We decided that just going to the end of the world wasn't dramatic enough, so we chose to do it by hitchiking there in 7 different vehicles over 2 days, spending the night in an 18-wheel truck. We also did it cuz there were no buses there for the next 3 days.
We took a bus from Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas, the biggest city in the south of Chile, and from there a nice navy guy took us out of his way past the airport to the middle of nowhere and left us there to die. Apparently we could get rides easily there... and we did. Within 20 minutes of waiting a huge 18-wheeler pulls over and we jump aboard, beginning our trip to the southern most city inthe world- Ushuaia.
Our optitian-turned-truck driver was anything but stereotypical, having decided that routines were not for him he turned to driving trucks 11 years ago and just bought his huge new one 4 months ago. The truck cabin was amazing, with bouncy seats and even 2 beds in the back which we made use of when we got stuck at the ferry crossing for 3 hours, forcing us to spend the night inside. He even gave us our first taste of mate (typical Argentinean tea drink).
He let us off again in the middle of nowhere, and we got a ride with a scientist guy who analyzes gas in labs for 7 days and then gets 7 days off... lucky bastard. Again let off somewhere between 2 grass fields that extended until infinity with no signs of human presence we managed to flag down another 18-wheeler, this time transporting TV parts, complete with a tattoed and mulleted driver.
Apparently they deliver electronic parts all the way to the south of the country, assmble them there, and then truck them back up, cuz Tierra Del Fuego is a tax free zone... still seems like a waste to me though. Since Tierra Del Fuego isn't physically connected to the rest of Argentina everyone has to cross through Chile twice to get there, making them very angry, specially when Chile takes away all your apples. Grr.
After eating and relaxing at the border we found a meat-carrying truck driver with fuzzy blue seats to take us to Rio Grande, closer yet to our destination. From there a teacher took us even closer to the little village of Tolhous or something, which had an amazing bakery and chocolate shop, and then we stowed away on a muddy bus for the last 2 hours, finally reaching our destination of Ushuaia at 11pm, and for $7 instead of $60... Woohoo!
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