Bleary eyed, I managed to get up, pack all my stuff and have breakfast in time to leave for the bus. It was going to be another long day of travelling, but it was exciting to be going somewhere everyone told me not to miss out on even if just for two days!
Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales was fairly uninteresting out of the window and I must have slept becasue I don't remember much of the journey except that the landscape was flatter than I expected. At the bus station in Puerto Natales I tried to find out the location of the onward bus into the park, more difficult than you'd think! I resorted to listening for english speaking people and asking them. I encountered a group of four American backpackers of mature years who were also on the hunt for the bus station and walked with them. They seemed friendly, but I wasn't sure if I was an annoying hanger on or not. I told them a little bit about what I was going to do on the cruise and they seemed genuinely interested in that, so win there. Bus station discovered, I set out to find some food for the next journey and also a chemist, my bites were ITCHY and I wanted some antihistamine. After going round in a circle, I encountered the Americans again who were in search of a cash machine and I tagged along with them again. More questions about what I did and one guy in particular showed interest becasue he thought about studying oceanography at uni, but did medicine instead. If I remember correctly his daughter was involved in marine science too. Sucessful chemist and cash machine trip, after going down to the waterfront, it was windy! I was invited to have lunch with them, which was very kind. Went for avocado related food again, and some chips, warming food on such a blustery day. I bid farewell to the Americans for the time being and went in search of an avocado of my own. I had 20 minutes to locate supermarket, but avocado and then leave. The longest time I spent was in the queue at the supermarket, they run on a completely different time schedule and even then I was sent away becasue I had failed to get my veg weighed, argh. A quick walk interspersed with jogging got me to the bus on time, guess what, it left late.
As we journeyed on, the clouds disappeared and the sun heated up the bus, which was not conducive to staying awake. The frustrating thing was this was where the scenery got interesting. Pointy mountains started to appear on the horizon and the surrounding landscape was a glaciologists heaven! I was constantly trying to work out the porcesses that had gone into forming this region (when I wasn't asleep). We stopped at what I can only describe as a service station, complete with overpriced merchandise and I bought some peanuts and raisins, exciting. The 'road' now became a gravel track and the bus felt as though it would shake itself to pieces. The Torres del Paine came into view, the tops shrouded in cloud, an amazing sight none the less. I really wanted someone to share this moment with, it felt very strange. The bus bumped its way along towards the drop off point. Caught a glimpse of a condor out of the window.
Paid for the entry to the park and then contemplated method of getting to the hostel. By this time it was quite warm and very sunny. I again found some english speaking people to tag along with. We had missed the minibus to the hostel and there was no telling when the next one would turn up. After much deliberation we decided to walk. It was described as an easy 7km. This was true enough and I got to see the tops of the towers cloud free for the first time, very cool. My legs were not amused at being made to walk after almost two days of sitting down, but I persuaded them to keep plodding. Any vehicle that passed us kicked up a load of dust, not pleasant. I was relieved when the hotel came into view, although it wasn't the most attractive building, it meant that the hostel was closer and I could put my bag down and have something to eat. I stumbled across the American couples again, who were sitting on the grass outside the hostel drinking beer, having got the minibus. They were impressed by my walking from the drop off. I dropped my bag off in my room in the hostel and joined the Americans for dinner, I was not in the mood to sit on my own.
After dinner I was ready to go to bed, but it seemed too early at 6:30 to do so. I was hoping to find people in the hostel to hang out with, but it seemed to have been taken over by rowdy Germans. I decided to wander along to the hotel and see if their internet could be accessed so I could make contact with the outside world. Several tries later I got online and sat in the hotel lobby in my scruffy clothes. This wasted enough time so that I went to bed at a more acceptable hour. However, the walls of the hostel were thin and the floors resounded to people coming back even later and getting up at silly o'clock.
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