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Published: August 5th 2023
Has it ever happened to you that sometime you visit a small town and you fall in love with the place? You start thinking - “I wish I could live here”. I don’t know about others, but this has happened to me a number of times. Once I was visiting Sapa in extreme North Vietnam and I loved the place. I started looking into rental property in Sapa. And I just stayed there for 2 nights only! I know what you are thinking – “what a crazy dude you are”. Maybe, I am. The same thing happened to me when Ryan and I flew to Punta Arenas. We only stayed there 3 nights and the place felt like home to me – coffee shop in patio, convenience stores in downtown, bank line ups, travel stores, small beer places, Strait of Magellan and hundreds of sea gulls, people jogging by the sea side – all felt homecoming. But above all, I loved the people there. Where else can you negotiate paying half price for half a day stay in a decent hotel? Yes, we did it in Punta! I have always said, a place is characterized by its people and not by
the place itself. Yes, I loved Punta Arenas.
Okay, let me rewind a bit to tell about our journey from Puerto Montt. When we checked out from Hotel Novotel in Puerto Montt and came outside waiting for the cab, it was 5 am – not exactly wee hours, but early morning for sure. It was winter time and it was raining. The gusty wind from Lake Chapo was hitting the face like needle. Victor came in time with his cab and it was a relief inside the cab. We drove through small roads, often without street lights and dark neighbourhoods in obscure part of the town. I must admit, I was hoping that Victor soon will find a highway heading to the airport which I am used to during my travels. No, not in Puerto Montt! Finally, we arrived in the airport and said goodbye to Victor. He was a trusted man who also drove us to Puerto Montt from Puerto Varas. We joined the check-in line for our 7:50 am flight, and there were hardly any passengers that early morning. A dog was peacefully sleeping in the check-in area and I was in no mood to disturb him.
Ryan was ahead of me, and the online savvy guy finished check-in way before I reached the counter. I am old fashioned and I love to go to the counter for check in; it gives me peace of mind. Sipping a cup of coffee after our security check, I felt good and relaxed.
It was time for boarding and an agent scanned my boarding pass. There comes the surprise!
“Wait a minute Sir, you have been upgraded to premium class and your seat is now changed”.
Wow! Who wouldn’t love it? Same happened to Ryan! Actually we got the same treat in our flight from Santiago to Puerto Montt the day before! What’s going on? Are we tracked as special travelers? Whatever it was, we definitely were getting spoiled.
The flight took off on time. My short lived Puerto Montt soon disappeared under the cloud in a misty morning. I leaned back and closed my eyes!
“Excuse me, Sir”, I opened my eyes hearing the call from flight attendant. She handed me snacks with a lovely smile. “Thank you”, I returned her smile. Carol (Changed her name here) was a friendly flight manager and she
asked me,
“First time visiting Chile?”
I was taken by surprise,
“Yes, but how did you guess”?
“You look like a tourist and we fly around, you know”.
“I see”. There was no one seating on the row, and the flight was half empty. So, we chatted for a few minutes.
“You know, your English is fluent”, Carol told me.
“Not sure what you mean”, I was a bit perplexed.
“You are a Filipino, right”? Carol was looking at me with curiosity.
“No, I am not. Originally, I hail from India. But, I have lived in Canada half of my life”, I laughed!
“Really”? It was her turn to be surprised.
This was not the first time I was mistaken as Filipino. Once it happened right in front of an immigration officer at Manila Airport. I just flew in from Bangkok and I was standing in the immigration line designated for foreigners.
“Sir, this is a line for the foreigners only and you should stand in the other line for the locals”, an immigration officer told me! So I was kind of used to it.
Anyway, long
story short, Carol and I are good friends now.
The flight made its descent through a hazy sky over Strait of Magellan and touched down Punta Arenas airport. It was just mid morning when we picked up our luggage and boarded the taxi heading towards Hotel Plaza in downtown Punta Arenas . It was such a change in landscape from Puerto Varas! Gone are the wooded areas and green foliage. Instead, sea gulls over Strait of Magellan reminded me that we are near the southernmost tip of our planet – almost nothing between us and Antarctica from here. I was in deep thought and I didn’t realize when the taxi has made its way to downtown. The lady driver parked the taxi near an intersection, and told us apologetically,
“Sir, that is the best I can do. Your hotel is around the corner”. She couldn’t explain it further in English and showed us towards a large park nearby across the road. There was a huge gathering of people and Naval personnel. Ladies were nicely dressed and a parade was going on right in front of the park. All roads nearby were closed and a huge crowd on both
sides of the road were enjoying the parade. Soon, there were Cannon fires with hollow shells and the whole downtown shook up with the sound. We had no idea what it was all about and we just dragged our luggage a block or two to find Hotel Plaza. While checked in, we asked about the festival outside. The front desk lady was fluent in English and she told us that 21
st May
is Día de las Glorias Navales in Spanish or ‘The Day of Naval Glories’. In 1879, the Chilean Navy blockaded the Peruvian Port of Iquique in a battle with Peru and Bolivia. On this day in 1879 Chile won decisively the Battle of Iquique and it was the turning point in the war. Every year on the same day, the Chilean Navy celebrates the glorious victory and the local people join the celebration. I was thrilled that we arrived in Punta Arenas on this day to witness the recap of the history.
