Chile

Check out our pics: Chile

[i]

Yo, surprise. Me again! [t] is off collecting laundry and 'grabbing a coffee'. I am sitting here in our really nice hostel in Puerto Natales waiting while the videos take a lifetime to upload. So we last left off in the salt flats of Bolivia. Our tour took us afterwards into Chile and dropped us off in the cutesy little town of San Pedro de Atacama. The five of us decided to spend the night there before heading our different ways in the morning. Though Tracy wasn't feeling that well, and Matt hadn't been well for a few days we thought it would be nice to spend our last night having a quiet meal together. Antonie said she'd spotted a place that we might like.


When we arrived at the establishment, the manager saw us peering at the menu in the threshold and immediately offered us a free round of Pisco Sours. That should have put us off, but somehow we went in and in a very short time we went from ¨Pisco Sour¨ to "nuthr Pithco Thour, por faavhor". We went from sitting as a quiet, contained group in the corner of the room to workin' the wary crowd, dancing about throughout the bar bringing several other characters into our vortex as we went. And the bar kept bringing us free rounds of drinks for providing the entertainment. Bianca was on form, not only for her 'signature moves' but for showing the DJ how to do his job. Antonie played her part by plying the DJ with all our unwanted free shots. According to Matt, who stayed sober, (thank goodness, otherwise I would have left both my jacket and purse under the table) and is our only reliable source, Tracy was a man magnet that night. She had to pry off the DJ's hands on a regular basis. I was my usual reserved self, and when not reading Emily Bronte in the corner, I could be found knitting alpaca gloves behind the bar.

The good news was that we had a great night. The bad news was that we all had early morning buses to catch. Antonie to Salta, Argentina and Matt, B, T and I, a 24 hour semi-cama to Santiago, Chile. Semi cama you ask? That means semi reclining seats. The Full cama seats recline all the way back like a bed, are usually upholstered in the finest of materials and are wide enough and long for the most ample amongst us. Semi cama was all they had available for this 24 hour journey. We were also, unfortunately, seated right next to the toilet. The smell was almost unbearable. Many passengers complained and at a convenient stop, 6-8 hours into our journey, they cleaned them. The lack of odour didn't last long however and I was thrilled and ecstatic , nostrils aflair, to arrive in Santiago next morning. We said our goodbyes to Matt and B and took the metro into the city.


[t]


Okay, I know Ingrid writes most of this blog and it seems like I am either off drinking coffee somewhere or taking care of our laundry, but the truth is I am lazy and it takes me forever to get details down on a page. I mean when it comes down to the choice between the smell of fresh clean linens from the local lavanderia or wracking my brain over what we did there is just no contest.

Anyway, while in Santiago we spent a couple of days getting flights arranged down to Punta Arenas and shopping. It was envigorating being in a big city again with all the retail, cultural, and culinary possibilities. We both really liked the feeling of Santiago as we went about the city stocking up on much needed supplies: hair thinning shears, nail brush, new day pack etc.

Strangely enough, while in a pharmacy near our hotel we bumped into Matt and B! This phenomenon of constantly bumping into people you've already met even in area as large as S. America is actually quite common as many people are on extended travel journeys and are often criss-crossing many of the same paths. So, though Matt and B thought they had given us the slip, or "dust off", a term we had coined while in the throws of rap dance Pisco Sour madness while in San Pedro (see video clip), we were all once again re-united and went out to a great little mexican restaurant together before splitting up again the next day.

The early morning flight to Punto Arenas in Patagonia was stunning. We happened to be sitting on the better side of the plane as it paralled the magnificent Andes, flying over the beautiful Lake District. I am not sure Ingrid noticed, however, as she was trying to read a spanish newspaper the entire flight. I think she looked up once when I enthused, "Hey, Ing, look at the orange and blue sun rise over the snow capped Andes. Isn't that Mount Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the western hemispere, standing at 22,834 feet?"


Well, I think I am petering out again....so, over to [i]....


[i]


So, we arrived in Punto Arenas, a windy no restaurant kind of town. Somehow we ended up looking for a place to stay with a young German couple and a limping dog we couldn't shake. Once we settled on a place we found a travel agent and enquired about doing a penguin tour. Thanks to Tracy's precision questioning technique we establish that after the hour bus journey, we will see approximately 35 penguins. We nodded appreciatively in the travel agents and then laughed as soon as we stepped out the door. ¨Thirty five penguins! what a waste of time¨ We decided to do penguins another time and congratulated ourselves on how lucky we were to have avoided another silly tour.

Later in the hostel we talked to an English woman, fresh back from a penguin tour. "How was it?" we smirk. We discover she saw LOTS of penguins on her tour, you know something in the neighbourhood of 35,000! Hmmmph! By this time we had already booked our tickets to Puerto Natales, the gateway town for the Torres del Paine national park the next day. I hate stupid penguins anyhow.... ;)

So, unlike the real, 'authentic' patagonian town of Punto Arenas, Puerto Natales has a lot more to offer tourists. Bijoux chocolate and coffee shops etc, and lots of hiking supply stores. We spent a couple of days renting camping equipment to do the famous 'W' hike in Torres del Paines and painstakingly (thanks Tracy) planning our menu and picking up food supplies. Though we got lost walking to the nearby bus station on the morning we left, after taking a taxi we arrived JUST in time for our 2 hour bus ride to the park entrance.

After 30 minutes faffing about deciding which route to take, we were finally off. We hiked up the first valley (one leg of the "w") and set up our tent at Camp Torres. We hiked up a little more to see the towers (fabby), then arrived back at camp early enough to prepare a smashing meal of rice and smoked bacon and peppers. Yum. The second day we hiked down the valley and along the scenic route beside lake Nordenskjol until we reached a horse trail that led to us finding a fantastic spot to camp. That night was WINDY and the next morning we woke up to light rain. Fortunately, we lazed around long enough for the sun to come up and dry the tent. We then hiked up to Camp Italiano and chose a nice flat spot before setting off up to the top mirador for some stunning views and glacial action. That night for dinner, since we had eaten both pasta meals in hunger the night before, we were forced to get creative. The first few bites of our garlic butter-infused salami parmesan coated oatmeal were surprisingly edible... before the gagging started. The following morning we woke up on waterbed. Our tent was in a pool of water and it was only a matter of time before we drowned in it. We packed up as quickly as possible and practically ran to the next refugio in order to ward off hypothermia. The rain was ceaseless and our rented "waterproofs" held off the rain only for about 10 minutes. When we heard at the refugio that the forecast looked bleak we decided to forget the last leg of the 'W' and be content with a 'U'.

We are now savoring being warm, snug and dry in Puerto Natales.