Summary
“so we understand each other”
Guevara begins by saying that this is not a story of heroism or cynicism, but rather one of two lives running parallel for a time. He is compiling this from the notes of his fleeting impulses, and he is solely responsible for them. He is no longer the same person he was; he ceased to be that person when he stepped back into Argentina. The reader can do nothing but simply believe his impressions because he was not there to take the same mental “photograph.”
“forewarnings”
Guevara goes to Alberto Granado’s house in Cordoba. He has just quit his job and is happy to do so; he is a dreamer, but medical school and exams are stressful. He wants a break.
In a single, casual moment, Guevara and Granado decide to take the motorcycle, La Poderosa, to North America. They begin to get all of the documents and visas they need and, to make it easier, say they are simply going to Chile.
Guevara’s main task is to work on his exams, and Alberto’s is to prepare the bike and study the route. Neither sees the enormity of their choice—only the dust on the road.
“discovery of the ocean”
Sitting on a dune by the sea, Guevara reflects on how the sea has always been a confidante. For Alberto, this is the first time he has seen it. He is overwhelmed and amazed.
Guevara’s girlfriend’s dog, Comeback, is with them, and he also watches the sea.
They are at Guevara’s uncle’s house after traveling the first 1200 kilometers. They stock up on food and laugh away people’s concerns about their journey.
The motorbike is hard to control on the road, and Guevara worries about the dog not wanting to eat. Finally, it has a piece of horse, which is too sweet for the men.
“…lovesick pause”
Guevara has trouble saying goodbye to his girlfriend, Chichina; for a time, Alberto thinks he may continue on alone. Two days stretch into eight; finally, with a bittersweet taste in his mouth, Guevara decides it is time for them to go.
The sea had come to his defense, breaking his limbo. He was resting in his woman’s lap and the universe seemed to drift rhythmically by. Suddenly the wind blew and a different sea voice sounded. He felt that it was a warning and a hammering to his sense of serenity. The sea danced and he did not want to be warned, but they left the beach because it was cold.
All adventures, he writes, have a point of departure and a point of arrival, but the latter is theoretical and the journeys end when they end.
Guevara asks Chichina if he can have her bracelet to remember her by.
“until the last tie is broken”
The next stop is Necochea, where Alberto has an old friend from university. The man’s wife wonders why they are running away when they have just one year left before they qualify as doctors.
It is time to leave and they head to friends in Bahia Blanca, where they spend a few days wandering around. These are the last days when they do not have to think about money.
When they leave, the bike is not behaving well and they crash six times. One more crash is the worst of the trip. Rain begins to pour and they go flying again. Nevertheless, they “[look] into the future with impatient joy” (40) and seem to breathe light, clear air.
“for the flu, bed”
Driving along a gravel road is arduous and after a long day Guevara and Alberto collapse in a room at the railroad station. When Guevara wakes up, he immediately feels awful. At a small hospital in Choele Choel, a doctor tells him he has the flu and must go to bed.
Alberto photographs him in his hospital gear; he is sickly, gaunt, and has huge eyes and a ragged beard. It is not a great photo, but it shows how far they are from civilization.
The next day they head toward the lakes. The bike shudders and struggles. In the dark of night, it makes a weird sound and they have no choice but to camp out. Freezing and gusting wind is blowing, and they have to tie the bike. Sleep wins out despite the cold.
The next morning, they see the bike frame is broken, and they have to use wire to fix it.
They stop at a few places and continue on toward San Martin de Los Andes. La Poderosa’s bodywork is very damaged, though, and now has a punctured back tire.
The men stop at a ranch house whose German owners had known Guevara’s uncle, a traveler himself. There they rest, fish, and sit with a group of farm laborers. The laborers mock their sweet mate and answer their questions simply and rather reluctantly.
The cherry and plum trees are enticing, but they eat too much as to not appear to refuse hospitality.
“san martin de los andes”
The road descends steeply to a coarse little town amid stunningly beautiful mountains. The men are allowed to stay in a tool shed for a few nights. They explore the lake and dream about building a laboratory there when they finish their trip. In all of their journeying, this is the place that most “[calls] out to that sedentary part of ourselves” (45).
Guevara writes that he knows his destiny is to travel, as is Alberto’s.
Back at the tool shed they find the night watchman, Don Pedro Olate, has prepared a barbeque for them. He tells them that he was asked to organize one for the drivers of a motor race on the local track that Saturday and asks Alberto and Guevara if they’d like to help out and make a little money.
That Sunday, they begin their task of hauling wood on a truck and taking it to the site. The barbeque begins and they decide to execute a plan. Guevara pretends to get drunk and hides bottles by the stream. He pretends to collapse; Alberto apologizes for him and says he will stay after with him. They excitedly go to their stash, but it is gone; everyone has been onto their tricks. Both are embarrassed and have to walk back to town with their tails between their legs.
