Ahmad: After an early breakfast we headed to the bus station to get to Punta Arenas (the early starts are starting to kill me, though it’s worrying that an early start for me now is about the same time as I used to wake up to head to work).
We had paid 100 Argentine Peso’s (£15) to get to Puerto Natales, where we would get a connecting bus to Punta Arenas. At this price I was expecting a bus akin to the (in)famous chicken buses of Africa. We were pleasantly surprised that it was comfortable bus and we were on our way.
We got to the Argentinean border and got off the bus to get our departure stamps. Now on most land borders leaving the country is a relatively painless process, whereby you get looked up and down and then stamped through. Today though, the immigration staff at the border post scrutinised our passports, almost to the same degree as US immigration, 10 minutes later (each) we had our exit stamps and got back onto the bus.
A short bus journey later we got to the Chilean border and had to get off the bus with our backpacks whilst we were processed by Chilean immigration. Chilean immigration is quite strict on the import of any plant / animal products. After completing the relevant forms and getting our entry stamp we stood around whilst a sniffer dog smelled and prodded our backpacks for any food. The dog was really excited (maybe it gets to eat any food it finds), after leaving most of its winter coat over my backpack we were cleared and got back onto the bus.
We got to Puerto Natales in good time and managed to get tickets on the next bus to Punta Arenas (4000 Chilean Peso’s / £5.33 for a three hour journey). Following a quick trip to a supermarket we got onto the bus and before we knew it where in Punta Arenas.
After arriving in Punta Arenas, we got to our hostel and fell into our usual routine (check-in, supermarket etc). It had been a long day of travelling so after a bottle of wine we went to bed.
Now, I have a confession to make. I’m a huge fan of Michael Palin’s travel programmes (Around the World in 80 Days, Pole to Pole, Full Circle etc). The reason that we were visiting Punta Arenas is specifically because in Pole to Pole Michael Palin sets off from Punta Arenas before flying to the South Pole. My homage to Mr Palin is to visit Punta Arenas and kiss the Indian’s toe on a statue of Magellan in the town square (this is meant to bring you back safely from your travels to Punta Arenas).
The next day, we visited the Magellan statue; I kissed the foot (one line item down on the bucket list). Afterward we visited a local Navy museum in which the curator was kind enough to show us a movie made in 1928 about an American that sailed around Cape Horn on the Peking (the largest sailing vessel of its day).
We had also booked a flight from Punta Arenas to Santiago in El Calafate; we had been told that bus travel in Chile was even more expensive than in Argentina so thought we had got a great deal. After looking around a couple of bus companies in Punta Arenas we discovered that Bus travel is cheap in Chile, the journey to Santiago takes 50 Hours and costs a total of 40,000 Chilean Pesos (£50). We had booked the cheapest fare online so couldn’t get a refund, on the plus side though; we don’t have to sit on a bus for 50 Hours!
After the excitement of the previous day we thought we would take it easy, so we visited the local cemetery (which was very picturesque) and a Museum (which included exhibits on local history, American Indians, Geology as well as an exhibit of venetian masks.
For the next few days we did very little other than walk around the town. We visited the local cemetery which was very picturesque and chilled out.
There is very little to do in Punta Arenas as it’s currently the off-season. The Penguin Colonies are closed, there are very few long distance buses running and a lot of the hiking trails are inaccessible. Regardless of this Punta Arenas is a nice sized town so we are happy to be here and while away a few days.