Six days later, we are still in dusty U-town. (A town which "does not merit more than two hours of your attention", according to the Rough Guide, but where we have, willy-nilly, found a comfy & cozy home in the French B&B La Petite Porte.)
You guess it right, Don Pepe - which seems a more appropriate name for this old stubborn bastard - is still not back on track. To the contrary, we seem to have jumped out of the frying pan into the fire i.e., things have gone from bad to worse. In simple non-mechanic jargon:
- Day 1: Pepe does not accelerate
- Day 2: Pepe does no longer start (independently) nor accelerate
- Day 3: Pepe does no longer have a spark (engine locked)
Ironically, at the Dia de Los Muertos (the Day of the Dead), Pepe is declared (as good as) dead. So how to better drown our sorrows than with some beers at the train [wait for it...] cemetery? :)
re·sil·ience [rəˈzilyəns/]
1. the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity.
2. the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.
The old chap is thoroughly testing our resilience. Giving us hope with every spark, only to then again badly disillusion us. With every mechanic we consult, more hypotheses and theories (and possible issues) arise.
Though, to date, we refuse to give up, deeply convinced that this story needs a happy ending! (And because of the lack of yet another Plan B...).
After days of staring into the engine, trying out flujometros, modulos, disributors, bombas de gasolina (our mecanico Spanish is improving at the speed of the light!), as well as towing and pushing Pepe back and forth through the streets of Uyuni (me sitting behind the steering wheel while Jorg is pushing him forward is as close to driving as we got...), we are in need of a brief escape from reality.
While Pepe - who has meanwhile become a local legend - is in the hands of yet another mechanic who has never seen a VW Vanagon in his life, we are off for a visit of Bolivia's capital, Sucre. Bring on some sweetness!
“A car for the people, an affordable Volkswagen, would bring great joy to the masses and the problems of building such a car must be faced with courage.”
