Blogs from Torres del Paine, Magallanes, Chile, South America - page 38

Today was a luxury - an entire day without carrying our tent. We set off at 7am to give ourselves a fighting chance of making breakfast at Refugio Chileno, a couple of hours walk up the mountain. We struck lucky - just - which meant the stove and 2 cup-a-noodles thankfully remained in Ed's bag. Breakfast was actually amazing, in particular the porridge. Next was a steep hour or 2 up to a high altitude campsite. We bumped into our friends from the boat, Eddie and Sally, who had camped a couple of snowy nights up there. At the campsite is a cosy little (6 people max) shelter made of wood and polythene with an open fire. We sat there contemplating the final part up to the base of the towers, as in whether to ... read more

Today's objective was the middle part of the 'W' shape. We reached Camp Italiano (someone with a sense of humour naming these campsites!) after a couple of hours, including a crossing of a whitewater river on a bridge made of wooden planks and steel cables that made us think of a bridge enthusiasts' magazine with a 'collect the free gifts - after 12 issues you can build your own bridge' slogan. Rather than struggle with our packs up to the enticingly-named Camp Britanico, we pitched our tent at the bottom of the trail and only took what we needed. Unfortunately this is still quite a lot as the weather is so unpredictable - warm enough for shorts one minute and then hypothermia-threatening half an hour later. As we climbed the particularly steep 'path' the weather ... read more

Our next stop on the cold road south was Puerto Natales, not a particularly attractive town aesthetically but attractive as a base camp for our trek around Torres Del Paine National Park. We arrived late Sunday afternoon and after the disappointment of 2 full hostels we found a little place on the edge of town. The landlady was most helpful in advising us where we could hire all the necessary things for our trek but her missing teeth and moustache were a little off putting. Our trek was to last 5 days/nights at a maximum of 1000m above sea level and a minimum of minus 15 degrees c. Our only night time shelter was our tent so we had to be reasonably well prepared. In total we would walk almost 90 kilometres, not a great distance ... read more

Torres del Paine in de herfst; een voltreffer Geweldige natuurpracht en een zalig herfstweertje hebben ons 6 opeenvolgende dagen voldoening geschonken! Blauwe luchten, een zon die priemde door het gat in de ozonlaag, de meest fotogenieke wolkenpartijen en af en toe een stevig "briesje" zijn allemaal de revue gepasseerd. Drie seizoenen in zes dagen, enkel koning winter ontbrak en hield zich schuil hoog in de bergen, terwijl hij de toppen van een laagje sneeuw voorzag. ... read more

Worst bus ride so far!!! Started my journey from Ushuaia on a dinky bus to Rio Grande, the roof leaked so most seats were soaked. So a very cold, damp 3 hours ride. We boarded the large bus for the rest of the journey but this had so little leg room I could not recline my seat! After border formalities, on the bus, off the bus etc etc we continued our journey north. One bloke decided he was warm and tried to adjust the ceiling vent, a large click and the food conductor ran to his aid, he turned out to be wimpier than the passenger and the whole vent flew away. We had to reverse about a mile to find the vent and spend over half an hour re-attaching it to the bus! I was ... read more