Photo Album: Crooked Polices on Rt 14
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We left the mighty Iguazu the previous day and stayed the night in the town of Posada. It was to be a long boring drive towards Buenos Aires to meet our plane in a couple of days' time.
After a quick visit to the river bank of Rio Parana just north of Posada town, with the perfect weather, we decided to search the other missing Jesuit Mission Ruins that are on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Armed with the GPS co-ordinates given on the UNESCO site, thinking that they must be accurate. So we went back up north a 50 Km or so to start our search.
We left the mighty Iguazu the previous day and stayed the night in the town of Posada. It was to be a long boring drive towards Buenos Aires to meet our plane in a couple of days' time.
After a quick visit to the river bank of Rio Parana just north of Posada town, with the perfect weather, we decided to search the other missing Jesuit Mission Ruins that are on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Armed with the GPS co-ordinates given on the UNESCO site, thinking that they must be accurate. So we went back up north a 50 Km or so to start our search.
The first one took us into a muddy road that was clogged with water, without a 4x4, I just could not reach the last 1 Km. No villager in the vicinity knew the place! After walking the distance in the heat, there was no signage, nothing to confirm even if there is a UNESCO protected site nearby or what?! Perhaps no one understands my question !!! Disappointed, and tried the second one, 50 Km away, same result, the last 1 Km of the road was only suitable for 4x4 high clearance vehicles, and no one seemed to know it exists!!!!! Gave up, and was going to blast UNESCO for their information later. #%$#!! I was not going to waste time for the third which is another 80 Km away.
So, it was time to continue south towards Buenos Aires for our rendezvous with the airline on Friday, but there was no hurry. So I took a road along side the border with Brazil ( route 94). The paved road was so bad, it was littered with big pot holes everywhere for a 70 Km stretch, that, without looking, they could break something. The crack on the windscreen ( existing damage prior to rental ) was developing longer and longer, and getting worse. Let’s hope that it’ll last three more days.
By the time we got to Santo Tomes, it was nearly 6, so it's time to get lodging. The initial search for hotels was very disappointing, either there were nobody attending the reception, as if business was not important, or the hotel sleazy, or both. I was dreading that we might have to spend a night in a dirty place, because the nearest sizable town is 200 K away. Fortunately, going outside of town a little, we located a motel which was quite old, but very tidy and accommodating with checkout time, right by the side of the river bordering with Brazil.
It was the first opportunity ( unfortunately !) to take some photos of the night sky. This was one thing I had been wanting to do in southern Patagonia because of its clean crisp air, and very little light pollution. But little light pollution was impossible near all the tourist traps, and it was also too damn windy and cold to even thinking of attempting. So tonight with a clear sky and warm temp, but with the light pollution (hotel lighting) and too many objects around, were making it much less than ideal. However, this was probably the only chance for this trip, so it was happening.
It took over an hour to muck around with the different settings, to finally get some sense out of the pictures. Unfortunately, the Orion was not sharp enough due to its distance and therefore, very sensitive to the rotation of the earth, must try shorter exposure time next time. But there are some acceptable ( barely !) pics of the Southern Cross and the Milky-way around the Cross.
The morning started early with a big thunder, a not so auspicious sign for some, and very wet for others. I took the car into the open space and let it take a big wash, to rid of the mud we gathered yesterday. A big wash it was, when we took a wrong turn on getting out of Santo Tome, and ended up driving through some very muddy track to get to the main highway. A small car was stuck in the mud and was struggling to get out, but by spinning wheels, it got him further into trouble. A few motor bikes passed by, but no one was paying attention. So I put my 4x4 101 knowledge to good use, and help him to air down the tyres, and with the driver pushing in the mud, I drove his car out of trouble. But this was only the first sign of trouble for today.
The highway going south here suddenly become an A grade freeway, most of it anyway, I surmise that being a main highway from an important Brazilian crossing to Buenos Aires, it caters for much international traffics.
