With some negotiation on free mileage (250km vs. 200km), we got a car for 250ARP.
Let me introduce the driver as Mr. FA, for F*cking As*hole. In his late/mid 30s, I honestly think he was more of a lost cause in life than myself. Coming from me, that says something.
Anyways, the 5 of us hopped in the car and headed towards the trees. Very slow going with many photo stops – typical Japanese behavior. The scenery was nice and peaceful, no doubt, but it seemed very...northwestern US. Hehe.
It took us about 2 hours to get to the trees. You might be wondering why all this excitement about trees. Well, they look pretty cool because they've been hammered by the wind and are quite deformed, leaning at awkward angles.Pretending to be blown away by the wind like the trees is common Japanese tourist behavior as well. Cheesy, I know, but fun. Jump off or hold on to the tree to get the windswept look. Sounds easy, but difficult in action. Just can't get the angle right! Here's my horrible attempt...I wasn't able to manage jumping off sideways. Argh.
Mr. FA then got this brilliant idea to do a group blown-away shot. Fine.
He wanted to use my camera because it was the only one able to do multi-frame shots on self timer. Fine.
We were at it for TWO frickin' hours. NOT fine.
Seriously. It was constant jumping and rolling. One attempt after another to get the perfect shot. It ain't easy to coordinate the timing with 5 people. I got so bored after a while that I offered to do camera duty. And he proceeded to snidely comment that "people who can't have fun while doing this don't know what fun is." The heck?! Waru was mature though, no confrontation.
When the jumping was done, one of the guys made coffee for all of us with his camping gear. Awesome!!!
On our way back to Ushuaia, we stopped by the shore and picked up a bagful of mussels. We were all thinking steamed mussels for dinner. But Grandma Ueno told us that we shouldn't be eating mussels during the summer season (bacteria in the warmer ocean waters). To the garbage, the mussels went.
Instead, Kaori and I cooked up some pasta with fresh tomato sauce for the group. Mr. FA included.
Later in the evening, the group decided to head towards Tierra del Fuego National Park. We had the car until the following morning with enough free miles still, and entry to the park was free after 6pm. So, why not?! I was tired and wasn't really in the mood, but ended up tagging along for the sake of seeing the park.
Big mistake.
First, the guys wanted to get some food and drinks at the supermarket. They didn't come back for at least an hour. By the time we reached the park, it was around 9pm. Sigh.
Second, Mr. FA wanted to try his hands at high speed driving in the park. And sliding techniques. Sigh.
Third, Mr. FA (being the eldest) got to choose the food. We had talked about doing some sort of a BBQ at the park, but he bought a WHOLE CHICKEN. Apparently, it was a HUUUUGE novelty to him, and he HAAAAAD to buy it. He even bought these metal poles to use for the process. None of us knew how much they cost, but we had to chip in nonetheless. Sigh.
Fourth, cooking whole chicken can take a long time. At least 2 hours. It was past midnight when we finally got to devour the bird. Mmmm...delicious!!! But one yummy bird wasn't enough to keep me happy... By then, I was tired and cold. I wanted to go back to the hostel. Kaori too. We thought about hitching a ride from someone, but who would be driving in the park in the middle of the night?! Sigh.
Fifth, Mr. FA was the driver. DRUNK. He wasn't willing to leave until all the purchased alcohol was consumed. That was like 5 bottles of wine, a whiskey, and a can of beer each. Sigh.
So...it was decided that we would stay at the park until 5am when the sun rose. That had to be the deadline anyways, since one of the guys had a bus to catch at 7am. The guys were so loud throughout the night, I felt bad for the campers sleeping across the river from us. Sometimes, Japanese backpackers can be SOOOO rowdy as a group. Sort of like the Israelis...
Mr. FA was not even close to sober when we left the park, and yet he was the only one who could drive that car. Out of the blue, Mr. FA directed his attention to me and Kaori, and said "we're not going anywhere unless you two promise to stay awake." What the heck!!!
We were all tired and would rather sleep through the ride. Hey, who'd want to see themselves slamming into a tree or some oncoming headlight, right?! But true, we drank much less than the guys; we agreed to stay awake. But then, he kept insisting that we "PROMISE"!!!! "I need to hear you say that you PROMISE." Are we in kindergarten or what?!
Obviously, we made it safely back to town. Where Mr. FA proceeded to piss me off even more.
Mr. FA offered to give the other guy a ride to the bus station. But he demanded that we come along, too. WHY????? By then, I've had enough of this retard. I chose to completely ignore him and went to bed : ) He called me irresponsible. Great.
Sleep was only for a few hours, though, since we had to return the car on time. This time, Kaori and I went with Mr. FA to the gas station and rental agency. Since we rented the thing together, we should return it together.
Another blow up!!! When we went to Tierra del Fuego last night, another guy joined us at the last minute – the one who left on the bus this morning. He didn't have enough time to pay us for the rental & gas, but Mr. FA offered to pick up his tab since they would likely be meeting elsewhere on the road. Guess what happened?! Mr. FA refused to pay. I couldn't believe it...
Once the car was officially returned to the agency, we went our separate ways without saying a single word. I hope to never see that guy again!
Kaori and I spent the rest of day chilling in town. Had calafate flavored ice-cream (type of berry in this region) and café food. We deserved it after all that craziness in the last 24 hours!
Oh, I also had to make a trip to the pharmacy; my rashes were back : (
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