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Day 1
Essentially a travel day. Leaving Sydney at 1pm on the only direct flight offered to South America, I arrived in Santiago at 11:30am. The same day. Having not been able to sleep at all on the 13 hour flight, not even the excitement of being in another country could keep me energised.
In my tired state, I missed the turnoff in Santiago airport where Australians and Mexicans (only those two nationalities) have to pay a reciprocity fee. That is, because we charge Chileans to enter Australia, they'll return the favour. All $117USD of it. I wasn't the only one to miss it though. So many Aussies were being turned back from customs, to go back to where the escalators were. If anyone's heading to Chile, the place to pay the fee is behind the escalators. Not the most intuitive place. I still think they should have had a person directing people given that it was a flight full of Aussies. Anyway, reciprocity fee paid, tourist card stapled into my passport, backpack collected, official taxi prepaid CHP 19,000 (pesos), I was soon whizzing down the highway into the city centre.
My hostel was right in the city centre at Plaza de Armas (I later found out that every city has a Plaza de Armas, it's pretty much their main square). Reaching my hostel at 1:30pm, I had time to kill before my planned walking tour at 3pm. However exhaustion soon set in and my laziness got the better of me. There was no way I'd survive walking for four hours in my current state in that heat. Sleep was a much better decision. I did wake up about 6pm to explore the streets briefly but nothing out of the ordinary. Oh and when I got back to my hostel and was looking down onto the main square, I saw a street fight. What a great intro to Santiago.
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Day 2
The day started early given how much sleep I had had the previous day, however it was useful since I needed to get to the airport for my flight to Punta Arenas. With the trusty airport shuttle bus (CHP 1,500) leaving every ten minutes, I was all set. What I didn't count on was the massive lines at the airport. Luckily my fear of being late meant that I arrived early enough to be able to spend over 90 minutes dropping off my bag (had already checked in) and clearing security. As I got to the lounge, boarding commenced. Lesson learnt: allow more time than usual for South American flights.
A 3.5 hour flight later over some spectacular scenery of the Andes, I was in Punta Arenas in Chile's south. Straight away, I was hit with the cold air. It was a massive change from the sweltering heat of Santiago.
Next task was getting to town. Previous research had told me that a shuttle would get me to my hostel for CHP 3,000. Wrong. It took me to the main square and I was then to fend for myself. My distrust of street taxis meant that I ended up walking 2km to my hostel. Oh well, good practice for my upcoming treks.
Checked into Hospedaje Costanero, a small hostel run out of the couple's house. It's an odd living situation because you feel like you're disturbing them by using their facilities. However the room was warm, the showers were hot, and the WiFi worked. All good. Being a bit out of the centre was annoying though.
That afternoon, I spent my time exploring this little coastal town. In terms of its centre, there wasn't really that much and I was able to walk it in a couple of hours. It was quiet and didn't have the buzz that Santiago did. I definitely preferred the peace that this town offered me. I ended up sitting everywhere, in the main square, on top of the Cruz lookout, by the coast just taking in the cold sea air. Speaking of which, it's extremely windy in Punta Arenas. That's my main takeaway. Punta Arenas is a cold windy town.
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Day 3
A full day in Punta Arenas kinda wasted. I had planned on going to Magdalena Island to walk among the thousands of penguins. However the tour didn't run on Mondays. Just my luck. In the end, I explored more of the town. Went to the local markets, went to a museum, explored the Sara Braun Cemetery famous for its perfectly manicured trees/hedges, and walked along the coast of Magellan's Strait. All in all, quite a lazy and slow day.
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Day 4
Checked out and went to the bus terminal to take my Bus Fernandez bus to Puerto Natales (CHP 6,000). The three hour journey took me through undulating hills with an amazing backdrop of the snow capped mountains. Only downside of the ride was that every time a truck or bus drove by, our bus swerved. Same thing with every big gust of wind. Not the best feeling.
Getting into Puerto Natales, I bought my return ticket to Torres del Paine National Park for the next day. After all, it was the whole point of me being in this town. Couldn't risk not getting on a bus the next day. Checked into Hostel el Patagonico, the owners are just so lovely and helpful. I would definitely recommend staying here.
A quick trip to the supermarket to stock up on some things for the trip reminded me that this town literally was just a pit stop for hikers. Everyone in there was stocking up on food and supplies. I ended up booking into refugios (ie. not camping) so that I wouldn't have to carry tents, stoves, etc, however with meals that did cost me about $110USD a night. Who knew that hiking was so expensive!
Anyways, I'm pretty much just resting up here before I head off to start the trek tomorrow. Hopefully it's more exciting than the first few days have been so far!
HBL signing out from Puerto Natales, Chile.
Up next: Hiking Torres del Paine's W-Trek...
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