Two hours down the road, we were feeling so good and relax, and drove passed many police check points with merely a wave on, we were laughing that may be, the police in the previous incident, radioed all stations ahead, to avoid bothering these two Chinese speaking tourists, cashless and stubborn, not worth the trouble!
Cashless and stubborn attitude proved to necessary, too necessary for the rest of the day.
When we were diverted from the freeway to a muddy road because of road works, we passed another one of these check points, a very temporary one, it seemed. They wore blue uniforms instead of green, but we were still in Corriente Province. Anyhow, they asked us to pull to the muddy side once I spoke English, and gave them the usual documents to look at, they took out a crumpled piece of paper to show me that I have to pay $50 and say “dollars”. The reason was, one of my headlights was not working.
What! only about 20 Km earlier, the police looked at it, and did not say a word. I said, "ok, I’ll get a new globe at the next service station or I’ll go back about 5 Km where there was one". No, they want cash here and now. “No money left, no dollars, credit card only, these are all I have!", as I took out the only 200 Pesos in my pocket to show them, one of the them tried to snatched it from me, I jerked back. Angrily, I calmly said, "please take me to the police station….", then they talked to each other, and let me go. What the f%&$# was this, crooks. In Australia, the police would give you a warning ticket, and you’re to have the new globe replaced within certain number of hours etc. But demanding $50 without any documents…worse snatching money….may be there is a big family to feed!
About another 70 Km later, we passed the border into Entre Rios Province, still on route 14 after paying toll. Shortly down the road, another check point. This time right next to a police station, which was not unusual, when crossing Provincial and town borders, nevertheless annoying!
We were asked to pull to the side gravel, and waited for a while before the policeman came over. In the meantime, Julia was moving things around inside the car to tidy a few things, so her seat belt was off. The police slowly examined all the documents, look at the front and back, I thought he was going to get me on the damaged light globe again, but there had been no service station in between, being on freeway all the way. No, I thought, lucky…no worries this time, when he came to my window again, and was ready to hand me the documents back, he suddenly pointed at Julia, and gestured that she was not wearing a seat belt. What ! after we stopped the car and waited for over 5 minutes…give me a break!
And he took me into the police station, on the way, basically, gesturing that, with no cash payment, I’ll be detained / arrested, with his wrists crossing like handcuffing. I showed no emotion, except to see what developed. Julia was livid, I left her in the car, just in case if she got too emotional, and escalated things out of hand. I was taken into an office, and another officer opened his drawer, a quick glance later, and wrote $625 on a piece of paper and said cash, dollars etc. I explained that the seat belt was off only after we stopped, he gestured at the video camera in the corridor, basically to say that they had a video record of her not wearing seat belt on the road…..my A..S..S, they have. I kept repeating the word, no money, and credit card only, and I asked to call the Australian Embassy to get an interpreter to explain the situation by showing my passport. They let me stand in the corridor, ostensibly to bluff me into submission and went to the kitchen to chit chat. After 5 minutes, I went in, and kept repeating the same request, no aggression, no emotion. They said I have to call them myself ( the embassy ), I said I need assistance to call, and showed them the pages in the passport that says to “whom it may concern … to render all assistance..” etc. The laughed at it, I stood firm. Then after a few more minutes, one of the more senior officers ( by his uniform and body language ), went back to the room, and gave me back all the documents and I walked out in disgust. I was quite prepared to stay there for the night if I had to, and reported to the Australian embassy for help, and exposed these crooks for what they are to the World.
Julia was really emotional by the roadside, whilst the police kept harassing a couple of other cars, a few of them, not wearing any seat belt at all, neither driver nor passengers.
As we drove into the small but busy town of Concordia for the night, Julia took many pictures of cars in the town, 99.99% of them did not wear seat belts. At the tourism information office, I asked them if wearing seat belt is mandatory, the answer is YES. But We were the only one wearing them.
