END OF WORLD से भी CRAZY जगह! || Patagonia का सच | Chile Travel Ep. 16

It is called the eighth wonder of the world. There are 70 females and 106 males. If this ferry goes 500–600 kilometres, let’s take the risk and see. Let’s fly the drone. In one packet, I think there are four or six rotis. Our ferry has given us permission to land.

Namaskar, Salaam, Sat Sri Akal, Ram Ram ji to everyone once again. At this time, we are in Chile during our Pole to Pole journey. It has been almost 10 days since we arrived in Chile. At present, I am in Puerto Natales.

In the last video, you saw that Sir had left, and we were there. We also left along with him. The wind was extremely strong. We waited there for almost three days. Even after three days, the weather did not improve. Here, today is my third day, and the wind has reduced slightly. It is still blowing at 40–50 km per hour. Before that, it was blowing at 100 to 150 km per hour. Riding a bicycle in such strong wind was impossible.

So we have come here. You will see hostels everywhere because this is a very touristy place. Many tourists come here, especially Europeans who come for trekking. There are many mountains here. I will give you more information about them later. For now, I am taking my bag and going to the supermarket to buy some food. After that, we will explore the city together, and tomorrow we will leave from here.

We are still on an island. When you look at the map of Chile, it looks quite strange. There are many places where we have to cross from one place to another by ferry. The first ferry we will take is a bit long. It will be an important ferry. In this video, we will show you the ferry journey and a tour of this city. So stay till the end of the video.

It is now summer season, and all the mountains around me are covered with snow, except for one. This is the condition here in summer. Imagine what it must be like in winter. In winter, the temperature goes down to –20°C. And we have to go somewhere in between these mountains.

Here is the supermarket. We need to buy food because for the next five to seven days we will not get anything. From the place where the ferry drops us, there will be no city within 200 kilometres. So we need to arrange proper food for five to six days so that we can comfortably cover the next 700 kilometres.

The most important thing I carry is roti, which can be heated on gas and eaten. There are three packets, and I think each packet has four or six rotis. I will take two packets. I have not checked the price yet; it is not written here. Each packet is 600 grams. So I have taken about one kilo of flour in total.

I have bought a lot of items. I will show you everything once I reach the room. This is the first time I have bought so much. You can see behind me. Now I am going back to the hostel. I will keep the items, cook something, eat, and then go out to explore the city.

It looks very beautiful. It gives me a feeling like Ushuaia. There are mountains all around. We have reached the hostel. It is a bit far from the city centre because hostels in the city centre were very expensive. It is peak season here. I can see cars like Alto, Swift and even MG here. Sometimes it feels like I am still in India.

This is the main building of the hostel, and my room is behind it. People have turned their houses into hostels here. It is a bit cold, but better than yesterday.

Let me show you the room. Two Israeli brothers are staying here. All this luggage is mine. I am staying here. Let me show you what I bought: some snacks, coffee pouches, rajma, walnuts, almonds, raisins, porridge, roti, onions and tomatoes. I spent around ₹4,000 on this. It is very expensive. For example, 300 grams of walnuts cost ₹800. This city is very expensive. As we go further north, it will become slightly cheaper.

The next day has started. My ferry is in the evening. It is 11:00 am now, and I have time until 6:00 pm. So I am going to the city centre and then towards the sea. The houses here are single-storey. You will not see multi-storey buildings because of the strong winds. I can see a ferry coming in front of me. That is the ferry I have to board.

I came here to see something special. There are ducks here whose necks are completely black, and they are found only here in the whole world. We will travel in that ferry. I parked my cycle here. The wind is strong. I was thinking of flying the drone. Let us take the risk and fly it. I want to capture those ducks and the city view.

Let me explain. This side is the Atlantic Ocean, and that side is the Pacific Ocean. Chile is shaped like a zigzag. Ushuaia is down there. We came from there to here, and now we are somewhere around this area. From here, we will take a ferry. The ferry will move through these inner channels and drop me somewhere here.

This region on that side belongs to Argentina. I do not want to enter Argentina right now because I have visa issues, as I already stayed there for three months earlier. So I prefer to go later. This is an island, and the only way to travel is by ferry because the entire area ahead is covered with snow-covered mountains. The ferry will move in this zigzag route. The straight distance may be around 300–350 kilometres, but the ferry will travel 500–600 kilometres through these channels.

This is the vegetation you can see in this region.

Look at the wind, it is still blowing dangerously. You can judge from this. This is the wind, yaar. Patagonia is completely famous – or rather infamous – for its winds. It has even made me struggle. I had to wear a headband because my cap kept flying off. It is so cold. Right now, the temperature is 34 degrees (Fahrenheit).

