I know...I didn´t think I could do it either!!!!

i made out of Torres del Paines in one piece. (well, kind of. my feet are hanging on by a thread. next time = spend more money on shoes).) the trip was INCREDIBLE, but i will write a more detailed account later, when i am on a better keyboard and have time to post pics. Important to note about this elevation-distance map that we did this ´W´ trekking circuit in 4 1-2 days. holy cow. (by the way, i couldn´t ask for a better group of traveling companions: Linds, Tim, Blake, Kelly and Phi)

until then, i will recount the comical (well not-at-the-time) events of yest:

10 AM to noon: hike down from Campo Chileno to the shuttle stop that takes us to bus out of the park.

2 PM: shuttle to bus staging area.

3 to 5 PM: bus from park to Puerto Notales

5 to 8 PM: change clothes at our old hostel, pack, eat hamburgesa completas at a local restaurant (pics will follow of these hamburgesas. incredible.)

8 PM: packed and waiting for bus to pick us up and take three of us (me, Phi and Kelly) to Punta Arenas. (Punta Arenas is where the airport is, and about 2-5 hours from Puerto Notales).

8:11 PM - We realize that the lady that owns the hostel didn´t call the bus company that afternoon to reserve us seats after all. Realize that bus is not coming. Since this is the last bus leaving P. Notales and Phi and Kelly have a flight from P. Arenas at 8 AM the next day, mild panic commences.

8:15 PM - Taxi arrives with the intention of catching up to the bus and making it pull over and let us on. (Apparently these things happen.) Unfortunately, once we are in the cab and two blocks away, the taxi driver says that this is impossible and pulls over. We take our stuff out of the cab and stand by the curb, but he doesn´t leave us stranded there, tg.

8:16 to about 8:50 PM - Driver decides to call someone else who might be able to drive us to P.Arenas that night. He says would be much more expensive to rent a car and leave it in P.Arenas. Wait a long while for this new driver to show up, while the first driver gives us lots of advice on how to negotiate a good price. (All these converstions are in spanish, btw.)

8:51 PM - Roberto, our new driver shows up in a little minivan. He says it will cost 80,000 pesos total (about US$160) for the trip. (Note, the bus would have been 10,000 each) We try to negotiate, but he says we have to talk to his boss, the lady that owns the cars.

9:05 PM - Arrive at the casa of the lady that owns the cars. I ask her if we can pay 60,000 instead, but she says this is impossible b-c the minivan is reliable but guzzles lots o´gas. Instead she offers to have Roberto take us in this old Peugeot, which gets better gas mileage - for 60,000. We have a deal.

9:15 PM - Set off in the Peugeut. Stop for gas and see the original taxi driver at the station, so we thank him for his help earlier. (Incidentally, did I mention that on the way to P. Arenas, our bus ran out of gas b-c the driver forgot to check it? Anyway, other story.)

sometime around 10: Discover that our driver Roberto likes many types of music, but there is only one tape in the car, the Backstreet Boys. Listen to this tape for the first of many times.

11:30ish - first sign of car trouble.

12:00 AM - Car dies. Just outside of P. Arenas. Roberto calls his boss, who says that her brother-in-law will arrive to help us in 15 minutes.

12:45 AM - No sign of help. Still by the side of the road, with very cold strong winds raging outside. Call Roberto´s boss again and she says we should be patient.

1:05 AM - We call our hostal and ask them to call us a taxi.

1:35 AM - Taxi and brother-in-law arrive at almost the same time. We pay Roberto, say chao and hop in the taxi.

At long last - After about a 15 min drive, we arrive at the warm, cozy hostal. We take real showers (!) and fall asleep around 3 AM.

Phi and Kelly had to go back to the airport a 6:30 AM, but I slept in until 9:30. I´m catching a plane back to Santiago (warm, sunny!!!) in a few hours. Phew. I will miss the beauty of Patagonia, but not this frickin cold wind. Stay tuned for pictures.