Day56 Monday, April 27, 2020 GREGORES Mountain Village COCA Homestay
The argentine government had announced one of the harshest international flight suspensions the night before, suspending international flights until September 1. After watching this news, I lost sleep almost all night, and my mind kept recalling the events of the last two months.
Twenty thousand kilometers to the northwest is China, but you should know that the current situation is:
Three policies of stability and ruthlessness, two of which are Argentine and one of Which are of China. Leading to normal commercial flights back to China from South America is not! can! Yes! Yikes!
3/3 of the first cases in Argentina were detected,
3/16 Argentina initially blocked international flights across the board
3/20 Argentina's land, sea and air domestic and international traffic are completely blocked. Domestic flights included. Since 3/20, basic Argentine domestic flights have been counted as special flights. This is the first policy of stability and ruthlessness!
3/28 China has blocked its borders, banned the entry of foreigners, and introduced four one-one policies, one country, one airline and one flight a week. This is the second policy of stability and ruthlessness! Cut 75% of inbound flights.
4/26 - One of the heaviest policies of stability is coming.
The Argentine government has completely announced the suspension of all flights until September 1st - what is complete! This is called complete crispness and neatness.
The reason for the introduction of this policy is that many Argentines are stranded outside and cannot come back, and the airlines' scheduled flights do not care about the policy, and the policy is adjusted again. So some Argentines even bought 4 plane tickets, but they can't waste money and energy back, complaining to the Argentine government.
The Argentine government's response is! - Just a one-size-fits-all, no one should go in and out before 9/1!!!! As soon as this policy was introduced, it was immediately opposed by all parties, but the Argentine side seemed to be unmoved ~ ~ I am a foreigner who is not convenient to comment on the government of other countries, but the vast number of Argentine people have scolded their government to the point of worthlessness, which directly led to the outbreak of anti-quarantine demonstrations throughout Argentina a few months later (of course, this is the last word).
At present, the epidemic situation in Argentina is completely out of control, the "copy of China's epidemic prevention operations" has not been copied well, and the number of infected people is still growing at a high speed after more than a month, and it has not improved at all. Even though there are still zero infections in this small mountain village at the moment, I can't sit here and wait. The small mountain village of Gregores in Patagonia is like a small mountain village in the middle of the Ali no-man's land in Tibet, where the vast Patagonian wasteland is located within a thousand kilometers.
The vast Patagonian wilderness creates barriers to transportation and reduces the chances of the virus spreading, and it is safe for me to have zero infections in my small mountain village at the moment, but I have a vague feeling of waiting to die.
Although I am in Argentina, the farthest country in the world from China, the only thing that can save me now is my mother.
This was my first thought when I woke up in the morning: ask for help from the Chinese Embassy!
Searching for the webpage of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Argentina, I saw that there was contact information on the webpage, I immediately called the phone number of the Chinese Embassy in Buenos Aires, and the staff after the self-reported home let me add an Argentine Embassy work WeChat.
In addition, after WeChat reported the door, immediately a WeChat voice call came over, and as soon as the phone was connected, a young lady asked me very eagerly
"Why didn't you contact us earlier?!"
In an instant I was asked and my brain went blank, yes! How come I stayed so long and didn't contact the Chinese Embassy.
"I have never encountered this situation abroad, I don't know who to look for" WeChat staff asked me to send three photos of the first page of the passport, visa, and entry chapter to the past for registration.
I woke up from a nap at noon and found that I had been pulled into a WeChat group, more than eighty people. People at the Chinese Embassy in Argentina have already secured a plane back to China on May 6.
Speaking of this plane, it is also very interesting! Argentina flew directly to Shanghai, China, and this plane was sent by the Argentine government to China to receive medical supplies donated by the Chinese government, flying from the Pacific Ocean, which was an unprecedented direct flight from South America to China. It was only an hour's stop in New Zealand to refuel, and I didn't get off the plane halfway through. The embassy also specially reminded everyone that this is a 30-hour non-stop flight (in fact, this is the shortest flight from Argentina to China for the first time), please consider your physical condition. This is the only class. If I would like to take this flight back to China, please hurry back to Buenos Aires.
In an instant, I felt that one foot had stepped on the soil of China, and in April, the people in China had defeated the epidemic, and everyone could return to their former work and life with peace of mind, which is also what I yearn for. But the most important thing is that I will never be threatened by a virus again, and now the safest place in the world is China.
The embassy consulate also revealed a very important message, for Chinese from other provinces to return to the capital, they can issue travel certificates. In this way, both public transport and self-driving cars can pass the inspection of the police throughout Argentina. My worst fears were finally resolved. But calm down and take a look, now the accommodation is all closed, the restaurants are all closed, and the weather is getting colder. If you rush north, you are likely to have no food or drink in the middle of the road. At this time, I suddenly began to regret that I had sent all my camping equipment to my Argentine riders three months ago, and it would be dangerous to set off without a place to live in this vast Patagonia hinterland.
These days are like a roller coaster, the day before yesterday the Argentine government's suspension announcement scared me to death, the next day as soon as I contacted the Chinese Embassy, there was a direct flight to China. In the evening, I called my family to report the incident. Let them know that there is hope for coming back now.
Day59 Thursday, April 30, 2020 Gregores Mountain Village COCA B & B was sunny and windy
At noon, weChat took a look, and the Argentine Embassy sent a WeChat file. Open it to see the huge national emblem seal on it, take a look, wow! is my message. The consulate prepared me proof of travel! As long as you can rush back to the capital before May 6th, you can take a flight back to your home country!
The embassy trip proved that I looked at it in Spanish, to the effect that
"In accordance with The Emergency Decree No. XXXXX of the Argentine Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Transport of Argentina XxxXX, the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Argentina requests the military police and other public servants of the argentine provinces to grant Zhao Xiaochuan, the holder of this passport stranded in Argentina, the necessary facilities and assistance for passage, accommodation and catering, so that he can return to Buenos Aires by plane to return to His country"
Chinese's official documents have always been humble and reasonable. I also found two corresponding emergency decrees on the websites of the Argentine Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Transport, both of which are for persons stranded during the national quarantine in Argentina, and both of which make it clear that I can now travel within Argentina in this situation.
All that's left to do is to quickly implement the food and accommodation along the way, after all, the hotel restaurants in the country are now closed, and I am still a full three thousand kilometers away from the capital.