Many friends say, “You don’t make proper videos. You stay in a hostel, read a script, shoot at four places and leave.” But I cannot do that. I only want to show you what is truly happening in my journey.

You normally see birds here. I showed you albatrosses in Antarctica. These are different birds. Look how strong the wind is. This is our terminal behind me. The ferry will leave from here. I still have three to four hours, but the wind is very strong. Look, this is a hotel.

It is a small town but very beautiful. I am really enjoying it. They have invested money here. There is a proper cycling route across the whole town. I just came here by bicycle. Let’s go inside.

Behind me, you can see some amazing statues made of stone. And look at this vehicle – a Land Cruiser converted into a caravan from the Netherlands. It has an NL number plate. If you want a caravan, it should be like this – a moving home! I had to tie a cloth around my head because my cap kept flying away.

Look at this – they have made a sculpture of a giant hand with five fingers, and my cycle “Dhanno” is parked in the middle. Over there, there is a bear statue. This is a bike shop, and cycling is very famous here.

There is a signboard showing distances: Ushuaia 768 km, Toronto 14,000 km, London 11,000 km, Tokyo 16,000–17,000 km. It is a beautiful city. Only the wind troubles you here. Everything else is fine.

If I have seen the highest number of hostels in any city, it is here. Almost every third building is a hostel. So many tourists come here. Look at this wall painting – absolutely amazing. There is a Christmas tree here. And this is a market made by Argentinians.

This is the city centre of Puerto Natales. “Puerto” means port, and “Natales” relates to Christmas. It was first settled on Christmas Day, which is why it is called Natales. So Puerto Natales means “Christmas Port.” It was first established in 1911. It is also called the “Gateway of Patagonia.”

This city is known as a windy city. The wind blows so strongly that you will see almost every tree leaning slightly to one side. The Andes Mountains begin from here. There is a very beautiful national park called Torres del Paine. This city is the gateway to Torres del Paine National Park, which is often called the eighth wonder of the world.

But let me tell you about a problem. A few days ago, five cyclists came here. They parked their cycles in the city and went to Torres del Paine, which costs $35 for entry. Strong winds started blowing at speeds of 150–160 km per hour. Sadly, all five cyclists passed away. After that, cycling was completely restricted, and even the number of visitors has been reduced. For the past three days, the park has been closed because of extremely strong winds.

Otherwise, from here, we would have taken a one-hour ferry from the bus stand and gone there. We had planned to do trekking for four to six hours. I am adding some photos so you can see how beautiful it is. There are three mountains standing straight in a line, and beyond that it looks like glaciers begin. I have just come from Antarctica, so I did not feel a strong desire to see more glaciers.

I have taken this ferry because it was compulsory. It runs only once a week – on Tuesday. If I missed it, I would have to wait eight days. This city is very expensive. The hostel I took cost $25 per night. Nothing is available below $25–35. Normally, hotels are not available below ₹3,000 per day. Monthly expenses are reaching ₹1.5 to 2 lakhs. Maybe it will get cheaper as I move ahead, and then expensive again after reaching the US.

Now I am at the supermarket to buy a few more items because we will be on the ferry for the next two days. They say it is one of the most beautiful ferry journeys in the world, moving in a zigzag route through the mountains. I will show you beautiful views.

The ferry ticket cost me around ₹15,000 for 600 km. I was told it is so beautiful that it will be worth it. The good thing is that they provide food. They will not give dinner tonight because officially the ferry departs tomorrow morning, but boarding starts today. There is no proper sleeping arrangement. We have to sit on seats for 48 hours.

Here is our ferry. It is now 9:30 pm. The ferry has still not departed. Boarding has just started. It was supposed to leave at 5:00 pm, but everything has changed due to the wind. The storm has disturbed everything. Tomorrow’s wind prediction is 100–120 km per hour. Let’s see what happens. Maybe it will stay here tonight.

Look, even the sun has come out while it is still raining. There is another cyclist with us, a girl from Argentina. Now there are two cyclists. Cars are lined up. What a beautiful view!

On one side of the ferry, there is a small seating area, and the rest of the space will be filled with vehicles. There is already one motorbike here. Two more cyclists have arrived. Now we are three cyclists. I have unloaded my luggage and kept it in storage.

People with caravans will sleep inside their vehicles. Those of us with bicycles will sleep inside the ferry seating area. The only issue is that the engine is near our seats, so it might be noisy.

