The homeward trek
Trip Start
Dec 31, 2005
1
18
20
Trip End
Jan 24, 2006
Punta Arenas,
Chile
Friday, January 20, 2006
Anyway, the first 3 hours was getting to Puerto Natales, where we picked up our luggage from the Elvis lovenest hotel we had stayed at several nights before. Then, we were back on the bus for the remaining 4 hours (I think) to Puenta Arenas, where 5 of the 9 had opted to FLY back to Ushuaia where our formal tour with GAP would end. The other 4 opted not to pay the extra $100. USD and stay with the pre-arranged bus that would take...wait for it... 12 HOURS!!!!! to get from Punta Arenas to Ushuaia. As soon as I heard of the optional air upgrade, I was on that like a fat kid on a smartie! I mean all over that like Serge on a schoolgirl!! I mean all over that like Robbie on a vendor dinner at Sassafraz!! I mean all over that like Craig on a 2-4!! All over that like Alex on a Naval Fleet pulling into harbour!! Oh, Ive gone and said too much (blush)
Anyhow, needless to say I took the 1 hour flight to Ushuaia from Punta Arenas, but before that we had time to see the sights of this reasonable sized city. I got a really nice sweater for my Niece, and lots of photos (including one of a street named Jose Nogueira that I figure had to be named after our own Workforce monkey!)
I found a great strip club in Punta Arenas (OK, it was dodgy. No, it was downright nasty, and while I didnt go in, from the outside appearances, I could mentally picture things that just went nowhere good. So, nothing racy to tell on that front...
We ate dinner as a group at a great place called La Luna. Many restaurants specialize in locally caught seafood, including >King Crab, which I had here. It was awesome! And cheap!!
NOt much activity after dinner, just a couple of drinks and then to bed. Finally - I had a room to myself, it was heavenly. I even had a TV, something we had not had in at least a week! Unfortunately the only thing in English was CNN (crap) and Top of the Pops. The latter won, and I now have a Robbie Williams song stuck in my head!
The next morning was a relatively late brekkie. The bus group (those poor bastards taking the 12 hour ride to Ushuaia) left at 6:45am..I think I briefly heard them getting ready, but who knows, I rolled over and fell back to sleep!! :.)
When I finally bothered to get up (10am), I had brekkie served at the hotel (jamon y queso not 9on the menu thankfully, it was an egg mcmuffin like thing without the egg or the ham, just the cheese), and cereal, but no milk. Just runny yogurt they use as a cereal topping here. In any case, it tasted good, and after that I set out to do some sightseeing and souvenir hunting (I have a great collection of patches to sew to my backpack), and I visited the street market where one of those 4 piece bands was doing a little latino number.
It was a beautiful and hot day, my ears got scortched (forgot the sunblock there), and by 1pm, we were on the shuttle to the airport.
Along the way, I had become famous among the group for loosing the customs paper that apparently youre supposed to keep and hand in when leaving the country (common in both Argentina and Chile). I had never kept a single one, and every time I got nabbed crossing the border. I cant figure this process out, I mean, whats the passport stamp for? In any case, I got nabbed again at Punta Arenas airport leaving Chile. But I guess they liked the looks of me (or as I told the Americans, they liked me because I was Canadian), and I got through again OK once more.
We were off...and beginning the final stages of our journey as a group.
