All's not well

Day 10: We arrived today in Puerto Natales and it's nice to be back on solid ground. There wasn't too much turbulence along the way -- except during the open-ocean stretch, but I slept through most of that. Unfortunately, I'm not doing so well. Sometime before getting on the boat, I picked up some sort of stomach bug. It's been terrorizing me ever since. The three attempts the on-board doctor made -- the last being an injection to my right buttock -- were less effective than desired (read: not effective).

On top of feeling shitty, the hostel where I'd made resevations is overpriced and stingy at the same time. A towel is not included and the "free internet" consists of a half our per day. After that, you have to pay an unusually high hourly rate. Bah. There are also no lockers despite 6 beds per room. The hostel is beautiful and recently renovated, which gives them no excuse for not having standard amenities. Oh, I can rent a towel for $2. Double bah. I already made a deposit, so I'm staying for tonight. But I cancelled the second after going to the travel agency and finding that they provide shared rooms for half the price. Okay, so I wouldn't get the 30 mintues of free internet!

Further sticker shock set in at the travel agency, though, when I found out how much it would set me back to do any trekking in the national park Torres del Paine. It's insane. It's highway robbery. It's privately owned. Oh, there's the answer. It burns my buns even more to know that the money isn't going to the Chilean government (and therefore, supposedly, hopefully, to some people who need it). On top of the extortionist prices, being miserable sick and not having any of the proper gear, I'm thinking I might not do any trekking here. It's too bad because it's supposed to be one of the best national parks in South America.

On the upside, I have two weeks before my flight from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires to see some nature down here. And I can buy some basic gear in the next city, Punta Arenas, where there is a huge free-trade/duty-free zone. I figure I'll hit up the national park of Tierra del Fuego, which isn't nearly as overrun with tourists, and is perhaps even cooler for really being "the end of the world". It's merely a very expensive boat ride from Antarctica, so it's probably the closest I'll ever be to that continent. Then again, Chile considers it's half of Tierra del Fuego part of it's Antarctic territory.

Okay, my free half hour is almost up. I'm going to go drop off my laundry (including the hand towel that I luckily thought to bring), pick up some snacks at the supermarket, and then probably curl up in bed with a book I've been reading in Spanish. It's a good read and I'm so proud of myself for being able to read it. Plus, being horizontal, warm, and near a bathroom all sound appealing -- and rather necessary -- right now.

I'm embarrassed for being such a loser. I'm alone in an overpriced hostel with no one to talk to, have no plans other than those mentioned above (laundry, food, bed), and am not feeling at all like the intrepid, nothing-can-stop-me traveler that I sometimes fancy myself to be.

But, whether from sanity or insanity, I'm laughing at it all.