continuing on, after hydrospeeding and not much else in pucon, we decided to forsake all further attempts to climb the friggin volcano in pucon that can only be climbed in good weather lest we encounter gale force winds and snow and sleet and other minor pertubances (wusses), we decided to head out and down to Puerto Mont, the enterance to chilean patagonia.
we booked tickets on the navimag ferry which is a 4 day joy ride through small channels, between high mountains, past huge glaciers, occasional forrays into open high swelling sea water and much much more.
but before i get to that, let me tell you what we did in puerto mont. nothing. it was still raining. so, we did what all good new jersey people do, and we went to the mall. 2 of them actually. food courts with kfc, McDs, pizza hut, tacobell, and a few local brands. saw a movie. 40 year old virgin. good stuff. basically wandered aimlessly. after a day and a half of that, i was ready for the excitement of being on a boat for 4 days!
so, the magellanes navimag ferry which goes from puerto mont to puerto natales. its a cross between passenger ferry and vehicle/cargo. so they loaded up all the trucks and cargop ont the lower levels and to entertain the people whilst we waited they had the 400 people wait in a single line to register and sign in (5min per person/group). then, we finally get on the boat and as we are waiting for send off, the proverbial breaking of the chapagne, the sun comes out for the first time in over a week. hallelujah! a few curious sea lions come swimming by, and things are looking up. we got the cheapest accomodations available on the boat. about $320 with student rates. (wink wink) the accomodations were really nice. we were in a room with 21 people, but the rooms were divied into areas of 4 bunks, almost a minhallway with two bunkbeds and lockers. the beds were the most comfortable we used in weeks and we had little curtains for privacy. clean, comfy, bed lights, a bit small, but all in all very nice. the bathrooms were the same. all plastic with really really nice hot showers (a luxury). as we were walking onto the ship we noted that many other passengers had thought like us, and stocked up on food and drinks. we had a few liters or wine and more than a few snacks. the wine we needed. the food we didnt. breakfast lunch and dinner was buffet style and it was pretty good. and there was lots of it. every meal there was salad, a main course (i.e. lasagna, chicken, salmon, etc) a dessert and fruit. every breakfast they gave us chocolate cake. why? i dunno. but i didnt ask. what did we do for 4 days? walked around outside on the deck for maybe 20 or 30 minutes a day, but mostly played cards. we learned a new card game which entertained us for hours. read some. ate a lot. slept more. the easy life. every once in a while you glance outside and see snow capped mountains or dense forrest on steep hills leading down into grey mirror waters. (we saw most of this through the rain) on the 2nd day they head out to the open water for 12 hours. the head of passenger relations warned us that on the 2nd day there would be lots of dancing. she was right. we started for 6 hours rolling front to back and then for 6 side to side. amy and i took anti-sick tablets and i think they def made me feel stranger than the sea-sickness. almost drunk. and really sleepy. which was good. i think i slept almost all of that day and then managed 10 hours of sleep that nite. that requires skillz. (and tablets). the rest of the ride was sweet as..
we stopped on the 3rd day at a big glacier and they dropped a small life raft to go collect ice for the pisco sours at the bar. (happy hour was almost all day) and that was cool, for about 10 minutes. but how long can you stand on a cold boat deck in the rain and watch an unmoving hunk of ice? i had images of titanic and a bit of iceberg dodging but the bergs werent in the mood i guess.
lets see. what else. "dance parties" at niht. ealry morning wake up calls to say "we are now passing such and such" or "this is the narrowest channel we will pass through with 29% deciduous flora and 3 rabbits". there was the brief episode of me being caught using a private bathroom, but the lady was kind enought to let me finish before yelling at me. "no hablo español", a bit of gestures, and fast walking resolved that though.
and then, 7am, day 4, we arrive in puerto natales. everybody is up and packing and ready with their luggages, standing at the exit to ramp to go. nobody wants to be at the end of the line to get off. rush rush rush. so, they stand in line for about 40 minutes until the captain decides, ok, i think they are pissed off enough, lets let them go. at about that point, we finished packing and got outside, someone opened up a second gate and essentially cut the line. whoo-hoo. 1 point us.
and into town. we have developed a new method of choosing hostels. when the touts show up, whichever has the nicest flier...
more on puerto natales and parque torres del paine to come from erica and amy and i.
stay tuned.
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