Our bus was scheduled to leave Ushuaia at 5 AM and we were told to be there 30 minutes early. Of course it was raining, but we did as we were told and showed up at 4:30 and huddled under a little awning with the rest of the passengers until the bus pulled up right at 5. We didn't get out of there until 5:15. It continued to rain and even snowed on the way out of town. We went though what seems to be a mountain pass or at least a valley surrounded by mountains. It is the area of highway where ski resorts are located, and we saw about a foot of fresh snow there! Good thing we were leaving town!
The ride was supposed to be 12 hours, but turned into 15. We had to get off the bus 3 hours outside of Ushuaia and change to a different one. They made all the passengers line up inside the bus company office and then they checked to make sure everyone had their travel documents. Next stop we all got off at Argentine customs to get our exit stamps. A little ways further down the road was Chilean customs. We all got off again and got our entrance stamps. All of the luggage had to be unloaded from the bus and each passenger had to claim their luggage and take it through an x ray. Then a little ways down from there we all had to get off again and take a ferry across the Magellan Straight. The bus also took the same ferry, but they made us walk on and off. After we were off the ferry, the bus had a flat on one of the inner dual tires, so we all waited around for that. By the time we got to Punta Arenas, it was 8pm instead of 5.
We stayed in a really nice new hostel called Entrevientos. It's only been around about 2 months, so the mattress were very clean and comfortable. The bathrooms were also real nice and as an added bonus, you could actually flush toilet paper! No bins of smelly poo paper! (:
<Ferry ride across the Magellan Straight.>
<Our Marcopolo brand bus on the ferry. It has a cage on the front window for protection from the dirt roads we had to drive on for about 2 1/2 hours>
<There were two truck loads of poor sad sheeps on the ferry. We saw many grazing sheep along the ride. Sheep ranching is one of the top money producers in the area, for wool and also eating. People come to Patagonia and eat lamb and bring home wool souvineers.>
<Flat tire getting changed.>
Tuesday, February 17th 2015
We considered going to a nearby forest reserve and going for a hike, but we ended up not going. There is no public transportation to get there, so we would have had to take a taxi. Plus Jeff's boots are falling apart, to the point that they are no longer waterproof, so we decided to go shopping. Punta Arenas is well known for its duty free shopping zone. Many Argentinians make special trips here just for shopping, because it's way cheaper than anywhere they can go in their country.
Our hostel owners recommended a store called Balfer, which is the Chilean outdoor/camping store. They had only a few boots to choose from, all of which were Chilean brands, and Jeff found them to be ill fitting and inferior to what he was accustomed to wearing. After that we went to a few other stores, all with basically the same selection and ultimately gave up. Jeff has decided to run his shoes into the ground and hope for dry hiking conditions.
Fortunately we did not go to the duty free zone for nothing! While we were waiting for the outdoor store to open we went into a grocery store that seemed to carry imported foods. There were a lot of Costco brand items and we were able to get the most gigantic chocolate bar we have seen down here, in addition to a few McCormick seasoning packets!! You simply don't find those down here! We got a chili mix and a taco mix. We haven't had Mexican food on our trip and we will probably never find a Mexican restaurant, and the spice selection in Argentina is horrendous, so I was thrilled!! (:
After lunch at the hostel we took an afternoon bus (3 hours) to Puerto Natales. We will initially be staying at the Domos House Hostel, which is a few giant dome tents set up in someone's yard! They are big enough to hold 4 sets of bunks beds in each, and there are 4 of domes total. Sounds real neat, and it's cheaper than a hostel! We will be in the area just over a week, while we complete what's know as the "O" or Paine Circuit Trek. It's a 6-8 day hike around the Torres and Cuernos of Torres del Paine National Park. It will be interesting trying to pack and carry so much food! And we hope for good weather!
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