At least we got Chile stamps in our passports...

It's Friday the 10th and we're having some cafe en el Hostel America del Sur, a similar experience to the Freestyle family home. I can't even believe we're here after 21 hours of the worst day of travel I've ever experienced in my life. Homeless, we stashed our backpacks at Freestyle and joined everyone at Dublin where we stayed until 4:30 a.m when our bus to Rio Gallegos left the port. The 5 French guys and our 2 friends Spencer and Kyle from Texas who we'd been staying with at Freestyle were in the same boat so we all hung out and made sure everyone got to the bus station on time. It was seriously ridiculous. We drank Cape Horn beer and wine at a booth for probably six hours. I think our first drink at dinner was around 10:30 and nothing slowed down until we hit the bus at 5 and passed the fuck out. Emilio, his friends and some other of the Freestyle staff stayed out with us and walked us down to the bus station where I got quite a few goodbye kisses from los hombres.

At 9 we were rudely awakened by Chilean military boarder patrol where we had our first of four excruciating customs experiences. The bus route goes through Chile so in one day we had to leave Argentina, enter Chile, leave Chile and return to Argentina. I still don't know how I survived that first stop. Still drunk, half asleep and with a pounding headache we waited in line with passengers from other buses outside in the freezing cold for an hour or so. Finally when that ordeal was finished I passed out again on the bus and yes, obviously was woken up again at our second stop, the worst of them all. Waiting in line in negative degree weather with miles of cars backed up behind us just to get our passports stamped and fill out forms almost killed me. I was not prepared for the sudden cold as compared to Ushuaia, which wasn't even that bad. Finally after that line was finished we were told we had to get back out in the cold and wait all over again for our backpacks to be searched. My guess is we were at the second check point for nearly 3 hours. The positive side was we finally got some food...and by food I mean two small bread rolls, one with a slice of ham in the middle and the other with a slice of cheese. Ham and cheese but on different mini sandwiches? Only in Argentina. Actually, in this case, only in Chile.

The next time Charlie shook me to wake up was when we had arrived at a the massive ferry that would bring the bus and passengers across the Straights of Magellan. We were in the middle of no where this entire time and this random ferry crossing such a barren body of water just seemed so ridiculous. We got out of the bus and onto the ferry where we purchased some ponchos (hot dogs) and sodas. The ride was quick and before I knew it we were back on the bus. And let me explain, this bus was not the luxury full cama bus we took from Iguazu. The seats hardly reclined and the temperature was set at freezing with no blankets, pillows, nada. Two more stops and hours later we arrived in the city of Rio Gallegos where we got some groceries and transferred onto a nice cama bus for the final 5 hours of the never ending trip.

We were greeted by the America del Sur staff and took a cab with the French guys and the Texans over to the hostel. America del Sur is similar to Freestyle but quieter, with more girl guests and a bit of a nicer, private dorm. This morning we slept in and missed the bus to the glacier, Perito Moreno at the National Park so we're going to do that tomorrow. Today is more of a rest day, we are going to explore town, get our bus tickets and hike through a nearby canyon. Fabuloso!

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