Day 8 - Bloody Freezing!

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We were all woken at 4:30 this morning, for a 5am breakfast, cursing and swearing about how cold it was and wondering why we would still be camping when we reached Ushuaia, a stone’s throw from the bloody Antarctic! The thermals are on and will probably not come off for the next week as it will only get colder! Luckily the bus has heating, so we could catch up on sleep in comfort. To get to Ushuaia we had to make 2 border crossings (Argentina to Chile and vice versa) and a ferry crossing, during which a "tonina" dolphin and a penguin swam alongside us! Looking forward to the Beagle Channel crossing! Into Chile and the landscape changed once again, to lush green hillsides bordering bumpy gravel roads. On the border back into Argentina the truck broke down, an issue with the brakes plus an ongoing issue with the fuel filters which was only going to escalate, but the driver made a quick fix and we got back on the road. Had a good giggle with Taryn and Mahnee, playing Bullshit for 2 hours, stopped at a really yummy empanada place for dinner (and very cheap to boot) but didn’t arrive at our hostel/campsite until gone midnight. Feeling very tired and grumpy and not in the mood to put up a tent, we caved to peer pressure and upgraded from camping to a hostel room with everyone else. Vowing to camp the following two nights, we got a good 8 hours sleep.

Chris’s Corner

Two border crossings in one day takes longer than you think despite one passport control officer re-entering Argentina not checking the passports in any way when stamping.

Our luck seemed to be in when we drove straight on to the last space on the ferry for the crossing, however after landing in Chile the truck broke down 100 yards from the boarder, requiring a broken brake release spring to be removed.... oh well, at least we still have brakes on the other wheels!

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