I haven't written here for a while. The reason is that my laptop broke (I can't even turn it on anymore), so it got all a bit more complicated. Apart from that, we (I usually use we for me and other interns) do a lot on the weekends, so there is hardly any free time to sit down and write. And during the week- I'm away from home from 6 am to 8 pm, so when I get back, all I can think of is going back to bed. But here I am, on bank holiday, writing again and trying to remember all that happened since the last post.
There have been different things going on on the weekends since then- we went hiking again and again, horseback riding too, we went to a beach house of our colleague for a weekend, we had a bbq & jacuzzi night at a rooftop here in Santiago... It was all very nice, sometimes so nice I would just sit silent (yes! it IS possible!) thinking just how amazing it is. But there are more "private" experiences. We only managed to go out once- on the Good Friday- and the experience will certainly be unforgettable, but a latino party like a one that I always dreamed of is still before me.
What I can describe here is our week in Patagonia. Some of you might have heard about the W-Route in the Parque Nacional Torres del Paine- this is what we did.
First of all, I need to say how extremely lucky we were. The volcano in Puerto Montt erupted on Tuesday and then again on Wednesday night. The sky was full of ashes and the airlines canceled all their flights on Wednesday and most of them on Thursday- and we were observing it with increasing fear, for our flight was to take place on Friday night. But on Friday morning, it turned out that all of the flights are back to normal and so south we went.
I do not believe I will ever be this south again (I put the location of the city of Punta Arenas- the one you fly to to get to Torres del Paine so you can see where it it). Everyone told us to take all of the warm clothes that we had. I had a crazy ride on Thursday night, trying to get a Buff- apparently, without it, you can't survive in Patagonia... But there, our luck continued.
We arrived at the airport at 5 am, but we were told that the first transport we can get to Punta Arenas (from where there was a bus to Puerto Natales, our next stop) goes at 9. What we didn't know was, that we could also take a direct bus to Natales at 7, which we did (after a short discussion with a taxi driver, who, apparently, got out of bed only because an airport worker called him that there were three people wanting to go to Punta Arenas NOW). Leaving the airport, we noticed how terribly windy, cold, and rainy it was and I wanted to go back home immediately!
But there we went, on a 4 hours bus ride. The weather started to improve and the rising sun provided unbelievable views. Instead of sleeping, we just sat with our noses pressed against the windows, looking at what Patagonia had to offer. When we arrived to Natales, it was 11 and we had just on hour to visit the offices of travel agencies where we booked our stays to find some information. What we found out was not exactly what we were hoping for... It turned out that a great part of the park was flooded and we can't enter it as we were planning too. The fact that we paid for all the accommodations in advance (one thing about this park- the "refugios" (shelters) are RIDICULOUSLY expensive. We paid from 40 to 75 eu for simple, basic beds in a shared room of 6 to 8 beds, using our own sleeping bags!) and yet couldn't reach them, made the things even worse. In the afternoon, there was a meeting where we were told the same thing again- better, they said, if we can, stay in Natales one day more and see how the situation changes. But we didn't have time for waiting. So next day, at 7:30, we took a bus up to the National Park. This wasn't possible without adventures either... For some crazy reason, EVERYONES' mobile phones changed time for a hour earlier. So there we were in a hostel, my watch showing 6:30- wake up time, but my phone- 5:30. So did everyone else's. Fortunately, there was another guy in our room who started to get ready and whom I asked what time it was (it was 7 already), so we were still able to jump out of beds and run to the bus station.
And here, on the bus, our luck continues. We had this large discussion the night before and decided we were going to enter the park, even if we could only walk the one part that was opened (about a 5th of the whole W-Route), and then come back to Natales and try to get our money back for the accommodations we couldn't use- but there on the bus, suddenly it turned out that the park was opened again! All of it! Our whole plan was again accurate. And it still wasn't the end: instead of the changing weather, heavy rain few times a day and terrible wind (it was the end of the season- they were closing up the shelters the day we left) that we were promised, we got a really nice weather, so much that we could basically hike in T-shirts most of the time. Not bad for an autumn so far away from the equator.
A bit to my travel companions now: There were 5 of us hiking together, but we only came south in a group of 3.
Jakob and Torben, the two guys on the left, are who I usually travel with- they are interns at the same company and arrived to Chile at about the same time. Traci, standing next to me (I reckon noone who doesn't know me reads this, but just in case- I'm the one in the red t-shirt), is from LA and a nurse and we met her on the bus to the Park. And Jack, on the right, is a civil-engineering-student-to-be who at the moment volunteers as an English teacher in Chiloe. We met him in our first hostel. With small breaks, we were hiking with the two of them about all the way.
The Park: well, one thing for sure. I don't want to write about every day separately- this post has become way too long already- but in general, Patagonia really is beautiful. After hiking here, with no trees and on rather dusty roads, it was a really nice change to get to a place with very rich flora and fauna. You get to see a bit of everything- from a lake hidden in rocks of Torres del Paine (I will upload a picture of those when I can access my laptops' hard-drive...) on the day one, through waterfalls and avalanches to the great Glacier Grey in the end. I guess I will just let the pictures speak... (Though, as I said, a great part is still missing- I only managed to put about a half on the cloud before my computer died).
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