What up Chile
Trip Start
Oct 19, 2007
1
110
126
Trip End
Ongoing
Puerto Natales,
Patagonia,
Chile
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Lets see, I will need a tent (don't have), a pot (don't have), a flashlight (don't have), utensils (don't have), a can opener (don't have), a sleeping mat (don't have), a camping stove (don't have) and some outdoor survival skills (don't have), sweet, I'm going to fucking die. Man I really wish VD would come in handy out here (have, just kidding). Suck me, even if I procure the necessary equipment I have no idea how to even set up a tent or use a camp stove. Trial by fire I suppose. People have actually died on the circuit and it's not allowed to go by oneself, but how will they ever know. This could possibly be the biggest challenge of my life, even more so than passing the CPA test or stealing that one hot chick from my friend Tom (yes, we are still friends, I still owe him like 2 more girls cuz I think he jacked 3 from me, but he's married now so I'll probably let those other 2 slide) or going months at a time without eating cereal down here. There are some designated camp sites around the Circuit so at least I will eventually see other people and they can always help me out if and when I need it. I also will have to pack enough food for about 5 days as there is a refugio there to buy some necessary provisions but it will take me 5 days to reach it I estimate. I will leave in 2 days as I need time to buy or rent all of the shit I need.
The fucking exchange rate here is confusing as hell. I had no idea what is was upon my arrival but I asked someone at the bank and they told me around 450:1. Hah, 450 to 1, that's ridiculous. So 45,000 Chilean pesos = $100usd. I am pretty good with numbers but for the first few hours I was highly confused especially when it came to getting change back. This town is strange and it reminds me of some outpost in Alaska or something (I guess "reminds me" is the wrong terminology since I have never been to Alaska, but I'll roll with it). I check into a hostel which is this family's house and they have a baby which cries alot and I am like the only person staying here besides the family and the whole scene is odd and disturbing. The beds are the fucking shit though so I decide to stay because I need a good night sleep and if the baby cries all night and keeps me up I'm pretty sure there are enough homeless kids in SA and the family can always adopt after they get over there loss (just kidding, I would never kill a baby, but I might punch one). I talk to the dude at the hostel as he also rents tents and stoves and shit and as I am in my room going over my list of items I need to procure salvation arrives in the form of an Isrealite. This dude named Tom sees me in my room and stops in to introduce himself. He tells me he is also doing the Circuit and he has a tent, a stove and a pot and he is also going alone so we decide to go together. This is fucking awesome as it will save me about $80 by not having to rent all that shit plus you can tell this guy knows the outdoors and he will probably end up saving my life. Obviously at first I was a bit hesistant going on a 10 day trek with some stranger and sleeping in the same tent with him. Not that I would be scared of him but because I might get really annoyed with him. That's a long time to spend with one person if they suck. But we go to dinner and he seems like a really cool guy and completely laid back and chill. From what I can tell, I think we'll actually become pretty good friends.
On a side note, I have now had my first homeless experience in the US. I was at the beach all day but I had to meet my roomates at this theater to go see this musical. My roomates are girls, so no, it's not as gay as it sounds. I lock up my bike and I had a backpack with me which had a shirt and pants so I throw those on real quick and I don't brush any of the sand off since I'm late but when I go into the theater they are nowhere to be found so I call them and they tell me they will be there in 10 minutes even though the show starts in 3. So I go back outside and take off my shirt and start brushing all the sand off of me and I guess if you saw me doing this you would have thought I had mental problems because my hands are rapidly moving around my body flicking off what would appear from an outside observer nothing at all. I put my shirt back on and I sit on the sidewalk with my back leaning up against the building and after a couple of minutes this dude who works in the theater opens the door and he has a bag in his hand and he asks me if I want some food. I tell him "nah man, I'm cool" and he's like "well ok, because I'm just going to throw it out". Hah, he totally thought I was fucking homeless. This kills me and I start cracking up. When my roomates show up we go into the theater and I tell them that all the sand on me is itchy and one of the ladies working the door asks "Oh is that what you were doing, trying to get sand off of you?". I was like "Oh, so you saw me out there" and she says "of course, it was pretty hard not to watch". So apparently everyone in the theater thought I was some homeless looney. Nice.
Fin
