an The shuttle bus from Las Torres dropped us, and loads of other hikers, off at the Lago Amargo entrance to the National Park where we clambered aboard a bus for Puerto Natales, about a two hour journey. As we journeyed south the clouds began to gather and the wind to blow and we realised we had been so very lucky with the three brilliant days of sunshine we'd had at Torres del Paine. Puerto Natales looked an interesting little town as we were dropped off in the main square at about 5pm. E was now suffering the aftermath of too much exercise over the past couple of days so we had to look for accommodation nearby. After checking out a couple places he came back to where M was guarding our bags in the increasingly cold and windy square to announce he'd found a room. Hostal Cumbre was a strange sort of place - its exterior was peeling and crumbling and its interior was like an old body's home and full of clutter. It fact it was the home of a cheery elderly woman and her family - it was clean, warm and comfortable and she made her own wonderful bread rolls for breakfast. She even got up much earlier than normal to make our breakfast so we could catch the very early morning bus to Ushuaia.Once we'd settled in we went out to book the aforementioned bus and found only one company (Pullman Bus Sur) that provided a connecting service from Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas then on to Ushuaia. We also popped into an internet cafe where we booked flights from Quito to Toronto - one of the main legs of our journey home in January. Just before leaving Torres del Paine we'd heard that our Antarctic ship hadn't sailed on any of its voyages this season. We therefore phoned the company and to find out what was happening and they confirmed that there was a technical problem and we'd be sent emails with updates. We therefore needed to find out the latest position. There was a possibility that we might be offered a different sailing so it was to our benefit to be in Ushuaia as soon as possible. Later, in a bar on the square over a glass or three of delicious locally made beer we met a young woman who had been on our bus from Rio Gallegos. She was going on her own exciting journey - catching a ship north through the Chilean fjords to Puerto Montt. Interestingly she had been on the Exodus, the ship which sank last year in the Antarctic, but thankfully on the sailing before the sinking. This was the same ship that Keith and Karen were supposed to be on last January, and at this moment they are on their Antarctic trip on the Polar Star. We had a lovely meal in Angelica's and then off to bed for an early start the following day. We would have liked to have spent more time in Puerto Natales which is in a lovely setting and has a bit of character about it - maybe we will one day. E & M xxx