The day was still young and we took a stroll after we checked in. The celebration was over by then. It was Sunday, so most shops were closed. The park in front of the hotel
was beautiful. We crossed the park to find a coffee shop, extending to the sidewalk in a makeshift tent. It was ideal! We grabbed some coffee and snacks for a quick lunch. A short walk down to the Strait of Magellan was mandatory as a tourist and so we did. Loved the site! Then it was time for Ryan to take a snooze when we returned to the hotel. And I decided to take a city tour.
It started to snow when the guide picked me up from the hotel. Remember, it’s winter time in Chile in May. I am used to snow in Canada and it didn’t dampen my spirit a bit. Our van snaking through the downtown streets, soon left the city limit and we stopped at a view point. Snowing has stopped by then and I could see the vista from the view point. The view of Punta Arenas along the Strait of Magellan was fabulous. I could see ships sailing at a distance, the houses on far away hills were sleeping under a gloomy sky. It felt so peaceful! Yes, I started falling in love with the place.
We stopped briefly at the ferry
terminal of Strait of Magellan. Sea gulls were flying all over the port, gentle waves were breaking at shore! I stood there to appreciate the serenity. Regular ferry service operates from the terminal to different places including Tierra Del Fuego. There was a reason that I was curious about the ferry terminal though. During our planning stage, I wanted to visit Tierra Del Fuego to see the Penguins. Since winter was fast approaching, my only option was to take a regular ferry to travel there. We had to rule out the ferry option for conflict in timings; it didn’t fit our schedule. But I wanted to see the terminal. Nothing special about it, but I loved the sea gulls!
Well, another place of interest that was on my bucket list was to visit the
Cemetery of Punta Arenas. I know what you are thinking – “Why on earth you wanted to visit a cemetery at the end of the world”? Hang on! Let me walk you down the history a bit and tell you the story of Sarah Braun. Before Panama Canal was built, the only way for the ships to travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean
was to sail around Punta Arenas at the southern tip of Chile. During that time, Punta Arenas thrived and many came from Europe and settled there. Sara Braun came to Punta Arenas from Europe at the age of 12 with her family and settled there. She was a successful business woman later in life and she also became famous for her many charitable work in the area. She gifted some of her fortune to build the cemetery, but asked something in return. She put a condition that after her death and burial, the main entrance of the cemetery will remain closed for ever. She died back in 1955 and since then the main entrance of the cemetery stayed closed. The visitors are allowed to enter only through one of the side doors. Please don’t ask me why she put this condition! But the place intrigued my mind and I made it a point to visit the cemetery during my trip. And so I did. It was quiet inside - an ideal place to pray! I found that myself and another couple with us were the only visitors in that snowy afternoon. I walked alone on the pathway with manicured junipers
on both sides. It was all quiet, a perfect time to absorb the calmness of the place. A couple of dogs were taking afternoon nap behind a stone and they got startled having seen me - an unwanted visitor. I made it a point not to disturb them and kept walking through the burial stones. Epitaphs written on the tombs talked the history of bygone days, the souls sighed and whispered in quiet, snowy afternoon. After a short walk, I left the departed souls lying there in peace.
While driving back to the city another thing surprised me. There is an active Hindu temple in Punta Arenas! I can understand the voyage of Spaniards who came Punta Arenas to expand their empire and do business. But I don’t know how and why the Hindus migrated to Punta Arenas. Hindu and Buddhist religion migrated extensively in South East Asia from Indian subcontinent. That makes sense. But in Punta Arenas? Well, beats me!
It was a brief tour of the city and I was happy to get a feel about the place where we were going to spend three nights. Punta Arenas is not quite a sleepy town like Puerto
Varas, but it’s not a vibrant city either. But it’s lovely and peaceful. One can live here peacefully enjoying the slow rhythm of the days while appreciating the vast expanse of the Nature. I made a mental note that sometime in the future, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to spend a year or two in this city that I fell in love with!
Next is Torres del Paine!
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
We hope to follow in your footsteps
This looks like a city worth falling in love with. Someday we will make it there.