These crooks were opportunistic, and preyed on foreign tourists on the flimsiest of excuses to extract money from them. In Australia, the police would write out a fine notice, signed and deliver to you, telling you exactly what was the complaint, then explain to you that you have 30 days to pay or go to court to challenge the fine etc. No money will ever be demanded or collected, they are not allowed to do that. Here, the first thing they want is money, reasons and documentations are nowhere to be seen.
We fixed the light globe on seeing the first service station.
Between the 400 Km from here to Buenos Aires, I wondered how many more check points we were still going to endure on the way there !! The light globe was now fixed, so what’s next, the mud on the car, the wind screen stop chips….! My untidy long hair not matching the photo!!!
Don’t cry for me, Argentina!
With that, we settled into a comfortable but small hotel in Concordia for the night.
So, it was time to continue south towards Buenos Aires for our rendezvous with the airline on Friday, but there was no hurry. So I took a road along side the border with Brazil ( route 94). The paved road was so bad, it was littered with big pot holes everywhere for a 70 Km stretch, that, without looking, they could break something. The crack on the windscreen ( existing damage prior to rental ) was developing longer and longer, and getting worse. Let’s hope that it’ll last three more days.
By the time we got to Santo Tomes, it was nearly 6, so it's time to get lodging. The initial search for hotels was very disappointing, either there were nobody attending the reception, as if business was not important, or the hotel sleazy, or both. I was dreading that we might have to spend a night in a dirty place, because the nearest sizable town is 200 K away. Fortunately, going outside of town a little, we located a motel which was quite old, but very tidy and accommodating with checkout time, right by the side of the river bordering with Brazil.
It was the first opportunity ( unfortunately !) to take some photos of the night sky. This was one thing I had been wanting to do in southern Patagonia because of its clean crisp air, and very little light pollution. But little light pollution was impossible near all the tourist traps, and it was also too damn windy and cold to even thinking of attempting. So tonight with a clear sky and warm temp, but with the light pollution (hotel lighting) and too many objects around, were making it much less than ideal. However, this was probably the only chance for this trip, so it was happening.
It took over an hour to muck around with the different settings, to finally get some sense out of the pictures. Unfortunately, the Orion was not sharp enough due to its distance and therefore, very sensitive to the rotation of the earth, must try shorter exposure time next time. But there are some acceptable ( barely !) pics of the Southern Cross and the Milky-way around the Cross.
The morning started early with a big thunder, a not so auspicious sign for some, and very wet for others. I took the car into the open space and let it take a big wash, to rid of the mud we gathered yesterday. A big wash it was, when we took a wrong turn on getting out of Santo Tome, and ended up driving through some very muddy track to get to the main highway. A small car was stuck in the mud and was struggling to get out, but by spinning wheels, it got him further into trouble. A few motor bikes passed by, but no one was paying attention. So I put my 4x4 101 knowledge to good use, and help him to air down the tyres, and with the driver pushing in the mud, I drove his car out of trouble. But this was only the first sign of trouble for today.
The highway going south here suddenly become an A grade freeway, most of it anyway, I surmise that being a main highway from an important Brazilian crossing to Buenos Aires, it caters for much international traffics.
Two hours down the road, we were feeling so good and relax, and drove passed many police check points with merely a wave on, we were laughing that may be, the police in the previous incident, radioed all stations ahead, to avoid bothering these two Chinese speaking tourists, cashless and stubborn, not worth the trouble!
Cashless and stubborn attitude proved to necessary, too necessary for the rest of the day.
When we were diverted from the freeway to a muddy road because of road works, we passed another one of these check points, a very temporary one, it seemed. They wore blue uniforms instead of green, but we were still in Corriente Province. Anyhow, they asked us to pull to the muddy side once I spoke English, and gave them the usual documents to look at, they took out a crumpled piece of paper to show me that I have to pay $50 and say “dollars”. The reason was, one of my headlights was not working.
