Visiting and trying to shop
Trip Start
Mar 01, 2006
1
288
551
Trip End
Dec 01, 2007
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Punta Arenas,
Chile
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
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The "detour" through Punta Arenas was due mainly to my need to buy new shoes, and possibly camping equipment and a warmer jacket. Nobody had really recommended going there, but... we all liked the place! After the very touristy Ushuaia, at least in Punta Arenas there was life: lots of sailors everywhere, students starting their year and therefore walking the streets covered in eggs and flour begging for change, youngsters hangig out in the streets, an impressive amount of peluqueria (hairdressers), maybe due to the bloody strong wind blowing all the time, good stores to buy fruits and vegetables and meat, and street stalls as well.
One funny thing was the "collectivo" system: usually the collectivos are the city buses, operated privately for the municipality. In Punta Arenas, they are taxis, but collective taxis... that is, they can take up to four passengers, the fare is fixed (300 pesos = 0.6 usd). They pick up and drop people anywhere along a set route, it's funny cause you can talk with the people and with the driver much more naturally than in a bus.
In the mornig we went to visit cheaper guesthouses, and then we visited the car rental companies to organise for the next day. We walked the street of Punta Arenas, and I like them very much: lots of colors, it was cold and sunny, there was atmosphere and life even though there was almost nobody there.
In the afternoon I went with Lionel to the Zona Franca: very dissapointing, with not much choice. We went into town, there was more choice, and at the same price! Bastards, the zona franca is a tourist trap! That is, for camping equipment; the locals were still going there to buy cheaper food and home appliances, clothes, etc...
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