Category: Chile

We had our first experience last night of communal living. Swapping stories with a cross section (albeit mostly older travellers – relative to those sleeping in the tents that is. We got an amazing list of places we need to see on the rest of our adventure. However the night did not end so well in the communal 8 person Dome. What with the white noise being played from an iPhone (sounded like a cistern filling) and the snoring, it was a terrible night sleep. 

We got away early at 8am so we were waking in pretty poor light. Dropped off one bag at the Italian Refugio and then headed to the Brittanico Lookout Point. 20 minutes in we got to see at least 4 avalanches high up in the mountains.  Pretty cool. 

Once again walk was 800m longer than expected, including a brutal 50 climb at the end. It was worth it thoug at the views of Paine Grande, Castillo and Catedral was amazing

The 13km walk to our hotel for the night – the Paine Grand Refugio – was relatively easy. Part of the trip was through a portion of the park that was burnt in a fire back in 2011. 83,000 acres were badly burnt – the dead trees make for an interesting landscape. 

Deryn and I were both feeling the effects of 60km of hard trekking over the 3 days.  It’s forecast for snow tomorrow so we’re not heading up to the glacier and will get back into Puerto Natales mid-afternoon rather than 10pm at night. We’re both relieved!!

Not so an early start this am. We headed away at 9 for our 5 hour 13.5 hr hike to Doma Frances. Typically Deryn and I took the wrong track and ended up following the horse trail for the first 5km. Meant our 13.5 km hike turned into a 17.7km hike. 

We walked along the edge of the Norsdenkjold Lake most of the way with incredible views of Los Cuernos, the lake and some high altitude hanging glaciers. 

It took us a bit longer than expected due to our early misstep so we were glad to finally arrive at our domo at around 3.  The domes are basic but a plank of wood would be fine. 

This blog starts with a lesson. If the time on your iPhone and iPad has not changed due to the end of daylight saving, then the time has not changed. We turned up to our 230pm bus to Torres del Paine, only to be told it left an hour ago at 230pm. $200 later and we had our own vehicle for the 2 hour drive our hotel Hotel Las Torres. The hotel room was a free upgrade from the shared Refugio we were meant to be staying in. It was luxurious.  

Early breakfast next morning and away on our trek by 8am. It was barely light and cold. The weather gods were on our side however and it wasn’t long before we were peeling off layers under the warmth of a stunning day. It was was great watching the colours of the mountain change with the light. 

We made pretty good time to the first stop at the Chileno Montain Refuge, a really cool campground the heart of a beautiful beech forest. It was basically a climb from there for the next 2 hours, at times quite challenging through a very rocky trail. We arrived at the Las Torres Base Lookout Point just before midday. The view of the lake and Los Torres de Granite was spectacular. Mind blowing to think people climb the towers. Torre Sur is the highest at 2850m. 

We spent a leisurely hour enjoying the view and having some lunch before heading back to our hotel. We were both buggered by the time we crawled onto our beds for a well earned rest. 20km and 7.35 hours of waking does that. 

We spent the day wandering around Puerto Natales, reading and generally chilling.

Had a great feed at Cafe Artimaña- although we were surprised at the 55,000 peso bill ($120). The two double whiskeys didn’t help (bought a decent 750ml bottle in the supermarket for $25). I won 4 cribbage games on the trot to take it to 6 each.

The dogs again were very cool. Deryn and I chased the dood below several times over the course of the day trying to get a photo. He looked like a lion.

We are staying in a lovely little hotel called Toore Patagonia https://www.toorepatagonia.com/en-gb.  

We spent a very lazy day wandering around the town.  The town was bigger than we expected and we found some useful stores – a shop to buy a portable speaker and a supermarket in which we bought supplies for dinner and breakfast. First home cooked meal in a week.

It was a cold, cloudy and windy day but occasionally when the clouds broke we could see the snowy mountains in the distance, hinting at the beauty to come.

Our 5 day W trek starts tomorrow. 

We headed out early evening to go have dinner at the Nam en el Cerro Santa Lucia –  a festival of produce from around Chile. And also to see the sun set from the Castillo Hidalgo at the peak of the hill.

The produce was amazing and the view of Santiago spectacular. It was fun exploring the nooks and crannies at the peak. We bought some free range eggs from a local who had spent 2 years on a dairy farm in Geraldine . 

We grabbed an Uber to the airport the following morning and found out on route that Ubers are not allowed at the airport. 10 minutes of Google translate and a friend on the drivers phone resulted in us agreeing we were familia and would be discrete in the payment of cash (Uber would not work)

After a 3.15 flight, we landed in Punta Arena (53.10 Deg South) – the most southern part of our journey – or in fact as far south either of us have ever been 

We decided to walk the 5km down Catedral to the Museum of Memory and Human Rights.  The first couple of km’s took us through the main shopping precinct before crossing over the Autopista Central and into the grungy part of town.

We were walking through a part of town that had certainly had better days.  However the former glory was still evident in quality of the buildings, although today the graffiti was competing for attention. 

The Museum itself was confronting, particularly when you think that the military regime only ended in 1989

And to finish – another photo of these crazy Santiago dogs…

We got the first lesson of our travels before we even left Sydney. You cannot enter Chile without a ticket out of the place. So $42 later 2 bus tickets were purchased taking us from Puerto Natales to El Calafete in Argentina.

We (I) coped ok with the overnight to Santiago in the back of the plane and before we knew it we were in out little apartment in the heart of old Santiago.

We spent the afternoon exploring San Cristóbal Hill – a funicular to the top followed by a teleferico from one end to the other.  A great way to get view across the whole of Santiago. A bit of a shame that the pollution prevented us from seeing the distant mountains.  Also the statue of the Virgin Mary was spoiled by being surrounded by radio masts.

The next morning we explored our local area, visiting the main Santiago Cathedral (worth a visit) and also the Pre-Columbian Museum.  

Some highlights / observations to date:

1. the local Cathedral has confession on tap with 6 stalls inhabited by priests ready to hear your sins.  A red light indicated god is ready
2. the dogs in this city are very independent and take a deep sleep wherever it suits – often in the middle of busy walkways listening. 
3. Chile will not win a gold at basketball
4. It’s not as cheap as we thought it would be.  Coffee and meals are not far off what it costs in Aus.