Adios Ushuaia and Hola Chile

---

---

Day 21 - Tuesday 1st November
We have enjoyed the last two days so much that we kind of let our heads run away from ourselves a bit last night and had just a teensy bit too much to drink. The small shop across the road sells litre bottles of Quilmes beer for 9 pesos (about $2.20) and a reasonable bottle of Argentinian red wine for 20 pesos (about $5) so it is quite easy and cheap to get drunk here, providing that you don’t mind doing it back in your hotel room. We sat up to nearly 1 in the morning going back over some of our photos and we may have had a bit too much, because we were both feeling a little seedy in the morning.
A very slow start to the day and before leaving we thought we would get some laundry done. I volunteered to try my very best Spanglish/pantomime to see if the hotel would do our laundry, and what followed was perhaps the second most confusing conversation I have had so far. The guy at reception is a really great bloke, but I think I just about broke his good will and by the time I walked away I think we were both mentally exhausted and left totally confused as to what I wanted.
Shelley came to the rescue by just handing our bag of laundry over to him and that simple act was really all I needed to do in the first place.
We headed down into town to see if we could pick up Thursday’s bus tickets, it was only after descending the 5 blocks of stairs that we realised we had left our passports in the hotel safe and we needed them to purchase the bus tickets. So once again we had to climb back up to the hotel and all the way I just kept vowing that the next holiday will be on an atoll. We just always seem to be holidaying in hilly locations and I think it is about time we found somewhere flat to stay.
Picked up our passports and tramped back down the hill saying good morning to all the dogs along the way for the third time today, most of which have become like pets to us. All the dogs in Argentina look extremely healthy and quite a few are rather overweight. The people here really seem to love their dogs and we are yet to see in signs of mistreatment, a stark contrast to Vietnam where the locals love their dogs with soy sauce and a few veggies.
Along the way we once again had to get some money out of the bank so we had to line up at an ATM for about ten minutes. With cash in our pocket we moved onto the travel agent where we booked our tickets out of town. We didn’t get exactly what we wanted and need to change buses at the town of Rio Grande but we didn’t have a choice. Shelley isn’t happy with the 5 am departure time while I’m not exactly thrilled by the 6pm arrival time. From the travel agent we went onto the post office where we finally got to mail Dad’s birthday card. Got the feeling they may tie it to the back of a Galapagos Tortoise, so Dad if it doesn’t get to you by your birthday this year, maybe you will get for the next.
We really hadn’t planned anything for today or tomorrow so we just opted to browse the shops once again. Could probably have bailed on the town today but it is nice to have some chill time before we hit Torres Del Paine. Dropped into a souvenir shop and Shelley got to buy another long sleeve top, while I browsed the books. We also stopped at a jewellery store to look at a piece Shelley has been eyeing off for the last 4 days. The woman running the store was really lovely and took the time to allow Shelley to inspect it and even offered for her to try it on, but unfortunately the $600 price tag was just a little too steep for us.
By the time we got back down into the centre of town everything was shutting down for the early afternoon siesta, so we knew there really wasn’t anything else we could do other than get a feed. Spotted a little café on a corner that had reasonable prices, so we sat down to a burger for lunch. Half way through the feed all the power in the café went out and we soon realised that in fact the whole town had gone into blackout. Lucky for us we had our food but just minutes before the blackout struck, a whole busload of people had moved in upstairs at the café and the staff looked like they were going into panic mode a bit.
Between 12.30 to 4.00 in every town we have been to in Argentina, just about everything closes, and other than going for a walk there really isn’t much else to do. Ushuaia goes from being this traffic gridlocked bustling little town to dead quiet, I mean even the dogs disappear. We decided today if you can’t beat them we might as well join them, so headed back to the hotel. The power was still off when we returned and our room was still being cleaned so we waited in the dining room for half an hour.
About 6.30pm we decided to walk a different way to the main street and go to the very end of the shops, here we saw a funky bar. It sold the local Beagle Beer (blonde, red & black) and also cocktails at very good price, so we sat down for a drink and a complimentary bowl of popcorn. The girls running the bar were very nice and I noticed the great T-shirts they had on promoting the Beagle Beer. Scott said he would love one, so if you don’t ask you don’t get, I asked if they had any for sale and was initially told no but a few minutes later they said they had a few and literally there was only about 2 shirts in the storage area and it must have been fate because one was my size and other Scott’s. It was great sitting in this bar just taking in the fact we are doing this amazing trip. Traveling is always amazing, and occasionally you get bad moments, but they are quickly forgotten. At other times you have incredible experiences, sometimes they are at historical, or natural sights but more often than not it is the simple moments like sitting in a bar at the end of the world watching the sun set on the town.
We stopped at the takeaway empanada place on the way back to the hotel and picked up a pizza. A lot of the pizzas in Argentina seem to come with chopped up boiled egg on the top, it is a bit strange.
Day 22 - Wednesday 2nd November
Last day in town so today is a real easy one, after breakfast we went for a long walk around the town. I visited the Christmas shop but resisted buying all the ornaments mainly because I don’t want to carry anymore. The weather today is very changeable going from warm to drizzling rain to full on gusts of wind and freezing. Our jackets were constantly on and off, so about 1.00pm we stopped for lunch and then slowly made our way back to the hotel to start organising our bags and selves for tomorrow’s bus trip.
It would have been great to go back to the Ushuaia bar for a few drinks but we had an early start in the morning, and there is only one thing worse in the world than a long bus trip and that is one whilst nursing a hangover. Had our last meal at the Tantre Sara restaurant before heading home for a final pack and an early night.
Day 23 - Thursday 3rd November
