As I said before, I already had flights but we wanted to change them around so we could go both together there.
We quickly found relatively cheap flights and could just join them up with the time when we would return from Patagonia to Santiago.
This would mean that we would not have to go back into town from the airport but could just stay at the airport after returning from Punta Arenas and then fly on two hours later to Calama from where we should be able to get to San Pedro de Atacama - where all the desert action is.
All good so far. Now it was only a matter of getting my money back for the flight I booked before - to make it short... it was not possible.
No cancellation, no refund, no rebooking no nothing was possible. This is the disadvantage of always booking the cheapest flight over some random booking agent on the web.
So there were 190 € gone in the wind... but not quite in the wind because it was certainly worth doing the rebooking and explore the Atacama with Kai.
Then very soon our taxi arrived and brought us to the airport.
While waiting in the queue for the check-in there our fellow travellers who headed to Patagonia and probably Torres del Paine as well were once again informed by a friendly Chilean man "Don't Fire!!!". It seems to be very common to repeat this over and over again to Gringos and other foreigners. Large parts of the Torres del Paine National Park burned down because of people making open fires in this very windy and sometimes very dry environment.
However, checking in went all fine and after a cup of coffee and a refresh of On-line time we got on the plane at last and went south... very far south.
I was sitting next to Janet and Paul, an elderly couple from Australia who have done the trek and generally trekking in Patagonia a few times before and were able to give us plenty of tips and ideas.
One of them should encounter us many more times along the way: Only do the W-Trek in Torres del Paine and then go to El Chalten and Fitzroy treks in Argentina.
Once again (as in Nepal) we were not very well prepared with information and how everything works and planned to only work this out when we get there.
Out of the window we could see a few vulcanos and impressive scenery - while Paul, knew all the names of the peaks.
So after we flew 3 hours south (from the middle of the country - Santiago) within the same country we approached Punta Arenas Airport and saw parts of Terra del Fuego, glaciers, large empty spaces and just immensely wide landscapes... We knew we were far far south.
A Taxi bus brought all of us into town and dropped us off at the BusSur station in Punta Arenas... one of the most southern cities in the world.
Indeed it looked very polar region like. The houses were simply made of timber and corrogated iron roofs, coloured in all imaginable colours stray dogs walking the wide streets that form the square street blocks. A monument of Hernando Magellan here and a mining equipment shop there.
It really felt like a base to explore Antarctica.
In fact it is actually not that far south as it seemed. We were at 52 degrees south... very much the same what Dublin is north but it felt much more Polar.
We still had about 75 minutes left till hour bus left and we were hungry. So we went out to find some food, but it was Sunday and the town was quite.
A local man suggested to go and try Lomit's. It was just right around the corner and a great place.
It was a sort of old school burger place, where generations and generations of locals have gathered for good and big burgers.
The walls were panelled with dark wood, some copper tubes at the bar, Coke and Beer Neon Signs all around the place and in the middle was a bar where the burgers were prepared and the ingredients were all stacked up in a glass case for display.
Just the place we were looking for.
A large burger and a very southern Pale Ale later we left the place as happy as could be. All had worked out perfectly so far. Flight, transfer and now the food.
We got back on the next bus to Puerto Natales, a 3 hour bus ride and soon I was asleep as the impressive but very repetitive landscape with a couple trees that grew sideways rather than upwards because of the strong winds, and sheep passed by.
Puerto Natales was even more an expedition town than Punta Arenas. Smaller, more space on the streets, less cars and more dogs.
Interestingly these very southern towns reminded me of towns I would expect to find at the northern tip of Europe or in Greenland (just upside down :-)).
We quickly found a hostel to stay in and went for a Pizza in a place called Erratic Rock.
This was the place in town to prepare and relive the adventures of the Torres del Paine Treks.
You could rent equipment, get information from the owners but also get reports from people who had just returned.
Some guys from New Zealand were preparing as well and briefed us on a few things they thought to consider.
Kai and I were still not entirely sure what we were going to do. The W and the Fitzroy or the Circuit... and where would we start? In the West or in the East?
There are many things to consider: ferry prices, weight of bag, scenery and highlights and gradients up and down.
So we decided to do the entire Circuit going anti clockwise and start in the west at the Paine Grande Camp.
Reasons for this were: taking the Ferry is fun, we would have the quieter part of the trek after the busy part, the pass is easier from Los Perros than from Campiamento Grey and we could break the trek after doing the W in case we struggle or have any other problems.
Well.. that sorted out, it was time to go to bed.
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