Day 27 - Punta Arenas, the windiest place on earth
December 10 - Punta Arenas, Chile
We made a quick decision to not waste time in Puerto Natales (we had seen enough) and move on to the next chapter of our trip. We picked up some Chilean sandwiches and headed to the bus terminal at lunch time. The sandwiches were grilled beef (churrasco) and cheese, covered in avocado. I think an entire avocado was used on each sandwich! We should have shared - we both ate approx half, hoping the other half would not taste disgusting later.
We arrived at the bus terminal and found a bus was leaving in two minutes. Evan held the bus while I purchased a ticket and we hustled aboard. The ride was comfortable and lasted about three hours, placing us in Punta Arenas at 5 PM.
Punta Arenas is near the southernmost tip of Chile, on the Straight of Magellan, connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. While we decided to go there purely for convenience to grab a flight north, I had also wanted to see a place so far south.
The city was relatively big and developed, as a heavy port city and also petroleum production. Many people do tours out of here, to penguin inhabited islands, glacier views, etc. Recognizing the weather (and the cost), we didn't plan on this. In fact, this town was windier than the national park!
We explored on foot, visiting the main plaza, the water, and a few other places.
Our hostel was probably the crummiest place we had stayed yet, but for just one night, we didn't care. We were in an awkward four person room, with a young guy from England and an older guy from Argentina. The Argentinian spoke no English and the Englishman spoke no Spanish, and yet, they were making jokes to each other and laughing until late in the night, using Google translate as their buffer. They were hilarious! We chatted with the Argentinian quite a bit in Spanish, and he shared stories of his family including a teary-eyed tale of rationing food in 2000. He was traveling south to Ushuaia to buy a car - apparently for half the price he could spend in is home town of Mendoza, further north.
We decided to eat out, rather than gather groceries when we were leaving in the morning. He visited a place known for decent priced seafood. It was an interesting building, with tons of maps and beers from all over on the walls. Evan had the scallops with cream sauce - it was a bowl FULL of scallops, like maybe a pound! I had the salmon with potatoes, and my fillet was also large. We left pretty stuffed and battled the wind home for bed.
We made a quick decision to not waste time in Puerto Natales (we had seen enough) and move on to the next chapter of our trip. We picked up some Chilean sandwiches and headed to the bus terminal at lunch time. The sandwiches were grilled beef (churrasco) and cheese, covered in avocado. I think an entire avocado was used on each sandwich! We should have shared - we both ate approx half, hoping the other half would not taste disgusting later.
We arrived at the bus terminal and found a bus was leaving in two minutes. Evan held the bus while I purchased a ticket and we hustled aboard. The ride was comfortable and lasted about three hours, placing us in Punta Arenas at 5 PM.
Punta Arenas is near the southernmost tip of Chile, on the Straight of Magellan, connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. While we decided to go there purely for convenience to grab a flight north, I had also wanted to see a place so far south.
The city was relatively big and developed, as a heavy port city and also petroleum production. Many people do tours out of here, to penguin inhabited islands, glacier views, etc. Recognizing the weather (and the cost), we didn't plan on this. In fact, this town was windier than the national park!
We explored on foot, visiting the main plaza, the water, and a few other places.
Our hostel was probably the crummiest place we had stayed yet, but for just one night, we didn't care. We were in an awkward four person room, with a young guy from England and an older guy from Argentina. The Argentinian spoke no English and the Englishman spoke no Spanish, and yet, they were making jokes to each other and laughing until late in the night, using Google translate as their buffer. They were hilarious! We chatted with the Argentinian quite a bit in Spanish, and he shared stories of his family including a teary-eyed tale of rationing food in 2000. He was traveling south to Ushuaia to buy a car - apparently for half the price he could spend in is home town of Mendoza, further north.We decided to eat out, rather than gather groceries when we were leaving in the morning. He visited a place known for decent priced seafood. It was an interesting building, with tons of maps and beers from all over on the walls. Evan had the scallops with cream sauce - it was a bowl FULL of scallops, like maybe a pound! I had the salmon with potatoes, and my fillet was also large. We left pretty stuffed and battled the wind home for bed.
Unfortunately the funny Argentinian man was also a ridiculously loud snorer. Neither Evan nor I slept much, as we both attempted to drown at the sound into the morning. What on earth did I do with my ear plugs??
Comments
Post a Comment