After 36 hours, our ferry reached a place. We have been given permission to get off. We got down at a place called Puerto Edén. Only 170 people live here. You can call it a small town or a village. The nearest proper road is 300 km away.

The local people have made some food items like pancakes and other handmade things to sell. We are not allowed to go further from here. And look at this – they have made a boat by carving out a single tree trunk into a small wooden boat.

Amazing! And here is another boat. The local people use boats here. There do not seem to be any proper roads. The few people who live nearby must receive their supplies by ship. They collect their सामान from the ship and take it to their homes built somewhere around here. Only 187 people live in this area – in this town or village.

Normally, this ship takes 40 hours, but ours is getting very delayed – almost 24 hours extra – because the weather was very bad and the winds were extremely strong on the way. But the route was so beautiful. I have never seen such a beautiful route before. Antarctica was different, but this journey – sailing through huge mountains, moving through their valleys as if dancing – looked absolutely stunning.

The ship will stop here for two hours. This place is called Puerto Edén. This island is called Isla Wellington, named after Wellington. Just like Wellington in New Zealand is known for strong winds, it is similar here, so it is called Wellington Island.

Its latitude is 49.08° South and longitude is 74.26° West. According to the 2000 census, there were 70 females and 106 males living here. That data is 20 years old, so maybe now the population is around 200 – not much more. This civilisation is around 6,000 years old. The native inhabitants of this region still live here.

If you look from here, you can see houses built over there. That boat will go around and reach that side. If you look for the nearest road, it is around 250–300 km away. That is where they connect to the rest of the country. This village is settled among snow-covered mountains on all sides. It is truly wonderful. Honestly, there are no proper streets or roads. This is the first village or town I have seen with no roads at all.

I once showed you a village in the Netherlands that was connected by boats, but this one is connected directly to the sea. Look how many camper vans are parked here. When you look at Chile’s map, it appears like fingers, with the sea entering deep inside in many places. Many islands are formed. These are called fjords, which are naturally formed. Thousands of years ago, glaciers existed here. As they melted, rivers were formed, and eventually the sea water filled these areas. In simple words, the sea entered deep into the land, forming this region. Around 600 such sea-like lakes or fjords exist in this area.

We were supposed to reach our next stop, a place called Tortel, at 4:00 am tomorrow morning. But I do not think we will reach even by tomorrow evening because the ship is moving very slowly – the speed is not going above 7–8 knots due to bad weather. Even now, while I am talking to you, it is drizzling lightly.

Later, the cruise staff announced that the weather had improved and beautiful views were visible. Look at that – wow! Today our ship sounded its horn, and the views all around are incredible. Our ship is faster than that one; we overtook it. In front, you can see a sunken ship.

The horn was blown because there was a small shrine or statue nearby. Just like in India, when we pass a temple or religious place, we sometimes honk once as a sign of respect – our ship also did that.

In front of me, there is a very large ship tilted in the water. It was built in Chile in 1960. In 1968, it got caught in a storm. Although this area looks calm, it is not calm during storms. The ship was carrying construction material to Puerto Edén. To save himself and the crew, the captain steered it towards a shallow area so it would not sink deep into the sea. It is very beautiful and quite large – about 100 metres long. It sank here around 58 years ago and has remained ever since. The lower part has rusted and merged into the sea. Our boat circled around it from all sides. Wonderful!

After nearly 60 hours on the ferry, we finally arrived. That small town you see there is where we will stay tonight, and tomorrow we will leave from there. I will tell you the full history of this village after reaching. One good thing – the cold has reduced slightly. I can even stand outside without a cap now. It is 7:00 in the morning.

Another cyclist has arrived. We are getting off now. The police checked our passports. The whole village is built of wood. We unloaded Dhanno (my bicycle), and now we will move ahead.

There is another cyclist – a lady from Argentina. She is a doctor by profession. She has gone to check if there is a hostel available. This is the boat we came on. We will rest a bit because there was no proper sleeping arrangement on the ferry – only seats. I could not sleep properly. My back feels stiff like a stone.

In a bigger city, I will also get a haircut. It has been a long time – I last had it done in Ushuaia before going to Antarctica.

I met another traveller from Ecuador. We spent 60 hours together on neighbouring seats, talking throughout the journey. He will continue by hitchhiking or bus towards Santiago. I will go towards Santiago on my bicycle. It may take me around one to one-and-a-half months to reach Santiago. It is more than 3,000 km from here.

I have kept all my luggage inside the hostel. In the next video, I will explore this small town with you and then continue ahead.

For now, let’s end today’s video here. Stay happy, stay busy, stay joyful, and stay healthy.
Jai Hind, Jai Bharat.