We both didn’t sleep much and when the alarm went off at 4 it was almost a relief, so we could at least now get up and get moving. We were out of the room in under 30 minutes, and paid our bill with the guy on reception, who was really loud and animated for such an early hour. We headed down the hill for the last time in the freezing cold to the bus stop, there is no bus station here so there is no protection. The bus turned up on time to everyone’s relief and we all quickly threw our bags in so we could get onboard. We have noticed the baggage security is not as good in this area and we did not get a collection ticket for our bags.
We were soon on our way winding through the mountains, the bus slightly resembled the driver and his assistant’s holiday home. Scott and I were near the front of the bus and under the seat was a little camp cooker, plus all sorts of odds and ends. I was ready to call out “stop the bus” if the cooker was lit up, which thankfully did not happen. They did make their mate, which is a drink everyone has in Argentina, it is made of dried chopped llex paraguayensis leaves and hot water. Unlike tea, mate is made by pouring a large amount of the loose leaves into a cup prior to the hot water and it is drunk through a straw that has a filter in the bottom, so you don’t suck up any leaves. Apparently it is a bit of an acquired taste and you do see a lot of people drinking it. I don’t think I will bother as it sort of looks like a bowl of lawn clippings and the smell to me is a cross between tea and window glazing putty. It was interesting watching them make it on a moving bus, then trying to find a music cd to play for the journey. By now I was starting to feel motion sick and for those who know me, as soon as I am sick I start to go to sleep, as did the bus assistant. By now everyone on the bus was asleep, even Scott was dozing when I suddenly felt him move and when I opened my eyes he was passing the bus driver water. Later he told me he opened his eyes and the driver was staring at us willing us awake so we could pass him the water. This would have been ok except it was now raining the road was slippery and it probably would have been better (I mean safer) if he was watching where we were going, but he seemed more intent at looking at everything else other than the road.
We stopped at Rio Grande where we had to change bus, this was a two hour wait till 10.00. We only had a voucher for the next part of the journey so we had to exchange these for ticket, but the office did not open till 9.15am. The bus station here did have an indoor area where we sat with 2 other backpackers till we could sort the tickets out. With this bus company we needed to hand in our passports we were not sure why, but as it turned out there must have been an office there to stamp us out of Argentina so we did not have to stop at the border crossing. Of course we did need to stop at the Chile border to get stamped in and our luggage x-rayed and checked for fruit etc. Then we were back onto a dirt road with some major ruts and potholes, the bus lumbered along with the bus bottoming out quite regularly. We reached the ferry and this time we all had to get off the bus and walk onto ferry to cross the Strait of Magellan, as it was even colder this time we stayed inside the ferry, not on the deck.
The roads remained dirt most of the trip, till we got closer to Punta Arenas which is the next town we are staying. We arrived at about 6.00pm, this town has no central bus station so each company drops you off at their office. We are lucky and the bus stops around the corner from where we want to stay, we just hope they have a room available. We see Hostal Terrasur and ring to doorbell and yes they have a room for us and the place is nice and comfortable. We settle in and wash the dust off us, unfortunately we can’t do the same for our backpacks which are covered in dust from the dirt roads.
After the shower and clean clothes we hit the town, it is not what I expected being a port town. It has wide streets and cars stop at the pedestrian crossing, there are some beautiful buildings and of course the central park. Walked around till we found an ATM and got some money out, 200,000 Chilean Pesos to be exact. We had just got used to the Argentinian peso rate of $4.4 per Australian Dollar, and now we have to get our head around the exchange rate of 500 Chilean Pesos to the Australian dollar. To help understand the currency dilemma we stopped for a pre-dinner drink at Olijoe Pub. There is no better way to gauge what things cost and the use of the local money than having a beer. We then moved onto La Luna for dinner, we have read that the Chilean food is on the plain side with not too much spice and it did not disappoint.
We hit the sack about 10.30pm exhausted from sitting on our bums all day on the bus.
Day 24 - Friday 4th November
We are staying at a smaller place more like a B&B so the breakfast is not a buffet so we had to try out our Spanglish and work out what options we have for breakfast. This is what we ended up with (they must think us Aussie eat a lot) – strawberry yoghurt which was nice this time, cornflakes with no extra sugar unusual, toast with ham and cheese on the side and a plate of shortbread biscuits, with a small bowl of jam.
Our first stop today is the bus ticket office for the next leg of the journey Sunday to Puerto Natales, after this it is off to the Naval Museum. Being the Nerd I am (Scott typing now) I always am on the lookout for museums and especially Naval Museums. Of course this is partly revenge for Shelley dragging me through shoe shops. The Museum today was very small and may have only filled ten minutes except that the curator offered to show us a movie in the tiny cinema and we accepted. What he showed us was a documentary made in 1980 that was basically a guy narrating a film he shot on a sailing ship rounding Cape Horn in 1923. The film he shot was silent and had deteriorated badly but it was absolutely amazing, and I am determined to try and seek out a copy of it online. I had hoped the museum more to see but it had been worth it just for the film. As we left the curator stopped us and handed us a wad of information about the history of the area.
We hit the streets again to see what the town had to offer. It is an interesting mix of grand buildings around the main plaza area and on the outer fringes the little market stalls and Gentleman’s Club yes I am being polite (titty bars as it is a port town). We were heading up the road past the plaza when we saw a peaceful student protest coming towards us, we stopped in the park to let it go past but they also stopped. A band set up opposite the police station which looks like it has had paint thrown at it from previous demonstrations, all the police looked relaxed and even said hello. We stayed and listen to the band for about 30 minutes they were pretty good musically, but we were not sure what they were singing about. We continued our walk checking out the location of the supermarkets and restaurants for later. At siesta time we catch up on the travel blog before heading back out.

---