...for nothing left to lose. are the words running through my mind as I watch the beautiful scenery of the Caretera Austral roll by behind me. I'm sitting in the back of a pick up truck bouncing down the dirt road, the wind in my hair and the sun on my face, and I feel free and happy. Janis, honey, I think there are other ways to look at it.
I haven't posted a real update here in over a month, so I have a lot of ground to cover. A lot more than I can hope to cover tonight. The past week has been incredible, and the month before it ... just amazing. I don't really have the right words to capture any of it.
I'm writing now from Puerto Natales, Chile after traveling through a very small portion of Argentina. It's amazing to me what a huge difference political borders make -- although it was just half a day's walk from Chile to Argentina, I felt like I was in a different world. The people speak differently, the restaurant serve different food, different money, different culture, and so on... I like it there, though.
My trip down to here was just amazing. I was feeling pretty down with all of the NOLS folks leaving, and I really wasn't looking forward to being on my own. But, as soon as I hit the road, that feeling faded quickly.
I took the bus down to Cochrane, stayed the night there, and then started hitching a ride further south on the Carretera. After about 20 minutes of waiting my first ride picked me up, and drove me a couple hundred kilometers south, to just past Puerto Yungay. The ride was amazing -- sunny and beautiful. Glaciers and forest all around. Very little traffic -- when there wasa car or a bike everyone waved.
South of Puerto Yungay my ride started heading down the not-yet-finished road to Ventisquero Montt, where he was working on transforming it into simple the road to Ventisquero Montt. He dropped me off at the fork, and I started walking toward Villa O'Higgins. There was about 100k left to go, but it was nice to walk anyway -- just such a nice place. No more cars passed that night, and I ended up camping not too far from the road side. My first night out under the stars after NOLS was a great night -- it was clear that I was a lot more comfortable camping than I had been before the trip. In fact, I was probably more comfortable that night than I would have been in a bed. I had a really nice camp site, and the stars were bright with no moon.
The next morning I missed the first truck, and waited another 4 hours for a ride. Around 1 a group of Chilean students picked me up...
...the internet cafe I was writing this from just closed. I managed to find another place to finish it, but I need to write this quickly and be done, so...
Sorry sorry sorry to my friends and family that I have been neglecting by not writing, but you'll have to tollerate more of it from me. I've met a friend from the NOLS course, and we're heading to the torres del paine national park tomorrow for 5-6 daysm, then from there down to tierra del fuego. I'll try to check in some time after the treck through the park.
Sorry I've been so bad about staying in touch. Internet is hard to find in this part of the country, and of late time has been hard to find for me.
That said, I'm doing really well right now. Loving it down here. Quite happy.
Talk to you all soon.
Much love,
..david