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We left early in the morning at 4:00 am from Pinar del Rio to Havana, Yune, Yasey, my wife and I in a cab, there we would transfer to a Transtur bus (a company that provides transportation services to tourism) bound for Holguin to participate in the first edition of the oral narration festival "Mundo de Palabras" (World of Words). It is a 12 hours trip approximately, taking into account the stops to eat and other necessities, if there are no inconveniences. Usually in this type of events there are always inconveniences, organizational issues, communication or any other that involves delays. The transfer was fast, although more people joined us, at 7:00 am we were already leaving Havana on our way to Holguin.
Everything seemed to indicate that it would be a normal trip, adjusted to the planned schedules, it was a very comfortable bus and it looked in optimal conditions to fulfill the planned itinerary. Thus almost 7 quiet hours passed, lunch was scheduled at a place called the Oasis, at the exit of the province of Ciego de Avila. From this province we were leaving at 2:00 pm:00 pm, the passengers were already counting the minutes to get to the Oasis, because the hunger for cauldron food (as they say here) was attacking us, the driver had just said that we were very close to the place, about 11 kilometers away and it was right there, at that precise moment..., the truth is that it didn't sound like an explosion, it sounded like the rubbing of iron with iron mixed with something else, the bus was stopping, we thought that something metallic had been broken, the oasis of our cauldron food desert was moving away from minutes to hours. As we got off the bus we saw it, one of the left rear tires had exploded.
It was a road with a lot of traffic, but no houses, on both sides we could see many banana and sweet potato plants, but nothing that could be eaten at the moment.
The wait would be long, especially knowing that the nearest base to send a crane or a support bus to transfer the passengers was 140 kilometers away and this rescue operation ussually takes some time to locate and prepare for either of the 2 options.
Inside the bus the heat was unbearable, so we opted to be outside, luckily there were some trees to provide shade and we made a sort of camp. Yune is the mother of Malcom, a 7 month old baby who came on the trip, he didn't know anything and didn't mind the stop, the sun or the heat, he just wanted to eat, as his biological clock was already telling him to do so, and there in the mini camp he ate everything that was at hand.
In spite of the unexpected, no one was upset. We took advantage of the moment to talk, get to know each other, laugh, make anecdotes and predictions about how long we would be there, longing to put an end to our famished desert in the oasis.
We were stranded in that place for about 4 hours and when we got to the point the only topic of conversation was roling around food, the 2 options appeared at the same time, the tow truck and the substitute bus.
In a short time, we had all the luggage and were marching towards the oasis, where in addition to incorporating to the body the food it was crying out for, we were able to enjoy beautiful views that fed the spirit of a very pleasant peaceful feeling, adding also for the closing of the lunch turned into an early dinner, a good coffee that straightened the perspective and put us back on the road.
I'm writing the last words of this post on the bus with 5 hours still to go, the stop for me was not very traumatic, I had never come this way before, my curiosity for the place, taking pictures and exploring it kept me entertained besides the chats with my companions. As an old man from my hometown used to say, "unforeseen events are not foreseen" so the way you look at it and face it depends on whether the waiting time is a punishment or a small adventure. A strong greeting to all, from somewhere on the road between Camag眉ey and Las Tunas. Soon we will read each other again.
Images an the post are my own, taken with my Samsung A315G and Yune's Motorola S5.
Translation support to english: DeepL App.
Todo iba bien hasta que explot贸...!(Traducci贸n al Espa帽ol. Las imagenes no se repiten, solo se muestra el contenido.)
