Transcendence! (Torres del Paine)

written in El Calafate, Argentina March 14, regarding time in Punta Arenas & Puerto Natales, Chile, March 11-12

"To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world."- Freya Stark

I woke up early to catch the 7:30 bus to Puerto Natales. It was about a 12 block walk with my ridiculously heavy backpack, but I triumphed (and no empty cabs passed by) and made it in time (only getting a little lost turned around). I had said goodbye to Amy and my other friends in Punta Arenas and was once again on my own. Amy made the comment that traveling alone is like having multiple mini-lives . . . where for a few days you meet people, experience a location, a culture, a small world . . . and then . . . you leave. And you start all over again.

I slept on the bus and climbed down the steps in Puerto Natales a little wary. I hadn´t booked a hostel (trying to be spur of the moment and whatnot), and it was a little unnerving. Luckily there was a lovely pushy woman trying to entice backpackers back to her hostel. I had a good feeling about her, and I went for it. Also a bed was only $10 a night! The hostel was a bit of a walk from the town, but it was quiet and I wound up having a room to myself because so few people were there.

I took it easy that day, spent time on the internet, strolled around Puerto Natales and read my book ("Eleven Minutes" by Paulo Coehlo). Puerto Natales and Punta Arenas are very nice, but are obviously more economically depressed than Ushuaia and El Calafate, Argentina. I think that the Chile towns are often frequented by backpacker tourists, while Ushuaia and Calafate often cater to the wealthy. Still I enjoyed a delicious lunch/supper of avacado and King crab ( a specialty here) followed by salmon.


I visted a Santerìa store in Puerto Natales and asked if there were any specific Vìrgenes de Chile. There was one, but they didn´t have the prayer card. At the Santerìa store in Ushuaia I had picked up prayer cards for Nuestra Señora de Lujan and Nuestra Señora del Valle, both Argentian Virgens (like the Virgin Mary for those non-Catholic). I also picked up a prayer card for San Cristòbal, or Saint Christopher, for protection while traveling. The Santerià stores are wild- stautes of saints, Mary and Jesus, right next to insence, multi colored magic candles and other very pagan things. I talked with the man at the store about how Catholicism is so different in the States, but how I liked the Santerìa stores.

The next morning I took a day trip to Torres del Paine, which was absolutely mind-blowingly astonishingly awesome. The Torres (towers) del Paine (of blue) are incredible mountains, surrounded by lakes, other mountains, waterfalls (cascadas) and just an amazing amount of beauty. I saw pink flamingoes, eagles and condors. I can´t load pictures here (the internet is SOOOO slow), but I will share soon. It was a great trip, except that my right thigh had really started bothering me in Punta Arenas. I guess its just getting old. :-) Luckily this was a trip with only 3 hours or so of hiking, so I made it. I definitely have to come back to Torres del Paine for major camping/trekking sometime in my life. In fact, as I was there I got the distinct feeling that my treasure (Coelho´s The Alchemist, anyone?) lay within the center of the Torres del Paine. So I think I may need to become una escaladera, a mountaineer! I´m not sure how yet, but it feels like it might be important.




Looking at the Torres I couldn´t help but think about Shelley´s poem on viewing Mont Blanc. I´ll copy part of it at the bottom, I love the part about the "secret strength of things."

I had an incredible avacado and chicken sandwich purchased for a rather pricey amount of $6 at a refugio in the park. It was delicious. I bumped into Mattieu and Genevieve, the french couple from the hostel in Punta Arenas (everyone here seems to be on similar paths).

Towards the end of the day, my camera stopped working. I was pretty nervous, but I hoped it was just tired from taking a ridiculous amount of pictures, and if I gave it a rest it would calm down!

We visited the Cueva del Milodon, a cave where prehistoric bones were found a while ago. Now its not all that impressive except that you get to walk through a glacier-created cave. No pictures, thanks camera! I had a slice of lemon pie at the café, and got to watch an Andead condor soaring over the mountains. The condors are amazing- and their wing span is up to 3 meters across!

I bought a few empanadas for dinner, and Bridget, who felt like a house-mother, assured me that she would drive me to the bus station in the morning so I didn´t have to walk. She was lovely, caring, and we watched an episode of CSI together and discussed her maybe learning English.

The next morning I caught the bus to El Calafate . . . the bus was painfully slow as was the border crossing, where my honey was once again confiscated (as it had been on the previous border crossing!).

Next post: el Calafate, and walking on the Glacier Perito Moreno!!

