Puerto Natales

3 weeks... That's how long I have been going, and it still sounds mad to me. 3 weeks was the amount of time I spent in Australia, and that was a long vacation; here the 3 weeks have just flown past, it feels like I stood on Plaza Independencia and gazed at that beautiful statue (clicky) just yesterday. However I have seen major parts of southern South America; and when I have been here for 3 months, I bet you that I will be saying the same stuff all over :).

I woke up this morning as Mike and Roman got up (their bus left 30 minutes before mine), and slowly made my way up and about, which included a huge 5 egg scramble egg. One thing that has left me pondering, is why I can't find bacon, and when I ask other travelers, they haven't seen any in South America either. However I said goodbye to Teresa (who owns the much beloved hostel I was about to leave) and set off towards the bus company I had chosen. Punta Arenas unlike other cities of the same size (or bigger, sometimes smaller) doesn't have a bus terminal, which means that the buses for each company go from different places, so there is no central place to grab the cheapest ticket, however I quickly learned that all tickets from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales are 4000 peso.

I have to give credit where it's due, and on this my first domestic bus trip in Chile, it only took 3 hours and get this... We arrived 15 minutes early! Getting from the bus stop in Puerto Natales to my hostel (Erratic Rock), was about as simple as it gets; it was located about 50 meters from the stop in direct sight. I produced myself in the office to a great amount of confusion, not because I hadn't booked ahead, but because the person in the office were on her first or second day (at the most), I then got a quick tour around and donated my last Danish coin (50 oere) to their reception desk (it had a glass plate above it, and between the table and the glass were lots of coins, and during my waiting I had discovered that there wasn't a single Danish coin).

At 15 o'clock there was an information talk on the Torrel Del Paine national park, or more specifically the different hikes around the park, the very reason I had come to this small village (but before the talk happened, I went out for some cheap lunch, and sat down in the hostel, listened to some music and played with a cat that lives in the hostel. However it suddenly (very suddenly) decided to poke its claws into my skin and bite the cord to my headphones over... I managed to fix the headphones with duct tape, but I did let go of the cat). I had originally intended to do the "W" which is a 5 day hike, with one day added on each end, but during the talk, the hostel owner (Rustyn, American) (who is also a guide and life long trekker) described what is known as the "Q" hike, and I was instantly on to that. It takes 10-12 days with a day of transport on each end, so up to two weeks, instead of the original 5 days of the "W" hike.

One problem about such a long hike is hiking alone; Rustyn asked how many were trekking alone, and there were just two of us. So by sheer coincidence, Lucas was intended to do the "Q" hike as well, and we have decided to do it together, which also helps to keep costs down, and distribute the weight between us. Lucas is from Utah (America) and is down here on a shorter trip (1 month?), and as far as I could understand, this hike would be the last thing he does before he returns to USA. He seems like a great guy, and in roughly two weeks time (we leave on Tuesday the 12th of February) I imagine we will have gotten to know each other quite well.

I know that I don't have the gear to do the trip, which is why I am going to rent it; and I feel really lucky about my choice of hostel. It is owned by Rustyn and his business partner Bill, both of whom are professional guides, trekkers and just good outdoor people; they rent gear which appears to be of really good quality at a more than reasonable price, but it isn't like I have to rent everything.

After the talk I went around with Lucas trying to find some of the things we needed to bring for the hike, but we couldn't find any black garbage bags (for waterproofing the bags), we did get those at the hostel; but instead of going out again to buy more, we decided to meet up the following day at 12 0'clock.

So I went out to buy some dinner and went back to cook it; now I am at this stage not only noticing how my Spanish is improving, but also how it is really rubbish. I was in the mood for something with meat (surprise), and so I bought some pasta with meat sauce. Only when I got back did I found out that it said "meat not included" and that you had to buy it separately. So I had dry pasta with some powder you mix up with meat and water to get a nice meat sauce; anyway the trip back wasn't worth the extra flavour, so I once again had a boring meal, but at least this time I didn't burn myself (much).

Earlier in the day I had been talking to an American named Britney (more specifically from NYC) and although I didn't know it at the time, she is going iceclimbing in the national park (where I'm hiking) for 24 days together with bearded guy aka. Colorado dude aka. Keenan (whom I wrote shortly about in my first day or two in Punta Arenas). What a coincidence, right? Anyway besides watching Mission Impossible in the evening, I spent most of the rest of the day around Britney and Keenan, asking them about their trip and making nice conversation. One thing that you do come across with people from almost any country, is not only that they nearly all want to go to Denmark at some point (but complain about the prices), but that they all seem genuinely interested in Denmark.

In the end I got tired and Britney and Keenan had to get up early for their 24 day adventure, so I went to bed around 23:30 after playing a game of Uno with two children who were staying there with their parents.

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