Ushuaia-End of the World

I got a twelve hour bus to Ushuaia (in Argentina) from Punta Arenas and unfortunately none of them run in the night so it's a day of bus and bone-shaking because half of the road for the journey isn't paved. My cerebro was pretty bruised by the end of it but one good thing came of it-I met a really nice Portuguese girl on the bus in the queue at borders (you have to queue to leave Chile and get a couple of stamps and then to enter Argentina about five minutes up the road to get more stamps and you aren't allowed to take any fruit or dairy products.).
I ate dinner with the Portuguese girl and we decided to take a few trips together.
We went for a hike in the National Park from ten til five in the afternoon which exhausted me but was really lovely and I say a falcon and lots of different birds and lots of rabbits.
The next day was mainly booking tickets for buses but after lunch we went on a boat trip to see the lobos del mar (sea lions) who are really fat and smell. The boat ride was really fun although I was the only one who sat outside on deck and consequently got drenched by an oncoming wave but luckily was dressed up in my waterproof gear-thanks mum for talking my into getting those trousers!
We went to the San Martial glaciar on our third day and took a chair lift to the base (although the glaciar wasn't really there because it's summer) and we hiked and climbed as far as we could go to see the beautiful vista.
I got a bit addicted to ice-cream there as they have this wonderful flavour called calafate which is made from a berry from calafate in Argentina and the food was really good and cheap-it seems Argentina is in general a lot cheaper than Chile but they have special tourist prices (ie more than the locals pay.). Ines (my Portuguese travel companion) taught me some yoga too and now I can't stop stretching.

Punta Arenas 1

I arrived at Punta Arenas in the afternoon after a delayed flight. It was cold and pretty similar to England including the rain but as I was driving past the fields in my taxi with two Ozzies who I met at the airport, I saw my first lamas. My hostel was great and the hostess booked taxis and stuff for me and in the evening I met lots of travellers who gave me advice about where to visit.I went for a walk around town and it wasn't long before I was I sheltering from the rain in an internet cafe. I walked to the top of the hill (everything in Chile seems to go from up to down because of the mountains)to get a better view and it looked really bleak. Not somewhere I wanted to spend much time. So I got the bus to Ushuaia (which incidentally is in Argentina-sorry Chile, only my fourth day and I'm crossing the boarder)the next day.

The foothills of the Andes, Zoe and Rocio in the cable car, on top of Cerro San Cristobal and the Virgen

Cerro San Cristobal and Pablo Neruda's House

I went for a drive with Cecilia up to the foothills of the Andes and I think I got a bit of altitude sickness which Rocio thought was funny and there were lovely views and lots of houses belonging to millionaires. After lunch we went to an area called Patronato which is an area with really cheap clothes shops and is apparently the place to go to see what's going to be in next season.

I went up Cerro San Cristobal in the evening, with Rocio and her friend Juan Carlos, which is a huge hill in the middle of Santiago and with excellent views and TV broadcasting aerials which aren't so nice to look at. We just managed to catch the last Furnicular back down to Barrio Bellavista which is a really beautiful neighbourhood with lots of bars and restaurants. We saw one of Pablo Neruda's houses (for those of you who don't know-he's a famous Chilean poet.). I went to a blues bar where they sang the blues in Spanish-very funny for me-and had some Chilean white wine which is better than what we buy in the supermarket in England and goes down very easily. I had Empanaditas again with Guacamole-I'm obssessed with them!

Tomorrow I head down to Tierra del Fuego by plane (four hours) and the cold (I think it's about the same temperature, if not a bit colder, as England.). I plan to go to the Argentinian part as well and the national park and do a bit of treking and staying in hostels and rough it a bit. I won't take my hair straightners...

El gato demonio / carino and the view from my room

Arrival in Chile

I arrived in Santiago at 9.40 on Tuesday morning. The flight wasn't too bad as I took some homeopathic sleeping pills and slept most of the way.
Cecilia met me from the airport and took me back to her house where I'm going to be staying until Friday. She's got broadband so I'm taking advantage of it at the moment. We met one of her daughters Rosio for lunch at a really fancy shopping mall (where I probably won't be going shopping because it's more expensive than England.). In the evening Rosio took me for a tour round the centre and showed me all the nice places and then we met her friends for a drink at El Toro, who were lovely and to whom I spoke Spanish, and I had my first Pisco Sour (unbelievably sour and very strong!) and some empanaditas (which for those of you who don't know are little pies) with cheese in the middle. Delicious.
Today Cecilia and I are supposed to be going to see one of Pablo Neruda's houses but it's pretty cold and then this afternoon Rosio and her friend Juan Carlos are taking me for more of a tour around the city again to some emporium (I don't know if I understood correctly.).

Ancud

I arrived by ferry last night after an afternoon of sunning myself on the beach in Frutillar (with a view of volcán Osorno-beautiful) and drinkng fresh raspberry juice. The crossing was amazing. There were loads of sea lions popping their heads up out of the water to see what all the commotion was about. I definitely prefer them in the water than out. The sun was setting and you could see all the mountains with snow on them from the boat. I got to my hospedaje and was greeted by a very monosyllabic man who showed me to my PRIVATE! room. I was expecting a dorm but apparently there are only double rooms and twin rooms so I was lucky and for only six pounds a night. In the morning I woke up to discover that the hot water hadn't been put on so I had a cold shower and the host was nowhere to be seen so no breakfast either. He reassures me though that he will put the hot water on and give me breakfast at eight tomorrow-fingers crossed!
I went to see more penguins in the morning and saw lots of otters, eighteen species of comorants and a sea lion who wasn't very well because she'd been cut by a fishing net. The guide was very funny and only spoke castellano which was good for me. He had names for all the otters although I'm sure he was just doing that for the little kids who were on the trip.
I went to a fort in the afternoon which was one of the last places to be handed back by the spaniards and then to a little beach for a bit of sun. I missed the museum as it was closing when I arrived. I'm going in persuit of food now. Nectarines, biscuits and cheese toasties are not a balanced diet!