Love, Anna

Mont Blanc yet gleams on high:--the power is there,
The still and solemn power of many sights,
And many sounds, and much of life and death.
In the calm darkness of the moonless nights,
In the lone glare of day, the snows descend
Upon that Mountain; none beholds them there,
Nor when the flakes burn in the sinking sun,
Or the star-beams dart through them.
Winds contend Silently there, and heap the snow with breath
Rapid and strong, but silently! Its home
The voiceless lightning in these solitudes
Keeps innocently, and like vapour broods
Over the snow. The secret Strength of things
Which governs thought, and to the infinite dome
Of Heaven is as a law, inhabits thee!
And what were thou, and earth, and stars, and sea,
If to the human mind's imaginings
Silence and solitude were vacancy?(1817)

Flamingoes:


Guanacos:

Across the Straits of Magellan

Tuesday, March 11, Punta Arenas, Chile 12:19pm

"What you've done becomes the judge of what you're going to do -- especially in other people's minds. When you're traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don't have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road."
- William Least Heat Moon, Blue Highways





(maybe the third rainbow out of the seven I have seen so far in Patagonia - this was on the walk up to the national park in Punta Arenas)

Well, what a whirlwind the last few days have been! I love the comments folks, please keep them coming, they really make my day! Hello Cate, Grace and Bridget!! This blog will sum up a lot so it might not have as many details.

Where were we?

The night before I left, I strolled around town some more, took some pictures and re-packed my bag minus a number of things.

Karla got a pair of jeans, some long underwear (promise I´ll be okay, Mom, its very warm here), and some wool socks (all good for Antarctica I hope). I managed to ditch the black messenger bag (later gave it to the women who runs the hostel in Punta Arenas) also which was fabulous.

I wound up staying up all night out with folks from the hostel on Saturday night before my bus. It was fantastic fun- Irish pub again, and then out to a discoteca for some dancing.

Although it was fun, it made for a rather tiring Sunday. Here I am looking a bit exhausted on the bus ride! What parts of the bus ride I was awake for were lovely- lots of ocean views, guanacos (smallish llama type animals), some interesting trees, etc. Apparently I slept through the flamingo colony. I made friends with a lovely Scottish lady name Amy (girl? lady? woman? lass?) who came with me to the hostal I had booked - Hospedaje Costenara. We took a cab with a couple from Montreal who had also booked at the hostel. We were greated warmly by Señora Teresa who served us tea and cookies. We met a young woman from Kansas who had been working on a Fullbright in Chile and was now traveling solo for a bit. Amy is only 18 and has been traveling solo since November in South America. It all blows my mind! Amy, the french woman (Genevievè?) and I headed out to buy bus tickets and to pick up food from the grocery store for dinner. We made delicious chicken fajitas, drank yummy chilean wine and had a lovely time. I was exhuasted and passed out after one or two extraordinarily short emails.

The next day Amy and I headed out to The Maggelans National Park located about 2 hours walk north of Punta Arenas. By the time we made it to the park (up hill the whole way) we weren´t even sure we wanted to walk around. In the end we decided we could do anything, and we did about an hour hike to a beautiful mirador (viewpoint). The wind was wild, but the view was great and it was worth it.

(a nice warning for Hanta Virus at the national park. Don´t worry, Mom, I´m looking out for rat feces!)


We caught a taxi back down to town, and got lunch at Cafe Irlandes, the only place open for food at 2pm. I had a hamburgeusa completa . . .which was really complete . . . with avacado, cheese, ham, lettuce, tomato, and even string beans! It was delicious. My stomach has really been behaving itself (knock on wood) for the most part, and I have been enjoying the food immensely.

After lunch Amy and I headed to our transfer bus to see Seno Otway, the penguin colony. We slept a bit on the bus but we were awake to see tons of south american ostriches, lots of cattle, some skunks, and an eagle. Seno Otway was lovely, the views great, the penguins adorable. In a month they will swim back to Brazil for the winter (who could blame them?).


We got back to Punta Arenas around 8pm and decided to visit Cafe Inmigrante which we had walked passed a couple times and had been seriously intrigued by. It turned out to be an absolutely amazing place run by Croatian immigrants. It was adorable, quirky, delicious and had a superb atmosphere. We almost wanted to stay in Punta Arenas just to visit that cafe some more. Since I had taken one of my lactose-digestive pill thingies at lunch (cheese on the hamburger, remember?) I decided to go all out dairy wise. I had an amazing chocolate-banana milkshake that was absolutely heavenly. Amy ordered a vanilla milkshake which was delicious and had bits of real vanilla bean in it. She ordered a torta rusa- Russian cake, chocolate with raspberries, and I ordered a Meringue tort, with whipped cream and raspberries. They were both fantastic. The meringue was amazing and the raspberries sublime. We were both extraordinarily happy and wound up skipping dinner since we had filled up on sweets!



We went back to the hostel and I showered, emailed, chatted online and headed to bed. This morning I caught the bus to Puerto Natales (the buses are very nice, we watched I Am Legend on the one this morning), and here I am in Hostel Mirador a small family-type quiet hostel. I think I may rest a bit and head into town for lunch. Torres del Paine will happen sometime in the next few days!

Lots and lots of love!!