Stupid Gringo

When I was on the Inca Trail in Peru, they always served us hot drinks before meals, to warm us up. I usually drank the Mate de Cocoa (aka crack tea), which actually tasted good. But I noticed some people drinking the hot chocolate. And these people would scoop in spoonful after spoonful of sugar. 'Aren't you drinking hot CHOCOLATE??' Apparently, it wasn't sweet at all. So when I was in a restaurant in Chiloe, and I decided to order hot chocolate, I asked if it was sweet to make sure. Their laughter is still ringing in my ears. I tried to explain that in Peru, it's not sweet. Stupid Gringo. First, she asks if the hot chocolate is sweet. Then she thinks Chile is Peru.

So I hopped on the Navimag in Puerto Montt on Friday, and arrived in Puerto Natales on Monday. I had been forewarned by two Americans (the ones I watched the Super Bowl with) that it's a boring trip, that I should bring booze, food and cards. In that order. I forewent the booze, but brought plenty of food. And I attempted to buy cards, but ended up getting an espanol pack, whatever that is. That deck is missing the 8 and 9, and the royals only go up to 12 (equivalent of Q). I have no idea what it's for, had no idea there was a difference. And it's not the regular suits. They use a sword, um, club (that you use to hit people), cups and medals. Or something. Go figure. Stupid Gringo.

The cruise was actually quite nice. It flew by, and there was some beautiful scenery. I ended up sharing a cabin with a European couple (she's Austrian, he's German) and a French guy. They were very nice. The two guys were both way into photography. As were many other people on the boat. It made me miss my stolen camera very much.

Between talks and movies and scenery, trying to read and write in my journal, I had plenty to do on the four days. The second day, we hit some pretty rough ocean, and I ended up popping a pill and sleeping most of the day. It made waking up at 6am the next day to watch our journey through a super narrow passage that much easier. (Which, by the way, was disappointing. I was expecting cliffs like in Princess Bride or the Odyssey, but it looked fairly wide-open to me.) The last night, people were up late, drinking and dancing, but I was in no mood to spend money on booze, especially since I had splurged to pay for the boat ride. I felt like a bit of a loner and outsider, and ended up heading to bed fairly early. Supposedly, we were going to arrive at 7:30am the next morning.

It's funny how, even after traveling half-way around the world, I attach myself to the people I feel most comfortable with, who, in this case, was a guy fron San Francisco who had spent time working in both the private and non-profit sectors. Just like me. We got off the Navimag and headed toward the same hostel (I was too lazy to find one myself). And on the way, we bumped into a guy I had met at my hostel in Puerto Montt. Canadian guy traveling alone. I hadn't even caught his name in Puerto Montt. And all of a sudden, after feeling like a loner the previous night, I was connecting people. We had all heard that no one is allowed to camp in Torres del Paine (the National Park that was the destination for just about everyone on the boat) alone. And the SF guy was alone. And the Canadian guy was alone. And bam! -- they knew each other (through me) and decided to do it together (on my suggestion).

Puerto Natales is actually a really small town. It's funny how there were people on the boat that I never talked to, although I saw frequently. But once we hit the town, we all said hi to each other and talked to each other. And boy was Puerto Natales infested with boat people. It's like the boat ride made us part of the same fraternity. Which was magnified when the Canadian guy was around -- because a few of us from the boat ended up talking about people or things about the trip, leaving the Canadian guy with no knowledge of what we were talking about.

So yesterday, while everyone else on the boat headed out for a 4-5 backpacking trip in the park, I headed in for a 1 day trip. Paid an arm and a leg for the bus, the entrance fee, and the boat to get across this lake. I then hiked about an hour and a half, and got to a stunning overlook of Glacier Grey and Lake Grey. Maybe camping is the RIGHT way to do it, but I was still pretty amazed at the view I had. The glacier, the snow-capped mountains, the Torres (towers), the lake with bits of ice broken off. The lake was this odd, milky blue color. I wonder why. And let me just tell you -- yesterday, I remembered why I love California so much. It was SO COLD!!!!!

Anyway, on my way back from the glacier, I noticed this amazing tree. It had this deep, pinkish-red hue to the trunk. The colors were so saturated, so I took off my sunglasses to take out my camera to take a picture. But without my sunglasses on, the tree was only a pale pink color. I realized that my sunglasses acted as a polorazing fliter, enriching the world around me. I suddenly felt like a superhero with magic glasses, and for the next 45 minutes, kept taking my glasses on and off to compare the differences. The blue of the ocean, the red of the mountains -- it made me miss my stolen camera and its polorazing filter even more.

So today, I hopped on a bus and now find myself in Punta Arenas with a bus ticket out of here tomorrow morning. The touristy thing does get tiring, and with other things to take care of, I decided to forego figuring out how to do a Penguin tour today. My flight is out of Argentina on Sunday. I can't believe how quickly the time has passed. I can't believe 6 weeks have passed so quickly. Well, I'm getting ahead of myself. I still have a couple days down here . . .