What! only about 20 Km earlier, the police looked at it, and did not say a word. I said, "ok, I’ll get a new globe at the next service station or I’ll go back about 5 Km where there was one". No, they want cash here and now. “No money left, no dollars, credit card only, these are all I have!", as I took out the only 200 Pesos in my pocket to show them, one of the them tried to snatched it from me, I jerked back. Angrily, I calmly said, "please take me to the police station….", then they talked to each other, and let me go. What the f%&$# was this, crooks. In Australia, the police would give you a warning ticket, and you’re to have the new globe replaced within certain number of hours etc. But demanding $50 without any documents…worse snatching money….may be there is a big family to feed!
About another 70 Km later, we passed the border into Entre Rios Province, still on route 14 after paying toll. Shortly down the road, another check point. This time right next to a police station, which was not unusual, when crossing Provincial and town borders, nevertheless annoying!
We were asked to pull to the side gravel, and waited for a while before the policeman came over. In the meantime, Julia was moving things around inside the car to tidy a few things, so her seat belt was off. The police slowly examined all the documents, look at the front and back, I thought he was going to get me on the damaged light globe again, but there had been no service station in between, being on freeway all the way. No, I thought, lucky…no worries this time, when he came to my window again, and was ready to hand me the documents back, he suddenly pointed at Julia, and gestured that she was not wearing a seat belt. What ! after we stopped the car and waited for over 5 minutes…give me a break!
And he took me into the police station, on the way, basically, gesturing that, with no cash payment, I’ll be detained / arrested, with his wrists crossing like handcuffing. I showed no emotion, except to see what developed. Julia was livid, I left her in the car, just in case if she got too emotional, and escalated things out of hand. I was taken into an office, and another officer opened his drawer, a quick glance later, and wrote $625 on a piece of paper and said cash, dollars etc. I explained that the seat belt was off only after we stopped, he gestured at the video camera in the corridor, basically to say that they had a video record of her not wearing seat belt on the road…..my A..S..S, they have. I kept repeating the word, no money, and credit card only, and I asked to call the Australian Embassy to get an interpreter to explain the situation by showing my passport. They let me stand in the corridor, ostensibly to bluff me into submission and went to the kitchen to chit chat. After 5 minutes, I went in, and kept repeating the same request, no aggression, no emotion. They said I have to call them myself ( the embassy ), I said I need assistance to call, and showed them the pages in the passport that says to “whom it may concern … to render all assistance..” etc. The laughed at it, I stood firm. Then after a few more minutes, one of the more senior officers ( by his uniform and body language ), went back to the room, and gave me back all the documents and I walked out in disgust. I was quite prepared to stay there for the night if I had to, and reported to the Australian embassy for help, and exposed these crooks for what they are to the World.
Julia was really emotional by the roadside, whilst the police kept harassing a couple of other cars, a few of them, not wearing any seat belt at all, neither driver nor passengers.
As we drove into the small but busy town of Concordia for the night, Julia took many pictures of cars in the town, 99.99% of them did not wear seat belts. At the tourism information office, I asked them if wearing seat belt is mandatory, the answer is YES. But We were the only one wearing them.
 |
| Public Bus driver driving with no seat belt |
 |
| Driver on the road with no seat belt |
These crooks were opportunistic, and preyed on foreign tourists on the flimsiest of excuses to extract money from them. In Australia, the police would write out a fine notice, signed and deliver to you, telling you exactly what was the complaint, then explain to you that you have 30 days to pay or go to court to challenge the fine etc. No money will ever be demanded or collected, they are not allowed to do that. Here, the first thing they want is money, reasons and documentations are nowhere to be seen.
We fixed the light globe on seeing the first service station.
Between the 400 Km from here to Buenos Aires, I wondered how many more check points we were still going to endure on the way there !! The light globe was now fixed, so what’s next, the mud on the car, the wind screen stop chips….! My untidy long hair not matching the photo!!!
Don’t cry for me, Argentina!
Next Post : Day 40 - 42 Back to Buenos Aires & flight home
Other Posts: Index - 2013 Argentina-Chile self drive.
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