Torres Del Paine without the pain

The route to the park takes about 3 hrs and it is so impressive as you draw ever closer to the famous peaks especially when a minty blue lake sprawls out between you and them. It’s not long before you leave tarmac and have 100km of rough road which is not too bad. At one photo stop Andrew declared he must get onto the back of the pick up so I took some pics of him up there looking all macho fighting the wind to stay upright, then had a go myself. Nothing to write home about except the ridiculousness of it. On the way we saw a lone guanaco to our left, then a lone rhea, and then a sheep. It was like an open air zoo or animal bus stops. Many guanacos then followed all over the place. We were not too worried time wise about getting to the Hosteria Las Torres as it does not get dark until well after 9pm. Entrance fee to the park is 15,000 each and I was amused by the mate ritual going on between the park rangers. So it is not just the Argentines that do it.

What we would have been worried about had we known about it was the narrowest bridge ever to cross to get to our Hosteria. No wonder the pick up truck was reversing off it when we arrived. We bravely went on as we weren’t going to walk the 7.5km to our bed for the night. There was a couple of inches either side and we discovered how much the wheel arches stuck out when we grazed them. Oops! The road on the other side of the river is a massive privately owned area and the private road is seriously potholed. At one point we had to engage 4WD to climb a steep incline. Each time we do that rough road it feels to get longer and we feel so relieved to be at the end of it having been shaken to buggery.

Hosteria Las Torres has a camping ground, some refugios and offers trips too. It was bathed in sunshine and looked like a veritable ranch version of paradise with its red painted buildings hugging the base of the mountains and horses out to pasture dotted around amid happy hikers. It’s a very nice simple design and our superior room had fantastic views of the mountains as did the living room areas along the hall ways complete with plush sofas and a piano. No idea why the guidebook said the rooms didn’t have a view. It doesn’t get much better than this i.e. waking up to the Torres (towers). At 7pm they had a talk about what trips they offer and then the guides stayed around to make bookings or answer questions to help you do the treks alone.

As it has been hotter than usual with less wind mosquitos are now a problem and with a thin ozone over this part of the world, sun cream is essential as is insect repellent. I had factor 15 on and we were only properly out (bar photo opportunities) for 2 hrs and have come back looking a little colourful. Andrew more so as he only had factor 8 on. Strange thing was we didn’t really see any sun today - so we thought. To be ready for 4 seasons in one day you need water proof gear, wind proof gear, hot weather gear and cold weather gear. Stick that in your back pack and smoke it!

A lot of people hike the W or the circuit. We didn’t obviously! We chose to do a half day trip which would have cost 45,000 each as part of a group. We drove over to the large waterfall (Salto Grande) which had phenomenal power with tons of spray. Everyone was ignoring the don’t pass this point sign to get a good shot and I was fearful of kamikaze Andrew as it was jolly blustery. En route we stopped off to get some great views from Mirador del Nordenskjold. Before that we found a point which we got very excited about as you could see across at what we think is Glacier Frances. At the Mirador there were a couple of foxes practically posing for photos. I said “Oh no, that one under the bush is dead. Maybe that’s why the other one is hanging around”. Andrew put me straight “No, it is just sleeping Marta”. The young foxes were chasing each other like crazy around the bushes which was so cute to watch.

From the waterfall we walked the 1 hour through scrub to Mirador Cuernos which looks across Lake Nordenskjold to the Horns (Cuernos) and into the French Valley. We ate our lunch there listening to the rumblings of avalanches from the French valley which happen regularly. We were lucky enough to hear 4. We were both bored of walking at the end (I know – we’re lightweights) so drove back choosing to catch up with all this blogging instead.

At the café in the Hosteria Las Torres (very nice waitress) it is quite pricey at 23,400 for 2 hearty sandwiches, salad of the day (actually the same every day) a beer and large bottle of water. However it costs that much just for one person to eat at the buffet (US$49) in the main restaurant which didn’t look so great. Lunch was not going to be trivial so we followed advice and pilfered some extra items at the breakfast buffet. It really does cost heaps to stay and eat in TDF. A large bottle of water was 3,800 from the hotel café but only 750 back in Puerto Natales town which is meant to be a pricey place as it is because of its remoteness. On this, our second and last evening, I met some Polish hikers in search of a bar. That figures.

Andrew is lying in bed laughing to himself remembering the pigeon English confused conversation he overheard while we were at reception checking email this morning…

Visitor: I have 10 guys outside

Receptionist excitedly: Gliders?

Visitor: No, guys. Can we get some water please?

Receptionist: You can fill your water bottles over there at the house.

Visitor: The house? Where?

Receptionist: The house by the smoke stack.

Visitor: I don’t see a house.

Receptionist: Not a house. Hose!