads, you missed one of the wonders of the world, the Perito Moreno Glacier, and an incredibly beauty park, Torres del Paine. I’m so sorry, but we are paving it, and some years in the future, we will have boring and efficient roads, and also wandering, breathtaking Andean ones… but not today…
There is a hope. That barren land literally swims on oil. It’s on the land and the ocean. It just needs funds to extract it. So, some day that would be one of the richest places on the continent, and surely will afford bathrooms.
For now, the only thing I can think of, is to trace roads with more “private” places…
People should NOT stay on the sewers. Rain may arrive suddenly, without warning, and fill those places very fast. I see is a dangerous design error to allow those places to be the most “attractive” ones.
Anyway, law forbids bicycles on those roads. It’s dangerous, as I fear your husband experienced recently.
Don’t fear the police about it. They know that some laws can’t be enforced. But please, be careful…
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