PUERTO NATALES (CHILE)

4 days after staying in El Calafate we were back on a bus heading along Route 40 to get down to Puerto Natales in order to visit Torres Del Paine in the National Park which has to be the most photographed area of all Patagonia. The ride down was amazing in respect of the fact that it was basically justa dirt track and the fact that in the entire journey of 280 kilometers we saw only 4 houses. The isolation of this area is truly it´s most outstanding feature. When we arrived in Puerto Natales I was a little shocked as I had expected my first impression of a Chilean ´city´ to be one of well laid out and neat buildings. In reality the streets are the dirtiest of any place I have ever been and countless numbers of stray dogs roam the street foraging in the rubbish that appears to be permanently piled up outside peoples houses which themselves look as if they are about to fall down. Given the fact that this is unquestionably a hrd environment to live in I had expected the houses to be a sanctuary but they are simply ugly wooden boxes with tin sheets nailed to them in order to afford some protection from the incessant wind. Sorry if this sounds a little bleak but this was my first impression of the place. On the plus side - Chilean drivers are a lot more pedestrian friendly - they even indicate when turning and wait at the traffic lights!We spent a day orientating ourselves, going to the excellent local museum and then found a sanctuary called El Living which had a fantastically laid back feel to it ... just the place to sip wine, taste our first pisco sours, leaf through magazines and just relax. The next day we took a tour (against our better judgement as we prefer to organise the trips ourselves) to Torres Del Paine .... in retrospect we are glad that we did so as we cannot recall ever laughing so much. The day, however, did not get off to a good start when we were greeted by Jose who was meant to be bilingual in Spanish and English but clearly could neither speak nor understand English. It went further downhill when he told us (in Spanish) that we had to pay extra (on top of the all inclusive price that we had paid) to get into the Milodon Cave. The day was, however, saved when everyone started to see the funny side (even the native Spanish speakers) ..... a few classics of Jose the knowledgable guide were "on your left is a hill" and " back along the road a few kilometres ago I saw a Guanaco". The ultimate being "in Patagonia there are 3 million chavs" - we almost died laughing (never did see any that day though). The bus became it´s own tour guide with people pointing things out that they could see and relating bits of the history and geology of the area that they had read. The actual Torres Del Paine mountain range is magnificent, truly beatiful and inspiring but again there are so many people all walking in the same ´wilderness area´. Still a beautiful sight though. The next day we borrowed two bikes and headed off to the Borries Meat Freezing and Packing Museum. This may sound like a wierd day out but the museum is amazing. The buidlings were designed and built by the British at the beginning of the 19th Century and are especially imposing in that they are the only large brick buildings in the city ... 100 years old but they still look newer than the latest built houses elsewhere in the city. The museum is not exactly a museum in the true sense of the word as there are no ´exhibits´ behind glass cages. Rather, you are allowed to wander around un-chapperoned to see, smell and touch the history. It really felt as if you were a part of the place as it has all been left untouched down to the fact that the paperwork in the huge walk in safe is still there !!!!!! The machinery too still looks as if you could flip a switch and get it to work again..... had great fun turning all the handles on the industrial lathes ( I guess it´s a boys thing). It was especially good as we were the only ones there. One are especially brought home the horror of working in a place like that which was the tallow room ... even after more than 25 years have passed the smell of that room still makes one gag .... Emma could spend no more than a few minutes there.