I spend much of the morning sorting out a bus ticket for tomorrow morning. My intention is to go to Calafate in southern Patagonia and I¨ve been under the impression I can go direct. I go to a ticket office in town to find out I cant get a ticket from him and have to go out to the bus station to get one. I go to the bus station and find out this particular bus only goes once a week on a Sunday night at 21.00. What hasnt been explained to me is that for the regular journey I have to make three connections en route. Things get lost in translation I suppose. However I now begin to consider other possibilities. I decide to get a ticket to Puerto Montt in Chile and then take a bus down through the Chilean fjiords to Puerto Natales from where I can then get back across the border to Calafate. It sounds like a great idea so I get my ticket to Puerto Montt.
Its lunchtime before I m sorted. By now I m hungry si I get some food in a nearby supermarket and bring it back to the hostel to eat. In the dining room I get talking to a Belgian couple, Michel and Eve who have just arrived from Ushuaia in the extreme south of Patagonia and a particularly long 3 bus 50hr journey. We end up chatting for the rest of the afternoon. They are sailing around the world together and have been travelling for the past 15 months. Their boat is moored up in Venezuela while they tour around South America. I find it fascinating listening to their sailing adventures. They re a lovely couple and by far and away the most interesting people I ve met so far. I have dinner with them in the evening and we join a table with a Dutch lad, an Aussie couple and a hilariously camp English "gent" in his forties. A lot of stories get trotted out through the evening about each others travels and, we find a lot of similar experiences with muggings and attempted robberies in Buenos Aires. It seems my episode was far from unusual there. The Aussie couple have come from Chile and tell tales of climbing Volcanoes and sliding back down its slopes in a town called Pucon. It sounds fantastic and Im intrigued.
As the conversations progress I get asked about where Içm going to next and I tell of my fresh plans for Puerto Montt and the great bus journey down through the fjords. People frown and are surprised I can do this and begin to cast doubts as to whether there is a bus link from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales. I double check with the guide and indeed There is no bus conection. Now Içm not sure what to do. Should I bother going to Puerto Montt at all? As I go to bed I decide to sleep on it over night and see what I think in th morning
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