A safe place to sleep?

After a glorious time camping around El Chalten, it was time to make the first of what I am sure will be many long haul bus rides here in South America. For the trip from El Chalten to Bariloche, I decided to go along the historic Ruta 40 which is Argentina's version of our Route 66. Normally a 30 hour ride over roads mostly of gravel, my bus would stop for a night in Perito Moreno dividing the ride almost in half.

At the end of an actually enjoyable day 1, we ended up in Perito Moreno around 10pm and had to find a place to stay for the night. Though most had pre-booked a room, there were five of us trying to decide whether to camp somewhere or find a cheap hostel. Alas, a search was not needed as a little Argentinian man (Raul)with a flashlight was offering to take us to his place where we could stay in a cabina for 10 pesos a night. With 5 of us there (for safety) and a price of just over three dollars, it seemed like a no-brainer. So, off went the five of us - a young Ukranian guy traveling through South America with only a small handbag, a 66 year old environmental journalism professor from Maine, a tree counter (that's actually his job) from California with dreadlocks longer than Raul, an American med student and myself.

Who would have thunk it? This ¨cabina¨was actually a round, orange and white bomb shelter that Raul had acquired from the local airport. Probably the coolest and, dare I say, safest place I've ever stayed for $3 a night!