I
was up early in the morning to catch an 8am bus to Punta Arenas and then a
connecting bus to Puerto Natales at 9pm. On this bus trip we needed to cross
over into Chile which I was interested how it would work and how long the
transfer would take but fortunately at the border the bus got a dedicated line
and actually moved rather quickly...well for some. I got to the counter and
handed over my passport only for the guy to speak to his supervisor who then
took my passport and told me to wait on the side while they help other people.
After waiting about 10 minutes and my passport being looked
at by about 5 different people who made phone calls and lots of hand gestures I
eventually saw the stamp come out and I got it back without a problem or
explanation. I quickly ran to the bus to make sure they couldn’t change their
minds and we were off.
As we crossed over into Chile we went onto a gravel road and
the landscape quickly changed and was much flatter and reminded me a lot of the
karoo (including lots of sheep).
After crossing Chile border control (with no problems) we
stopped at a little place in the middle of nowhere for lunch and a beer and
then made our way back to the bus. After a few more hours on gravel and tarred
roads we pulled up to a ferry where we all got off the bus again and walked
onto the ferry and watched massive trucks, buses and cars get loaded with
precision.
On the ferry we say seals, dolphins and penguins all
swimming close by. We then jumped back on the bus for the final trip to Punta
Arenas. We were getting worried now as the bus was much later than we expected
and we needed to catch the next bus and it looked like we may miss it.
Eventually we made it with 15 min to spare and I ran into the ticket office to
change my ticket only to be told that there was no more space on the bus so I
had to stay overnight in Punta Arenas. I then quickly booked my ticket for the
next day and went in search of Wifi to find somewhere to sleep for the night...
I came across a hotel just up the road and managed to grab
some Wifi and find a nice cheap hostel within walking distance. At the hostel I
met a Mexican guy who was on the bus with me only for him to tell me that he
had a ticket for the bus I wanted but decided to stay a in Punta Arenas instead
of carrying on...
In the hostel I met a Swiss guy and the three of us went in
search of somewhere to eat. We came across some Argentineans in the road who
recommended a little place a few blocks away where I finally had a decent burger!