Day 20 - 26: Puerto Natales and Torres Del Paine

September 2 - 7, 2015

Torres del Paine National Park

The bus companies all advertise 4.5hrs but it actually takes 6 from El Calafate (ARG) to Puerto Natales (CHL) through some unfriendly customs and inconsiderate people. There are 2 towns that lead to Torres del Paine (TDP): Puerto Natales for people like us coming overland from Argentina and Puntas Arenas in Chile which has an airport. Having heard rave reviews about the legendary W trek with its challenging terrain and climate, Leann was convinced the pain would be worth it.

We booked with Patagonia Adventure Hostel, but was told that it was closed for renovations. Owner Jorge suggested Hostal Rogers which was 2 mins further on the same street, and promised the same price and same conditions. It was a cosy old house, few rooms and was pretty cold at night. The owner was an unfriendly old man who only spoke Spanish, quoted us a higher price, and provided the worst breakfast we ever had (bread that was cold and hard and hot water for tea). The only good was that laundry wasn't too expensive after we came back from TDP. It was a 15 min walk from the bus station. After checking in, we went back to Jorge who advised that we could try the Torres and French Valley and also rented us what we required for our 4d trek. We paid CLP15,000/day for: - 1 tent - 2 sleeping bags - 2 sleeping mats - 1 cooking set - 1 pair of trekking poles - 1 pair of waterproof pants - 1 theros - 1 gas canister (additional CLP3,000) He also organised for us the return bus tickets which cost CLP30000pp. After getting more money and all our supplies for the trek at a supermarket, we had dinner at a recommended restaurant by Jorge. Cafe Antimana is a cool new restaurant which had interesting furniture and decor using recycled furniture: kettles as lamps, doors repainted and refitted to become tables, etc. Service and food were really excellent. They also had an interesting variety of coffee as well. We had: Tabla podre (stir fried meat) and bombazo cancato (salmon onion chorizo cherry tomatoes, cheese)

DAY 1

We set off in the early morning after some really bad breakfast, on a tour bus that would drop us at our supposed entry point. The rest of the people on the bus were just having the full day Torres del Paine tour, while we were the only ones looking to trek in the park. We were told that we will follow the tour and stop at designated points for the guide to explain the area and photo-taking before we arrived at the park entrance. Although the tour was in Spanish, we were fine with the various stops such that we could see the other parts of the beautiful park. However, the twists and turns did make Leann rather sick, so she stayed in the bus while Vik took photos whenever they stopped.

Torres del Paine looked much better from far

Shepherd with his lambs

When we arrived at the park entrance at Laguna, we were told by the park ranger that we should not enter from there as the route to Mirador Torres was closed due to snow. The guide then suggested that we hike in from the other office at Administracion Conaf, and do a “Y” instead, staying at Refugio Paine Grande for all 3 nights. We complied and made the immediate change of plans.

After registering at the office, we were dropped off with a little help from the bus to find the orange sticks that represented the trekking trail.

The grass showed you how strong the wind was

The hike was a good 5.5 hours on undulating terrain against strong winds of up to 85km/hr that day. Considering our load of almost 15kg each, Vik was glad Leann was able to make it through to reach Refugio Paine Grande before sunset, although she almost broke down, no thanks to the inaccurate distance markers along the way. After a gruelling hike, Vik made the decision to take the dorm beds (12000 CLP) instead of setting up the tent in the dark (5000CLP).

Nothing like a human wind breaker

And the struggling wife who kinda hates trekking

The bloody inaccurate signs that made it worse

We had dinner after a quick shower and met French trekking enthusiast Benjamin, the only person who arrived the day before us. He was also on a long trip, and enjoys the low season of trekking when he has the trails and views to himself. He gave us really good tips and we repaid him with a piece of Bak Kwa.

DAY 2

Based on the weather forecast, we knew this was the only good day for our trek, and we initially wanted to do the French Valley. However, after considering it would be a 10 + hour return journey, and that we still needed to set up camp, we opted to do the Lago Grey leg.

Glacier Grey

The day was indeed pretty good and sunny, but the winds were stronger than ever at 110km/hr. There was this pass that channelled the winds such that we almost couldn’t move forward. 4 hours later, we still haven’t arrived at our destination and decided to head back in order to have time to set up camp.

Lunch was toasts with canned tuna. Yums!

On the way back, we met humorous and chirpy Taiwanese girls Mandy and Jing Chun (finally some Chinese speaking people), whose positivity rubbed off on us. With the winds aiding our return (which was actually rather unsafe at certain points), we took 2.5 hours to reach back and had a comfortable amount of time to set up our tent. We spent the rest of the evening chilling out near the fireplace in the warm common room, before heading out to sleep in the noisy and chilling cold wind.

The tent that protected us (though not much) from the strong wind and rain for 2 nights

DAY 3

We left just before day break for the French valley with the Taiwanese girls, but with the anticipation of poor weather. As the sun came up, the surroundings stayed foggy and gloomy, so we pretty much knew that there wasn’t much hope to see anything up in the mountains. Still, we marched on, and got to witness some beautiful scenery, crossing a lake where mini tornadoes were formed by crossing winds. We also continued to walk past the misleading distance markers, which were cursed on by us. 2.5 hrs later, we arrived at Campamento Italiano where we took a break, and made the decision to turn back.

Chilling out with our new friends from Taiwan - Jing Chun (next to Vik) & Mandy (next to Leann)

The decision was met with much appreciation as the ladies wanted to have their shower before anyone else came back (the crowds were starting to come in). So we did arrive back early, took our showers, and camped by the fire place to play cards and chill out for the rest of the afternoon! We also cooked whatever we had left for dinner and shared them with the Taiwanese girls, who till that moment were eating biscuits, cereal bars and canned food, and haven’t had hot food in 3 days!

DAY 4

The best weather was reserved for the last day on our way back to administracion. With everything on our backs, we set off once again on the 6 hour hike so as to reach the park office by the scheduled time of 1pm. Glorious sunrise mocked at us, laughing at our failure to plan better, and the mountains seemed happy to send us off with endless gusts of strong winds which threw us off more than it gave us a boost.

Glad to have had at least a day of good rest, we marched at a constant speed and finally arrived after 5 hours, with 30 mins to spare. Little did we know we had to nervously wait for another 4 hours before our bus finally came.

We climbed into a full bus, and knocked out for the ride back despite the discomfort. It was not before long when we returned our equipment, repacked our bags, had dinner again at Café Antimana, and then slept early in preparation for the long bus rides ahead of us to reach Bariloche!