The Hostels

During my 2 weeks traveling to Chile, only stayed 4 nights in hostels.
Stayed 2 nights in Punta Arenas, and 2 nights in Puerto Natales, before and after the trekking.

Below are pictures from stylish Hostel Imago Mundi in Punta Arenas.




Below is picture from Hostel Singing Lamb, Puerto Natales.


Navimag Cruise through the Patagonian Fjords

Decided to join the trip because it was recommended in Lonely Planet.
Was afraid that I was going to get bored, 4 days 3 nights on the ship, and almost regretted thinking better to go to other places instead, but in the end, I was glad I took this trip.
We boarded the trip on Wednesday night, then the ship boarded about 4 o'clock in the morning.
To my surprise, the ship was not fully booked, as I expected this trip to be so much popular.
In the morning, I realized that lots of sheeps and cows were also onboard with us. But they were jampacked in the cage outdoor on the back of the ship. It was sad to see how they were treated.
We started the trip with a sunny day and quite sea in the fjords. However, wheather changed like every hour.
We could see snowy mountains, waterfalls, small islands.
We met different kind of birds, seals, dolphins, and the blue whales.
In the ship, every day there was one lecture on Patagonian nature, and in the night they played movie.
Even though most of the passengers were foreign travellers, there were quite a number of locals too.
One memorable encounter was with a Korean lady, named Oga, who lived in many countries such as Jamaica, USA, New Zealand, and Argentina.
In the third day afternoon, we arrived in the open sea and it started to get rough. The ship was really shaking and I couldn't help getting seasick. I vomitted all the content of my stomach, and had to lay still on the bed for 12 hours.
In the last night, there was a bingo party and dance party. I enjoyed dancing with the locals.

Navimag, the ship we boarded with other passengers, sheeps, and cows.

in the fjords

into the fjords

poor sheeps, jam packed... :(

the glaciers we stopped by

we left the glaciers behind

the village is called Puerto Eden, not accessible by road

Sailors touch the statue of Mary for good luck

the wrecked ship from Brazil, under the rainbow

we saw several of rainbows during the trip, but this one was the most beautiful

one of the passer-by

tranquil in the morning

tranquil in the morning



transporting a house

playing giant dam on the ship

another passer by

isn't it the sky beautiful

ray of light from heaven

arrived in Puerto Montt

The Penguins

Cute cute cute!
They were cuter than I expected.

Since I saw similar penguins in Philip Island (Australia) before, I didn't expect so much from this trip to Isla Magdalena, just to spend time before the Navimag ship trip.
We departed from Punta Arenas, took 2 hours to reach the island, and 1 hour we spent on the island.

So many of them! the penguins!
I think they got used to human, being visited everyday, that they didn't care about our existence.

I wanted to see the Imperial Penguins, but these little Magellans Penguins were OK too :)





Cecyl, the biggest of all penguins on the island :)













the ship that took us to the island from Punta Arenas

Punta Arenas

Punta Arenas is the largest city in Chilean Patagonia region.
It is also a hub to Torres del Paine as well as further south Patagonia.
It is a convenient city with lots of shops, travel agencies, and tasty restaurants.
The accommodations were not as characteristic as Puerto Natales though.
One of the nicest meal I had here, in the Mercado Municipal, the fish (Congrio) soup.
From here, I took a ship trip to the penguin island of Isla Magdalena.
a building in the city

the sea

the famous cemetery, Lonely Planet said it was amongst South America's most fascinating cemeteries

the mess hall of Imago Mundi, the hostel I stayed, really artistic and full of character hostel

last supper with Martin and Cecyl at La Marmita

Puerto Natales

What a lovely city it is!
The sea with the snowy mountains, lovely cafe and restaurant, colorful houses...

Puerto Natales is a small town, flourished because it is the hub city to the famous Torres del Paine National Park, as the result, a lot of accommodations, surprisingly full of characteristic.
the Cathedral at Plaza de Armaz

the street


the sky is always cloudy

the sea

one of the luxury hotel in town
I stayed in one of them, the Singing Lamb, a clean and lovely decorated hostel in a quiet part of the city.