In 24 hours we travelled nearly 1500 miles by taxi, foot, coach (through no less than 28 hairpin bends just past the Chilean border) and aeroplane, moving from a place where there are 300 days of sunshine a year, to a place renowned for its excessive wind and cold. I was beginning to think we were all slighty mad for attempting this following 5 weeks of bikinis, shorts and at worst...a jumper and a waterproof. And all this before we have even headed into the National Park of Torres del Paine.
After arriving in Punta Arenas, which is the most southerly place I have ever been...and the end of the world (okay slight artistic license use there...Ushuaia is actually the end of the world but Punta Arenas is pretty close). And all the Northerners reading this blog will be pleased that I can report it is grim down South! Cold, windy and the front actually looks slightly like Morecambe...amazing clouds aplenty!
The houses are unlike anything I have ever seen and well worth a mention. A mix of wood, corregated iron and sheets of metal stuck together somehow and defying the force of the weather, and all painted different colours give the place an even more otherworldly feel.
After realising we were infact in the wrong place (add this to the list of places we try to find but never do....) we realised we should make the trip to Puerto Natales, from there we would make the trip to Torres del Paine. The bus journey was a treat...nothing for miles and miles, as far as the eye could see, except the odd Emu, llama, sheep and wind battered trees. The bus would stop occasionally, at a lodge in the middle of no where and sometimes someone would get on, but overall just miles and miles of nothingness.
So off on my trek tomorrow, and I am excited, nervous and wondering if maybe doing all this with just 12 kilos of clothing and no hiking boots was maybe a silly idea...I will let you know in 3 days!
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