Blogs from Torres del Paine, Magallanes, Chile, South America - page 39

Realised it has been quite some time since I last update this blog. Have been busy trekking and trekking in Torres Del Paine (Chile) and El Chalten (Argentina). Crossed over to Chile after Ushuaia and did some trekking at Torres Del Paine. It is a spectacular national park in southern Patagonia, famous for its granite peaks, snow clad mountains and glacier-fed lakes. Did a 5 days ¨W´circuit trek. Had to carry our own tents, stove, pots and 5 days of food ration. The weather has been pretty bad for the past week and some travellers returned from the park without completing the circuit due to bad weather. Kinda worrying. Even on the night before our departure, the wind was howling throughout the night. Argh... Am wondering how to survive camping with this rain and wind? But ... read more

Well we ventured into yet another country, and even further south to accomplish what we are not even sure we are trying to accomplish. We crossed into Chile someplace (no idea where really but it would have been in between El Calafete and Puerto Natales) and made our way successfully through customs and immigration even though we carried a delicious medley of animal products that were entirely against regulations but didn´t bother any of the border officials any. Cheese, meats and honey which were all strictly forbidden turned out to be no issue whatsoever, which was great because we did not want to consume 6 days worth of groceries in the lineup at the border crossing. Apparently it is fine to bring these things across the border when they are stowed beneath the bus. Regardless, we ... read more

After another long bus trip and painfully negotiating the border crossing between Argentina and Chile, where there seems to be a complete lack of staff actually doing any work, we arrived in Puerto Natales. A rather forgetable town that's used as a launching pad for treks into Torres del Paine National Park. Nikki, the Canadian trolley dolly, and I planned on trekking together in Torres del Paine for four days. We conducted sacrifices and prostrated to the weather gods but they appeared to have ignored our pleas for good weather. Once again, it was pouring down with rain and bloody cold. This was yet another place where many travellers we had talked to had trekked for 4 - 8 days in the cold and rain without seeing the crown jewels, the Torres. So far, the omens ... read more

The Pingo Valley We left Puerto Natales early in the morning ($10000p rtn) for the 2hr bus ride to the Park entrance, Guarderia Laguna Amarga. Here we paid the $10000p entrance fee, received our little map and sent one of our food boxes to Juan Carlos at Refugio Las Torres on the transfer bus for $1000p (we packed a couple of food boxes so we could restock as we went around the circuit). Back on the bus and we continued to Administration where we departed and dropped off another food box in the office. We missed the tranfer bus to Hosteria Lago Grey ($7000p) so started walking up the road into a cold gale force headwind. After about 30min and several tourist vans spraying us with dust, a very kind couple from the USA gave us ... read more

Day 29 - Friday 3rd March The Facts: Travel from El Calafate to Puerto Natales The longer version: Early start and we were on the bus to Chile. A great ride across the grassy slopes of the Patagonian Steppe. We encountered many Nandu (Andean Ostriches) though we aren’t sure whey the bus driver stopped from time to time, no announcements were made. We survived some more border crossings with Roger getting smiles from the guards. Not sure if it was the beard that wasn’t on the passport photo, or the special Antarctica stamps in his passport. Puerto Natales had much better trekking food, but we spent along time looking for Methylated Spirits. In South America it is Alcohol pronounced Alkol and is purchased at Chemists! Day 30 - Saturday 4th March The Facts: To Torres ... read more