Torres del Paine pt 3

The night at our third camp, Refugio Cuernos, felt like we were in the middle of a tornado. All night long, wind howled at our tent and shook it as if we were in an earthquake. Neither of us got much sleep. When we ate breakfast the next morning, we learned that two friends had a tree branch crash through their tent. They were fine, but their tent was unrepairable. Another couple had a branch sever one of their poles as it cut through their tent. They were fine as well, but also had an unrepairable tent to carry.

Still can see light at 10:45pm

Breakfast on day 4

Day four was going to be the longest day by distance at just under 12 miles. The path was a steady climb up the foothills to Campamento Chile.  After a quick lunch, we set off again up the valley to Campamento Torres which lies about 45 minutes away from the Torres themselves. One of the reasons we hiked the 'W' from west to east is so that we could save the famous Torres for the final fifth day. Some of the best views of the trip were still ahead.

Facing the sporatic rain and heavy wind head on 

Gust of wind racing across the water with a rainbow in tow

The lone boulder

Only one at a time across the bridge

Heavy wind and a smile

Raging river as we get closer to Campamento Torres

Amazing cut through the mountain

Spectacular forest

We made it to our last camp at the doorstep of the Torres. The winds were not letting up, so we picked a spot that provided good cover. There was a mix of campers on their last day, and many on their first day trekking east to west. It was clear who was which. We barely had enough energy to cook our raviolis, and ultimately decided that the sauce wasn't worth the energy to cook so we just added hot sauce. It was very tasty. The guy next to us was working three burners at once. Sausage and beans in one with a homemade sauce in the other and two types of rice in the third. We stared in disbelief as he actually twisted off the top to a personal-size bottle of wine to go with the two-course dinner. We didn't need to ask if it was his first day. We made our way to the tent and prepared for a 4am wake up to see the Torres at sunrise. The plan was to hike 45 minutes up the steep terrain until we reach the lookout point for the towers.

We made it to the top

Waiting for the sun to shine

Breathtaking view 

We made our way down and packed up our gear. It was another three hour hike back down to the shuttle that would take us back to Puerto Natales. As we arrived at the shuttle pickup, we couldn't believe that it was over. We set down our packs, walked into Hotel Las Torres, and ordered a beer. The trek was difficult, but the only memory will be of the unimaginable beauty of the park.

A much needed beer at the finish line

Once we got to Puerto Natales, we dropped off our gear and went back to our hostel. We flew out the next day to Puerto Montt, but not before Shanta finished her celebratory beer at the airport. 

She hiked Torres faster than she finished that beer!

Torres del Paine pt 2

Day 3 started early around 8am. It was a tough night since it was bitter cold. Many times during the night, we heard what we though was thunder. It turns out huge chunks of ice were falling off the mountain and crashing nearby. The sound was deafening but still had us in awe. We started with our usual meal of bread, granola, honey, and coffee that I brought from Colombia. The morning was off to an interesting start as another camper's stove caught on fire and in a panic he kicked the set into a pile of dry leaves. Not the best idea. The park ranger quickly extinguished the flames but gave the camper a harsh scolding. They don't want a repeat of the recent fire that burned over 90 square miles in 2012. The agenda was to hike the middle arm of the 'W' known as the French Valley. We would come back down the valley and continue a short distance to Refugio Cuernos. The nice part was that we didn't have to carry all our gear up the French Valley since we were passing our camp on the way down. The French Valley is an absolutely surreal landscape with waterfalls, lush forests, and towering mountains on all sides.

One of the many streams we passed

Most of the crashing ice came from this mountain

The cordillera

Traversing the forest

Amazing trees

Fearless bird

Bottle refill station

Top of the French Valley in the distance

Another view

Overlooking the valley

Taking a break

Looking down the valley

Getting closer to the bottom

We picked up our packs and headed to Refugio Cuernos

View of the lake

Couldn't believe this exists

Looks like a hot tub before the lake

Again we were wiped after day 3, but the views kept us going. Once we arrived at Los Cuernos, we found a nice restaurant with rooms on the second floor for $100+ per night. Everyone who wanted to hike the trails but did not carry any gear booked these rooms. There is an area for campers to set up their tent next to the refugio so we found a good spot and decided to check out the restaurant. The first person we saw was a man taking up an entire bench in the restaurant to get a foot massage because his room was "too far up the stairs". The price for food was steep so we bought a cheap bottle of wine, played some cards, and went to our tent. On to day 4.

Pit Stop in Santiago

We arrived in Santiago after a quick two hour drive from Valparaiso. We didn't have much time to spend there since we had a flight south to catch. The immediate impression of Santiago is that you've arrived in a bustling European city. After talking to some locals, they admit that they like it that way. The architecture is very neoclassical with long columns and imposing buildings everywhere. The center of the city is separated by the fast-flowing Mapocho river which is accompanied by a park on both sides. The city felt like a real taste of home, with prices to match. Huge modern malls offered all the same items you could find in the states, and plenty of bars and restaurants had a distinct American feel. It was a great city to relax in for a few days, but three was enough to get a taste and then move on.

Bright orange backpack brigade

Museo Bellas Artes

Street art

God bless Te- ...Chile

Best empanadas in the city

Fresh out of the oven

Yum

Fish market

Parque Forestal

Great spring day 

Monument near Mercado Central

I had the seafood mix, Shanta got the fried fish with fried onions and an egg

Need more lemon!

Adios Santiago

Valparaiso

We left San Pedro and took an overnight bus twelve hours down the coast to La Serena. It was a quick one-day stopover, then we took a day bus to Valparaiso. Valpo, as its sometimes called, is an eclectic city steeped in rich history. After we found a hostel and set our bags down, we started exploring the bohemian neighborhoods that give the city its personality. The city was once a thriving seaport, but the opening of the Panama Canal made the city obsolete to trade ships traveling from North America. The economy took a blow for decades, but the city has since rebranded itself as an educational mecca as well as the official cultural capital of the country. Universities abound in old buildings once used as maritime offices and detailed artwork is visible on every street corner. Today you'll find students, musicians, artists, and Chileans simply escaping the heat of nearby Santiago. While we spent close to a week exploring the city, we still left wishing we had more time. It was by far one of my favorite cities. 

Main avenue

Lounging in the park

Narrow corner building

Tree-lined plaza

Looking north

City at sunset

Victorian house overlooking the port

Cobbled streets and colorful buildings

Palace of Justice

Deep red

Assortment of colored houses

Old hotel

To get into the hills of the city, everyone will tell you to use one of the vintage ascensores. This is a near-vertical carriage that will carry you to the top for a few cents. The city is dotted with 26 of these famous elevators, however only a handful remain active. These have the same charm to Chileans as cable cars do to San Franciscans.

Ascensor, or "elevator" in English

Each is painted a different color

Taking a ride

Not the best way to go down

As steep as it looks

The artwork in Valpo is everywhere. From sides of buildings to doors, windows, and parked cars, nothing is exempt from having an artist put his work on display. This is only a small handful of what we saw.

The last day, we went to the market with the owner of our hostel and bought a few items to make ceviche. The owner's son made us the ceviche and his family gave us a good sendoff before heading to Santiago.

Had to try the market's ceviche first

Shanta deciding on tomatoes

Sampling the fruit is encouraged

The market gato

Nacho making moves in the kitchen

Finally got the bottle open

The final product

This held us over for the ride to Santiago