12.12. – 13.12.
Each day when I get dressed and put on my many layers of clothing, it seems to me, as I would prepare myself for a flight into space and not for a ride on the motorcycle.
So I abandon myself again to nature. I cross to Chile again. Puerto Natales is located not far from the border. At the border control I drop an apple quickly at the roadside. I totally forgot that it is not allowed to bring fresh food with you. There is no X-ray of my luggage this time, but the lady from the Ministry of Health wanted to have a look in each bag.
Slowly my cash is running out. My new ATM card is in Andis luggage and he is bringing a few USD too. The last few days I mostly had microwave food from the supermarket and the last haircut was weeks ago.
In Puerto Natales I meet two Austrians againnwhen walking through the streets, this time from Styria. They are on the road since a couple of months too with their Land Cruiser pickup, heading north. Their next target is Alaska too.
The concentration of “world”-travelers is increasing. The bottleneck, if you want to say so, is getting close. Modded pickups, campers, motorcyclists and bicyclists. Many Germans and French are on the road, the French usually traveling in groups of two to four vehicles.
The nature looks bizarre sometimes. Shaped by the wind, the trees are standing aslant in the landscape, they all point in one direction. Bright green moss is hanging like shreds in the branches.
14.12. Visit from home!
I arrive in Punta Arenas in the early afternoon. Andi keeps me up to date by mail and SMS where he is at the moment. He has 4 stop overs, but everything went fine. I pick him up at the airport half past six.
The joy is great, we celebrate a lot that evening. It was not that funny next morning.
15.12.
On Sunday is election day. At an election day it is prohibited by law to sell alcohol. In the supermarket the shelves are blocked. Even the restaurants are closed. The Chinese seem to be exempt from this law. We therefore eat in one of the two open Chinese restaurants and get even beer there.
As Andis motorcycle is arriving a week later than planned, we think about how to spend the time useful. We decide to pack the most necessary things for four days, leaving the rest in the hostel and drive to Ushuaia with my motorcycle.
In the morning we go to the ferry port to make a booking for the crossing to Tierra del Fuego. Unfortunately today they only sell the tickets for the current crossing. We watch as the ferry slowly fills up with vehicles and passengers. In two days we want to embark on the ship as well.
Only a barrier of water and a few hundred kilometers separate me from the “end of the world”. I can not wait to arrive.
16.12.
Today we are on foot. Again we went to the ferry port, which is about 5km away from the hostel. We make the booking for tomorrows crossing. On the way back we saw Steve and Judy, the couple from the States, passing by with their bike. They wanted to take a ferry today, but no ferry today. They later wrote an email we will meet tomorrow at 9am at the terminal.
Perhaps it may sound strange, but tomorrow is an important day for me on this trip.
Thank you for reading, Jürgen.
Photos Album
Leave a Reply