Punta Arenas ()
Got here by bus and connecting ferry from Ushuaia. Crossed two borders, Argentina first then Chile, Chilean peso is crazy 1 EUR is 700 pesos!! Pretty darn cold here, there is penguin colonies but were too late in season to see them boo!!
Stayed in Hostel Independica, more like a guest house than a hostel, but nice and homely. Went to Reserva Forestal Magallanes and climbed to the summit Mt Fenton, good warm up for the biggest challenge of all Torres del Paine, continents number one national park and the hardest trek of all the W!
Funniest thing here i think is the taxis, each has a specific route number, can flag them down if your on a route and costs 350 chilean pesos! So on the route random people may jump in and out beside you on the trip!
Went to the club temple on the friday night, and what a hilarious night, the first time i incurred gringo hunting!! felt like a superstar, girls taken mobile pics off me and going nuts dancing around me, hilarious!!! ;-)
Puerto Natales ( 26 April )
NOt much to write home about here, just stayed here to prepare ourselves for Torres del Paine. Got our rations together before the W! Pretty expensive here but ate in a nice restaurant before the trip called Angelica, our last piece of meat for a few days!! Had rhosemary patagonian lamb really nice!
Torres Del Paine
Serious national park for trekking, got there early monday and pitched our tent up in Hosteria Las Torres. Then went up to the twin towers, hardest trek ive ever did, forests, streams, boulders and snow!!Was on pain killers as my left ankle was goosed before the trek and wasnt getting any better but i thought id soldier on a bit longer! Second day went trekking with our backpacks to Campo Italiano now that was torture! Took around 6-7 hours without barely any breaks, got there just in time to pitch our tent and put on some food in the shelter; pasta, tuna, cheese, tomato sauce and chillis, proper chefs in the woods!!
Didnt get too much sleep that night, our tent nearly blew off a few times, so got up early the next day and went to Refugio Pehoe, there was a nice shelter there to cook food and chill out, decided to get the boat the next day with some germans as my ankle wasnt getting any better and the lads went onto Glaciar Grey. Still enjoyed my time there, scenery was sublime and the terrain was the most challenging i ever encountered.
Hostal Oasis i stayed then on the way back in Puerto Natales, double bed to myself and tv to watch the United and Chelsea match in the morning, sweet!!
