Wednesday saw me and my Swiss-Israeli companions getting stuck in La Junta - no bus connections, of course -, a very sleepy town. We walked through the night in a slight drizzle, needing about an hour to find a hostel that had free rooms. Luckily, the lady of the house was more than friendly. I made an unimaginably great breakfast, which cheered me up to quite the extent. Scrambled eggs made love to avocado and a fine regional cheese, and all of this in tasty chilean bread. Nice. The 'bus' we took the next day most likely broke my arse and knees, but the scenery was more than worth it. Upon arrival in Futaleufú, I bargained half an hour over the price of my spot on camping Laguna Espero: the owner and me got to like ... read more

After leaving Tierra del Fuego, a busride led me to Punta Arenas, the first real city i've visited since Buenos Aires. It's quite the likeable town, both classy and shabby. Old colonial buildings, palaces and houses in that pretty weird chile-meets-scandinavia style make you forget the less interesting newer architecture. After a night here (with a whopping breakfast, in Hostel Independencia) and meeting Lesley, who soon became my travel companion, the road went on to Puerto Natales. Puerto Natales is fairly uninteresting, and serves mainly as a planning, transport and recovering hub for those visiting Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. After buying the necessary food and supplies for the trip (we intended to survive on chocolate, Gran Cereal cookies, mashed potatoes, polenta, prepackaged sauces and dried mushrooms), me and Lesley set out to Torres del Paine. ... read more

This small town in the heart of Tierra del Fuego, on the eastern shore of Lago Fagnano, became the first place where i felt not just like passing through, since leaving Buenos Aires. Tolhuin tries hard to attract more visitors, but most still don't get any further than it's more than decent bakery - doubling as a busstop for those heading to or from Ushuaia. A man called Ricardo told me it's growing uncontrollably, but so far everything seems very quiet: if you want to get away from the crowds of Ushuaia, this is a fine place. After getting some groceries (i mistook balsamico vinegar for olive oil, and some kind of culinary soda powder for salt), i walked to Camping Hain. This is one nice campground, with a lot of fresh firewood, and barbeque places ... read more