The next day, the race continues and they get to watch and imbibe with some of Alberto’s friends in town. The friends invite them to visit them in the town they are working in, Junin de los Andes.
“circular exploration”
This town is less fortunate than its brother, stagnant and monotonous in its forgotten state. Guevara and Alberto sleep and eat well in their farewell to Argentina.
On their way out they leave the bike at a park ranger’s and climb to look at a lake. Alberto shoots down a bird and Guevara has to go into the freezing water to get it. Their meal is delicious, though, and they are invigorated. The climb is miserable as it ascends, and flies and weariness attack them. There is also no lovely view at the top.
When they come back down, it is night and they struggle immensely, fearing abysses and animals. A stag leaping through the night startles them in the wild scene. Finally they make it down to the ranger’s place, and he kindly lets them stay and gives them hot mate.
On the way out of town, they get their money for working the barbeque.
“dear mama”
Guevara includes a letter he wrote to his mother about how he fell ill after leaving Bahia Blanca, the beauty of San Martin de los Andes, and how he diagnosed a tumor in someone he’d met. He includes a page for Chichina and a loving hug for her.
“on the seven lakes road”
La Poderosa and its riders head to Bariloche. It is a cold journey, but the lakes and tall trees are gorgeous. However, Guevara writes that seeing this grates him because this is only a superficial level upon which to see a place: you have to stay somewhere for a few days to really get it.
The inner tube on the tire begins to vex them and they stop. An Austrian caretaker who’d raced motorbikes gives them a place to stay but warns them of a local puma.
That night in the empty shed, the two hear scratching at the door and are filled with terror. Instinct kicks in: Guevara grabs his revolver and pulls the trigger. Sadly, though, he accidentally shoots Bobby, the caretaker’s wife’s nasty dog.
Guevara stays with someone else now that they are considered murderers of dogs, while Alberto works on the bike tire.
They reach San Carlos de Bariloche and spend the night at the police station waiting for the Modesta Victoria to sail to the border with Chile.
Analysis
This volume is an interesting one for those who know of Che Guevara as his dedicated revolutionary self in Cuba, the Congo, and Bolivia. That man is here in the occasional reflection or phrase, but he is mostly in the penumbras; book reviewer Marc Becker notes, “they reveal the roots of his ideology in formation.” This is Che before he was Che: Che as a young man, as an explorer, and as a joyful rogue. He explicitly says this is not a tale of heroic feats, and upon finishing the work, one tends to agree with him. Che and Alberto are beautifully flawed, fighting, awkwardly pursuing women, getting sick, complaining, accidentally shooting people’s pets, and more. Che also undertakes this journey after quitting his job but before he finishes his medical degree, showing that he has a restless spirit.
That’s not to say Che and Alberto aren’t good men; on the contrary, their compassion for lepers and the poor, benighted people of Latin America is sincere and laudable. It is just that Che has little interest in sugarcoating anything in his diary—consider his openness about his asthma—and he comes across as very real.
Also in the first section of the narrative is Che’s perspicacious comment that his readers will essentially have to take his word for it regarding the veracity of these accounts and recollections. This does not mean that he is admitting he fabricated or obfuscated things, but rather that he acknowledges frankly the layers of remove in this work. He is also looking at the narrative from a bit of a distance, writing, “The person who reorganizes and polishes [the diaries], me, is no longer, at lest I am not the person I once was. All the wandering around ‘Our America with a capital A’ has changed me more than I thought” (32).
In the beginning of these chapters, Che admits a bit of ambivalence about the journey he is about to leave for. He feels the connection to his girlfriend and his life in Argentina, but he ultimately knows that it is time to go (and nature gives him her stamp of approval via the sea). He cannot deny who he is: a wanderer, a dreamer, and a traveler. He admits, “I now know, by an almost fatalistic conformity with the facts, that my destiny is to travel” (45). He feels truly alive when he contemplates or is on the open road; he writes of himself and Alberto, “we looked into the future with impatient joy. We seemed to breathe more freely, a lighter air, an air of adventure. Distant countries, heroic deeds and beautiful women spun around and around in our turbulent imaginations” (40).
In these opening chapters when the men are still in Argentina, they travel somewhat comfortably. They stay with friends and family, La Poderosa works well enough to get them where they need to go without relying on anyone else, the weather is decent, and food is plentiful. Even when Che gets sick, he recovers comfortably. It will be later that he and Alberto experience a multitude of privations that place him more directly at the level of the indigent of South America. These chapters, then, seem more like the “travelogue” portion of the narrative, complete with stunning natural phenomena, amusing parties, and interesting people.
