We caught the bus from El Calafate into Chile, passing wild terrain like this:
We arrived in Puerto Natales in Chile, the wind hit us and buffeted us for three days.
The town has a harbour where the Navimag ferry departs from, it ploughs up the coast through the million Chilian Islands to Punto Montt. The reason there is a ferry is because there is no road. up the coast. on the mainland.
On the mainland the road stops at Villa O'Higgins, where we are heading for after visiting the famous Torres del Paine National Park.
The town of Puerto Natales is a pretty if somewhat windswept & isolated.
Looking across the channel to the mountains the light plays tricks.
Some of the buildings are very attractive.
Horses still play an important part of life down here.
Saddles were for sale in local hardware shops.
Dogs were roaming all over the place and this one thought he could help!
The next day saw us off on the bus to Torres del Paine, we were going to hike to the base of these peaks, which are called the "Towers". From a distance they looked awesome.
It is possible to stay in very expensive hotels - I mean expensive - about $500+ a night! So we opted to stay in a series of Refugios - which meant sleeping in dormitories and sharing bathrooms!
Well it was for only three nights!
The Refugios had an alpine feel to them.
And the dormitorys were not too bad.
So, we took a deep breath and convinced ourselves that we could climb up.
The start didn't look too bad - we thought!
Crossing the swing bridge was OK.
Up and up we went - 400m twisting round and round the mountain side.
The "Towers" getting nearer.
It took us 2 hours of stopping and starting and as we got to the top, look who arrived in style!
These people came from the very expensive hotel!
But we made it under our steam! Down in the valley is our next Refugio, we practically galloped down the mountain side!
Some good company was enjoyed in the evenings, and the food was excellent. It was all geared to a very high calorie intake and slow release energy foods. The lunch sandwiches probably weighed about 500gr!
After a good night's rest we were ready for the challenge to reach the Torres del Paine viewpoint.
The next morning rainbow made us feel very good.
So off we went up the valley, passing some beautiful flowers.
Walking through mountain beech forest.
Passing roaring streams
rotting trees.
waterfalls.
And all the time we going up and up - puff puff!
We knew the last bit was very steep bu this took our breath away!
Tony leapt up! The challenge!
I crawled up - very slowly with shaking legs, but had to have a photo!
But the reward was spectacular - this was the view after the very last few agonizing steps.
Granite needles pierced the sky.
Quite breathtaking. What a reward for all that effort - and another picture to prove we were there!
We stayed for about an hour watching the ever changing cloud formations and then set out down the mountain again. It had taken us three hours to climb up - it took us three hours to get down! Not so puff making, but our legs were like jelly when we got home to a very necessary cup of tea and a lie down!
in our dormitory called.
The horses were waiting for their riders to take them back down the mountain.
We stayed another night sharing our experiences with others and having our first pisco sour to celebrate.
The wind howled, but it was not cold, so the fire was not needed.
The next day we walked down the first half of the trek to catch the bus back to Puerto Natales where we hired a car and drove off to Punta Arenas, the most southerly Chilean town. Our legs stiff and cumbersome!
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