"Chile - Patagonia" Chile by Josilver

The next morning we boarded the bus for Puerto Natales and discovered the wonders of the Chilean/Argentinean border. The bus ride wasnt too painful, but the Argentinean border took 90mins. We had to line up to get stamped through. The bus then needed to be searched . After crossing through the borders, we arrived in Puerto Natales about 3pm. We had another late lunch at Don Jorges restaurant (very big on meat here and the guy was stringing up the lamb carcass for the dinner rush). After lunch/dinner we then went back to Hotel Blanquitas and then to the Antares office to find out what was going on for the next 3 days. We met Carrie our guide, and found out the next day was going to be tough. We went back to pack our allowed 6kg of luggage (inc sleeping bag) before going to bed as our start the next day was at 8am. Our excursion to Torres del Paine was the highlight of the patagonia trip. The walking wasnt as hard as we had been told ( either that or I had finally gotten my trekking mojo back) this was actually my kind of fun. The first hour of the 19km trek was all up hill. We walked along a river through the forest over rivers where the bridge consisted of a slippery log. the final part was the bit we had been told was the toughest of the whole trip was actually the best fun ive had the whole trip. It consisted of 50minutes staight up climbing over giant boulders After 50 minutes climbimg ( Matt did it in about 22 minutes) we reached the edge of the glacial lake, even though the cloud obscured the view of the towers it was still very spectacular. I brought out my Caramelo Koalas that I had lugged all the way from Australia to share. We then began the descent. Both of us managed to slip and scrape our knees. We have spectacular bruises to prove it. The rest of the walk down was quite pleasant and we arrived to our base camp. I have never had a camping experience like this one. The tents were already pitched, and we had this orange dome as our mess. Awaiting us were pisco sours, beer, wine, and a 3 course meal all served to us. After dinner we had a campfire and mulled wine (red wine with orange slices, heated on the fire). It was 5 star camping at its best. It actually wasnt too cold, so we definately came over prepared for that. Sadly, the dome did not come with us for the next night.

The next day we got on the bus and drove 90 minutes around the lakes ( with a stop to walk to a waterfall in the middle, it was so windy we couldnt stand up straight and the wind blew Matts sunglasses off his head) we then had luch and carried our backpacks, 6kg duffle bags and sleeping mats to the ferry for the 45 minute journey to our campsite next to the glacier. We had to build our own tents ( yes, Jayne and I can pitch a tent) then we went on a short 15 minute walk to the view point near the edge of the glacier at about 5pm, the sun was shining down on the rocks making them all warm, Jayne, Matt, Andrew and myself spent over anhour just basking in the sun watching the glacier and observing the icebergs floating past. NOW THIS IS RELAXATION AT ITS BEST!!!!. We returned for dinner in the refugio at the camp, as we ate in a building at a table we said that this still wasnt proper camping. We went down to the waters edge to sit and look at the icebergs. Andrew challenged Matt to a dare...they would both go into the water up to their knees. This water was about 2 degrees with icebergs floating in it. The pained looks we witnessed were captured on camera. The water was not only cold, but they had to dodge the ice which was sharp, and the rocks. But the lighting wasnt quite right in the pictures for Andrew and so he decided to do it again at the correct angle (is this a sign of stupidity??). We decided to have an early night as we had to get up up 5:30am to take down our tents and to begin the trek out. The first half was up hill but the second was either flat or downhill, jo could have jogged it easily , but Jaynes ankles were giving her grief and we had to keep up with Beryl. We got to the boat in just over 3 hours ( instead of the predicted 4) and all stopped and let Beryl arrive first. We took the catarmaran for 30mins, and then got in the bus for lunch and the ride back to Puerto Natales. We didnt have much time before having to leave on the bus to Punta Arenas, so we repacked our bags and went to the internet café, checked mail and got on the bus, arriving about 10pm. We went and had dinner then and "the young ones" went out to a nightclub called Kamikaze where the average age was about 18 y.o. and danced til 3:30am (this was Jos substitute birthday night). We might have only gotten 90 minutes sleep but at least we convinced Andrew that us scientists arent complete nerds and did have fun occasionally.

• Pros:Spectacular scenery - great hiking
• Cons:the water is damn cold
• In a nutshell:Wathing the sun set over Torres Del Paine with a pisco sour