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Arrancamos esta madrugada a las 4:00 am desde Pinar del R铆o hacia la Habana, Yune, Yasey, mi esposa y yo en un taxi, all铆 har铆amos trasbordo a un 脫mnibus de Transtur(* Empresa que presta servicios de transporte al turismo) con destino a Holgu铆n a participar en la primera edici贸n del festival de narraci贸n oral "Mundo de Palabras". Es un viaje de alrededor de 12 horas, teniendo en cuenta las paradas que se hacen para comer y otras necesidades, eso si no hay ning煤n inconveniente. Por lo general en este tipo de eventos siempre los hay, cuestiones de organizaci贸n, comunicaci贸n o cualquier otro que implique retrasos. El trasbordo fue r谩pido, aunque all铆 se sumaron m谩s personas, a las 8:00 am ya 铆bamos camino a Holgu铆n. Todo parec铆a indicar que ser铆a un viaje normal, ajustado a los horarios planificados, era un 贸mnibus muy c贸modo y se ve铆a en 贸ptimas condiciones para cumplir el itinerario previsto. As铆 pasaron casi 7 tranquilas horas, el almuerzo estaba previsto en un lugar llamado el Oasis, en la salida de la provincia de Ciego de Avila. De esta provincia est谩bamos saliendo justo a las 2:00 pm, los pasajeros ya cont谩bamos los minutos para llegar al Oasis, pues ya el hambre de comida de caldero (como se dice aqui*)nos atacaba, el conductor acababa de decir que est谩bamos muy cerca del lugar, a unos 11 kil贸metros y fue justo ah铆, en ese preciso momento, en el que se sinti贸 el estruendo, la verdad es que no son贸 a explosi贸n, son贸 como el roce de hierro con hierro mezclado con algo m谩s, el 贸mnibus fue deteni茅ndose, pensamos que algo met谩lico se hab铆a destrozado, el oasis de nuestro desierto alimenticio de caldero se alejaba de minutos a horas. Al bajar del 贸mnibus lo vimos, hab铆a explotado uno de los neum谩ticos izquierdos traseros.
Era una carretera con bastante tr谩fico, pero sin casas, en ambos lados se ve铆a muchas matas de pl谩tano y boniato sembrado, pero nada que se pudiera comer en el momento, la espera ser铆a larga, sobre todo al saber que la base m谩s cercana para enviar una una gr煤a o un omnibus de apoyo para trasbordo de los pasajeros estaba a 140 kil贸metros y esta operaci贸n de rescate tomaba cierto tiempo de localizaci贸n y preparaci贸n de cualquiera de las 2 opciones. Dentro del 贸mnibus el calor era insoportable, as铆 que optamos por estar afuera, por suerte hab铆a algunos 谩rboles que nos brindaban sombra e hicimos una especie de acampada. Yune es mam谩 de Malcom, un beb茅 de 7 meses que vino en el viaje, no se enter贸 de nada y no le molestaba la parada, el sol o el calor, 茅l solo quer铆a comer, pues su reloj biol贸gico ya se lo indicaba y all铆 en la mini acampada comi贸 todo lo que hab铆a a mano.
A pesar del imprevisto, nadie estaba molesto. Se aprovech贸 el momento para conversar, conocernos, re铆rnos, hacer an茅cdotas y predicciones sobre cuanto tiempo estar铆amos all铆, anhelando poner fin en el oasis a nuestro desierto fam茅lico.
Aproximadamente 4 horas estuvimos varados en aquel lugar y cuando ya los temas de conversaci贸n solo giraban alrededor de la comida aparecieron las 2 opciones al mismo tiempo, la gr煤a y el omnibus suplente. En poco tiempo hab铆amos traspasado todo el equipaje y marchabamos hacia el oasis, donde adem谩s de incorporarle al cuerpo los alimentos que ya ped铆a a gritos, pudimos disfrutar de vistas bonitas que alimentaban el esp铆ritu de una sensaci贸n pac铆fica muy agradable, a帽adiendo adem谩s para el cierre del almuerzo convertido en cena temprana, un buen caf茅 que enderez贸 la perspectiva y nos puso de vuelta en la carretera. Las 煤ltimas palabras de este post las escribo sobre el 贸mnibus faltando a煤n 5 horas de camino, la parada para mi no fue muy traum谩tica, nunca hab铆a venido por estos rumbos, mi curiosidad por el lugar, hacerle fotos y explorarlo me mantuvieron entretenido adem谩s de las charlas con los compa帽eros. Como dijera un anciano de mi pueblo natal, "Los imprevistos no est谩n previstos" as铆 que de la manera en que lo mires y enfrentes depende que el tiempo de espera sea un castigo o una peque帽a aventura. Un saludo fuerte a todos, desde alg煤n lugar de la carretera entre Camag眉ey y Las Tunas. Pronto nos leemos otra vez.
