Tomorrow I'm flying to Punta Arenas and my hike in Torres del Paines. According to the agency there will be no wifi and also limited access to electricity, so it might take some days before my next blog post. But be patient. I will write one for each day, even if I write them all during one day. Coming back soon to a blog near you. :-)
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Observations during flight and Arriving in Chile
OK - I admit it! I'm extremely interested in my fellow passengers. I just can't help it. So again - here is an observation on the fight from Madrid to Santiago (13,5 hour but the way - long flight).
Already when I came onboard the plane I realized that I would have issues with my seating. I had window seat (which I prefer on long haul flights, since you sleep much better there - less disturbances), but the couple who sat next to me were older (between 70-80 years old) and both were overweight. In short - they had a hard time to move. So when I pointed out that my seat was the one at the window next to them - they looked at me like I insulted them. Suddenly they started to sigh a lot and were having extreme difficulties to move so I could take my seat. On top of that, the woman had several bags on the floor that she for some reason needed to move before I could take my seat (it was easy for me to jump over them). It took them several minutes to make room for me. On top of that they started to discuss, while standing in the aisle, how they should handle their rest of their luggage, so they stopped a couple of 100 people to get on board. I then realized that it was probably the first time in their life that they were on a plane. Quite brave of them to do it so late in life. They didn't speak any Spanish and hardly any English, (I think they were from somewhere in eastern Europe, but I couldn't really hear them while they were speaking to each other) so it was even hard for them to ask for help. The procedure then repeated when I needed to go to the bathroom the first time. They seemed insulted and were making a lot of noise. The second (and last) trip to bathroom I pointed out to them that it was enough if the man moved, since I could jump over the woman. They seemed relieved by that, but then the man wanted to have paper towels from me, when I came back from the bathroom??!! I'm sorry, but I didn't realize that paper towels were the general toll to get out of once seat on a plane?! Finally, just before we landed they started to prepare themselves to get off, so much so they even put the luggage in the aisle. You should have heard the stewardess (who already had had several talks to them about security). At this point she was quite fed up. But at least - they gave me entertainment.
We came to South America in the morning, so we got to see the sunrise.
The flight over the Andes was BEAUTIFUL. Check out!
Finally, after 27 hours of traveling I arrived at my hotel in Santiago. Since I arrived in the morning my room wasn't ready. But who cares - when you can sit out in the sun and enjoy a cup of coffee with fresh fruit and pancakes. For me it was the perfect start of the day and my trip in Chile.
Since I noticed on the flight that my hiking pants had brown paint on them (I probably got it the last time I used them and didn't even notice. Obviously a wash didn't affect the paint.) I decided that I needed to buy a new pair. The other pair was quite old and the paint just gave me an excuse to replace them. So after a shower I walked to closest shopping mall. It is located next to South Americas tallest building. Some people think it is beautiful (I would assume they are men ;-) ) some people think it is ugly. Look at it and let me know your opinion.
Tonight I will go to bed early. Tomorrow morning I will take the 5.50 flight to Punta Arenas, so they will pick me up at 4.15 from the hotel. I need to get up at 3.15, so I can have some breakfast before I leave. I hope I can eat at that hour.
New trip - to CHILE!!!
Here we go again. :-) This time I’m off to Chile and the wonderful Patagonia. Just listen to the the name -
P A T A G O N I A. It has a wonderful sound. The funny thing is that I don’t really know that much about the place, but I still have thought about going there for the last 10 years. Maybe it has something to do with the brand Patagonia, that makes high quality hiking clothes, since it is one of my favorite brands. Or maybe it just because it is in South America. I have always loved that part of the world and always been sorry that I didn’t learn Spanish, since that is the most common language there.
Anyhow - I have looked forward to this trip since September, when I started to talk to the travel agency about it. I knew from the start that I wanted to do the Patagonia hike, but the rest of the trip activities caused some discussions. Finally I ended up up with the following list of activities:
- Hiking in Patagonia
- Horseback riding
- Wine tour
- Beach hut
You can read about the hiking part of my trip here. OBS! In Swedish! http://www.aventyrsresor.se/Resor/Patagonien/Vandra-i-Torres-del-Paine
I was so happy when my friend Maria told me that she would come down from Argentina (where she lives) and spend the days in the beach hut with me. Now the trip felt complete. A little bit of everything that I enjoy in life: hiking, animals, wine and friends. I'm also hoping that I will be able to do some running when I spend the days in the beach hut. The only thing missing, on my list of interests, on this trip is music.
The flight can often be quite boring, but during the my first flight, Arlanda - Heathrow, I had some entertainment. The couple next to me were fighting the whole time. About everything and nothing. When I see these kinds of things I'm always happy that I'm single. It would take too much energy with that kind of constant nagging. I ALMOST said "Get a divorce" when they were at it the most, but it is none of my business how other people live there lives.
It was a very bumpy flight to London and we "jumped" several times. We even saw the lightning. It is interesting to watch people's reaction when the flight is a bit scary. Both during the trip and after. Some people becomes white and silent, others start to talk a lot with a very loud voice and some people keep calm. I'm usually quite calm, mainly because I can't do anything about the situation, so I don't want to react. The flight to Madrid was delayed because of the weather and also quite bumpy. Luckily we landed well in time for my final flight to Santiago. Part one of my trip was done.
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