Day 130 - Sweet and sour chicken

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A sheepish start for one of us this morning. Perhaps Eddie maintains his level of fitness by supplying booze but not drinking it. The hangover-curing capabilities of a brisk Patagonian wind were tested to the full, but after a few minutes outside Ed was recovered.

We passed through the narrowest point on the route, the 80m wide English Passage. After this it was just a couple of hours until we docked in our destination, Puerto Natales. This town is the place people, including us, come to in order to get to Torres del Paine national park. Most people also seem to think it's pretty dull but we heartily disagree and loved it. There's not a huge amount here, although there are loads of companies offering tours to Torres del Paine and equipment rental (though noone sells the dehydrated trekking meals common in Europe and North America - a definite gap in the market).

The town has a certain sleepy charm, but 2 things stood out and were probably the cause of our positive opinion on the place. Firstly, our accommodation at 'Adventure Patagonia' was exactly what you need for a quick stop before heading off to the park. The rooms were average but the helpfulness of the people working there was amazing. They are like a little tourist office and they gave us all the information we needed. What's more this all turned out to be correct (don't believe Lonely Planet etc because things change quickly). We also rented a tent (North Face) and stove there. And they're looking after our gear that we won't need in the park. The second great find was a Chinese restaurant called 'Golden Dragon' (not that it matters what it's called - they're kind of a novelty here!). Perhaps we're a bit boring but sometimes only a Chinese or an Indian will do. It didn't disappoint.

Whilst in the Chinese Gemma remembered, at 9pm, that we hadn't picked up our laundry - which we knew shut at 8.45. Ed ran over there and luckily managed to get our clothes. What with our early departure the following morning and a booked and paid for ice hiking excursion, forgetting the laundry would have been an unmitigated (and expensive) disaster.

So today was all about preparing for our week in the park. We had our camping equipment, had bought a week's worth of food - mostly pasta - and had sorted out our planned route. Tomorrow we visit Torres del Paine.

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