From Puerto Madryn we took another overnight bus to Rio Gallegos in the southern end of Argentina. Our bus wasn't quite as nice as last time, but it was fine.
Surprisingly, at least to me, we continued to drive through incredibly flat land. After an 18 hour bus ride to Rio Gallegos, we had a 15 minute break before getting on the bus to Rio Turbio on the boarder with Chile. That was only a 4 hour drive. We had hoped to get all the way to Puerto Natales in one day, but when we arrived in Rio Turbio we discovered that the next bus to Puerto Natales was not until after 10:00 that night. We really didn't want to wait that long as we were just too tired. When we were at the tourist information centre asking about a place to stay, a fellow offered us a ride to Puerto Natales. He is a school teacher in a town next to Rio Turbio and seems to really enjoy helping out travellers. So Diego loaded us and our bags into his van and drove us to the Chilean border. He was very helpful getting us across the border and then drove us the rest of the way to Puerto Natales. We were very grateful to Diego. It was so nice to get to our final destination that evening and be able to check in for a few days and settle in.
The next day, after a good nights sleep, we wandered around the town. Although it is summer in Patagonia, it was darn cold. No shorts and tank tops here! The scenery around town was gorgeous. Lots of snow capped mountains all around.
The water looked cold as I'm sure it was. The wind was constant and rather chilly.
I took this photo from the window of our room at 10:30 pm. It's amazing how the light can change how you feel. None of us even thought about being tired until well after 11:00. And with the sun coming up before 5:00 we never really slept in either. But we never felt tired. I would love to have daylight like that at home.
Surprisingly, at least to me, we continued to drive through incredibly flat land. After an 18 hour bus ride to Rio Gallegos, we had a 15 minute break before getting on the bus to Rio Turbio on the boarder with Chile. That was only a 4 hour drive. We had hoped to get all the way to Puerto Natales in one day, but when we arrived in Rio Turbio we discovered that the next bus to Puerto Natales was not until after 10:00 that night. We really didn't want to wait that long as we were just too tired. When we were at the tourist information centre asking about a place to stay, a fellow offered us a ride to Puerto Natales. He is a school teacher in a town next to Rio Turbio and seems to really enjoy helping out travellers. So Diego loaded us and our bags into his van and drove us to the Chilean border. He was very helpful getting us across the border and then drove us the rest of the way to Puerto Natales. We were very grateful to Diego. It was so nice to get to our final destination that evening and be able to check in for a few days and settle in.
The next day, after a good nights sleep, we wandered around the town. Although it is summer in Patagonia, it was darn cold. No shorts and tank tops here! The scenery around town was gorgeous. Lots of snow capped mountains all around.
The water looked cold as I'm sure it was. The wind was constant and rather chilly.
I took this photo from the window of our room at 10:30 pm. It's amazing how the light can change how you feel. None of us even thought about being tired until well after 11:00. And with the sun coming up before 5:00 we never really slept in either. But we never felt tired. I would love to have daylight like that at home.
