RGEagle

The catamaran from Refugio Paine Grande leaves at 1230 so we made an 0800 pre dawn departure from Ref. Grey this morning. In the gloomy light head torches were necesary to negotiate the initial rocky upward trail. After a couple of hours we caught up with the 2 American girls who had left even earlier than us. Jon caught a snippet of their conversation which was apparently an intense discussion/debate on plant biology in the Torres region. On sharing this with us we all pondered on how this compared with our own conversations over the last few days. Certainly the 3 of us have also had some searching and insightful discussions during our trekking days. Such curiosities we have pitched to each other include 'what's the difference between a puddle and a lake?' and 'when does ... read more

After a quick check outside, Marty returned to our dorm early this morning to deliver the excellent news that the skies were crystal clear and it looked as if we had hit the jackpot with the best weather day for the longest and most scenic walk of the whole trek. Today´s trek would take us upwards into the French Valley where spectacular mountain views along with Autunm colours in the forest would be encountered. It soon became apparent that the clear skies overnight had resulted in a nasty layer of ice forming on a large section of rock & boulder whic we needed to cross. With caution we got through this ok and were rewarded with spectacular views of Cerro Paine Grande across the valley to our left. We saw at first hand 2 massive avalanches ... read more

I think one of our fellow Fantastico Sur customers has gone mental on Tomato Fettucine and made a break for the main hotel restaurant. This morning we found a table barricade between us and the hotel breakfast buffet area. Refugio customers dining with high yielding Hosteria customers is clearly a very undesirable scenario. Today we took on the demanding hike to the Mirrador (or viewpoint) Las Torres. The Torres (or Towers) of Paine stand at 3400m and were first climbed by Chris Bonington in 1963. The weather today has been overcast with several short showers which somewhat diminished the views on the approach. It took 4 hours to reach Campamento Torres which sits at the base of a very steep bolder strewn slope to the Mirrador. Marco then surged ahead leaving me trailing way behind. Jon ... read more

After connecting in Madrid and Santiago we finally arrived at Punta Arenas airport around 6pm on Sunday evening. With over 30 hours travelled we were now only a 3 hour drive from our first overnight stop in Puerto Natales the gateway to Torres Del Paine National Park. Marco met us at the airport as planned having travelled a day earlier. He had enjoyed 24 hours in Punta Arenas where conditions were wet and windy. Indeed Marco's last text message gave me and Jon some idea of what to expect, 'Mate, it's cold it's wet their's no one around, it's like the Falkland Islands here'. Our accomodation at Erratic Rock 2 is clean and comfortable. It's now 2200 and afte a quick repack we'll get some sleep and be ready for the 0730 bus into the National ... read more

First class travel on Indian Railways is the way forward. Air conditioning, a dedicated door locakable compartment, bedsheets, blankets and a full 6 and a half foot sleeping couch. You are also excused from the traditional Indian scrumage when boarding and alighting. Mcleod Ganj is an interesting place, positioned at an altitude of 1800m in the Indian Himalayan foothills it brings much welcome cooler conditions. In 1949 China invaded Tibet, 1.2 million Tibetans were killed in the ensuing battle and resistance campaign. Ten years later it was no longer considered safe for the 14th Delai Lama to remain in Chinese occupied Tibet. He fled over the mountains to Northern India and settled in Dharamasala (a few kilometers from Mcleod) where the Tibetan government in exile is now located. Fleeing Tibetans made Dharamasala and Mcleod Ganj their ... read more