The delayed trip into Torres del Paine National Park might have been a blessing in disguise. As forecasted, it was an overcast morning which threatened rain any minute.

After another filling breakfast, we arranged to rent a locker from the hostel for the 5 days we would be away before returning on Friday. We needed to store most of our stuff and for 500 pesos a day it seemed reasonable to know it was securely locked and monitored by CCTV. The locker looked quite big when it was empty, but we just managed to squeeze everything in.

Packing for the trek was pretty light, only our clothes and some chocolates, because we will be staying in refugios including bedding/sleeping bags and full board with meals 3 times a day. Two small daypacks won't cut it though because we are expecting it might get quite wet and it will definitely be windy. We managed to fit everything in one small bag that Maria will carry and Maria's big backpack that David will carry.

A lot of people consider it an expensive option to use refugios, but it seems the better option for us because we don't have our own camping equipment with us, not even sleeping bags. It saves us renting everything and more importantly, carrying it all for 4 days.

We will be returning late on Friday evening and heading straight to Argentina early on Saturday morning so we got some money changed. Cash is king in Argentina, either pesos or even better, American dollars.Credit card use is really uncommon unlike in Chile where their use is as common as in Europe.

The ATMs were empty after the weekend so we couldn't get any more cash out, but we had thought ahead and made a few withdrawals over the weekend.

We went back to El Living for some lunch and to exchange a book, probably the last book to be read in South America. Maria decided on a healthy salad and David stupidly opted for a vegetarian burger. It was definitely not meat eaters that had voted this meal as being a restaurant favourite.

We tried to book accommodation in Iguazu, but they make it really complicated for potential customers. If you book online in Booking.com the price is higher, booking direct needs a deposit wired to their account, and to top it off they work with two different currencies and the exchange rate is dependant on the day you pay (which in Argentina can fluctuate quite a lot). In the end we ran out of time and had to give up until we come back from the park.

As we walked to the bus terminal for the 2.30pm bus, it began to rain and during the 2.5 hour journey to the National Park it only got heavier. As we neared the entrance, we were questioning each other about what we were letting ourselves in for - walking 70km in this weather would not be enjoyable!!

We arrived at the Lago Amargo entrance and paid our entry fee of 18,000 pesos (which wasn't included in our Fantastico Sur package) before being shown a short DVD explaining the Do's and Don'ts and the rules of the park.

David grabbed the backpack from the bus and put it into the shuttle bus, which would take us the short distance to Refugio Torre Central. We weren't actually doing any walking today, which was pretty lucky considering the rain, we were only staying the night here.

It was still raining and refugio was packed with not only those booked in the dorms but the campers seeking some warmth and shelter. After a lengthy check in we were finally shown to our dorm, which had 3 sets of bunks with the beds made up with sheets and blankets. There were also lockers to put our stuff in while we headed towards the common area to get our Pisco Sour 'welcome' drinks.

It was packed, but David managed to grab a table with a couple of chairs that people were vacating. It took a while to get the drinks too, but once we had them we could relax a little and see the surrounding mountains out the window albeit in the rain.

There were so many people staying and eating dinner that we were scheduled into the second sitting at 8.30pm. It was the same for breakfast, the second sitting was not until 8.30am which is all quite different to what we are used to when tramping - we're used to early dinners and breakfasts.

We thought about people in New Zealand who complain about places being busy on the Great Walks like the Milford Track where 40 people share a hut. Here Torres Central sleeps 120 pax, but there are also campers coming in for meals and keeping warm. Reading the reception noticeboard, they we were feeding 156 pax tonight.

There was a good selection of cakes, beer, wine and proper coffee in the refugio, but all for a price of course. A beer was 6 times the price it could be bought in the supermarket and twice that of a standard restaurant. There was no drying room as far as we could see and people coming from a walk or from campsite were very wet... this is one part of the walk we are really not looking forward to.