On New Year's Eve, we took 2 buses (11 hours in total) from El Calafate, Argentina to Punta Arenas, Chile. It was a long ride. Since B often gets motion sickness on planes, cars, and boats, our friend from Phoenix (Dr. J) recommended dramamine and she went to the pharmacy in El Calafate to help me get some. As recommended, we gave B 1/2 a pill every 6-8 hours. It knocked him out and he didn't get sick. He slept for much of the trip. A possible side effect was that he later got a bit wild and crazy (or maybe it was all the sleep or the desire to make his brother laugh).
Punta Arenas had graffiti (as seen on this bus stop). It also had homeless/drunk people laying on the ground asleep during the day. I don't remember seeing such people in El Calafate or El Chaltén. I think those places were so focused on tourism that the towns kept such occurrences out of places where tourists visited. Punta Arenas, in contrast, did not focus solely on tourism like those places. It is a larger city with more history.
Happy New Year's Eve! We wanted to eat dinner at this restaurant (La Marmita) but it was full. It was hard to find a restaurant - a problem that we faced almost all weekend. Punta Arenas does not revolve solely around tourism, and so many restaurants were closed for 12/31, 1/31 and on Sunday. We made reservations at La Marmita for the following night.
Happy New Year's Eve! The boys had pizza, John had pasta with lamb sauce, and I had pasta with smoked salmon. Patagonia is known for lamb (cordero) and Chile is known for seafood (Argentines prefer beef to fish). After eating, we were a lot less grumpy. A nice Chilean family on vacation from Santiago took the photo. We had an enjoyable conversation with them. The boys connected over fĂștbol and video games. Cheers!