Torres del Paine

"Torres del Paine National Park, in Chile's Patagonia region, is known for its soaring mountains, electric-blue icebergs that cleave from glaciers and golden pampas (lowlands) that shelter rare wildlife such as llama-like guanacos. The 3 granite towers from which the park takes its name and the horn-shaped peaks called Cuernos del Paine are some of its most iconic sites"

I caught my bus to Torres del Paine National Park. I found the "refugio". It turns out it's not actually just a huge room with millions of flea infested beds in it. ( I packed my sleeping bag liner just in case. I haven't used it yet. It's for when the hostel is a bit suspicious looking, but so far it's stayed put in my rucksack. I also packed my hot water bottle in case I was sleeping under the stars, and my teeny tiny hand towel, in case I had the chance of a shower). What it was, in fact was a luxury hostel! I got to reception to enquire about prices. £40 per night. £40 per night?????? Do I get a private room with maid service I said???? No. Just the room. Not even a private room!!! A fecking 6 bed hostel type room like I've been staying in for the last 6 fecking weeks!!....that I've been paying £7 - £17 per night for!!! They clearly have you by the short and curlies (well in my case the long and straights) as there is nowhere else to sleep! Anyway, someone had asked the guy what time is dinner. Dinner? cool. Noted.

There were several of us who arrived from Puerto Natales at at the same time and we were all bundled into a room and given a safety briefing. One (of many) of the rules was "always walk with another person". Great. I have no friends. I'm just gonna have to wing it. Off I went up the hill. I'm aiming to get to the base of the 3 towers. See description above. (no Andy it is not possible to climb the actual towers - although I did ask!) What a beautiful walk. Through forest, over rivers, passing waterfalls, over dodgy wooden bridges, until 2 hours later I reached another hostel type place. There is food, toilet and a seating area. All far too tempting. So I bought myself a beer and ate my packed lunch in the sunshine (big mistake). I had another 2 hours to go but this 2nd half seemed almost impossible after my break. My legs felt like I was walking through mud! I've walked up many a mountain in my time and not once has there been the luxury of a half way food/drink/chill out place and I know I will never again take advantage of one if there is. Every step for the next 2 hours was a HUGE effort.

I got 10 mins from the viewpoint (I can't call it the top can I!) when I came across a small group of people coming back down. I was half way through them when the guide at the front started telling the woman at the back, quite sternly, that she had a job to do, she couldn't wait for her any more, and that she would be fine if she just followed the orange markers. And with that, they all left her. Bit harsh I thought. As we passed I said, "It looks like you've been dumped!" trying to be sympathetic, on her side and make her smile at the same time. Within about 2 minutes of being in her company I too felt like throttling her! She did nothing but moan and winge about being left alone. I'll get lost she said. My heart is beating so fast she said. I told her for the umpteenth time she would not get lost, it will be ok as all she needed to do was follow the markers like the guide said. See it as a challenge I said. I don't need this challenge she said. I started to walk off. She said wait I will come with you please don't leave me on my own. Someone will come down in a few seconds I said and you can go down with them. I heard her faint whining voice in the distance as off I went. Well she's not my responsibility for feck sake! And I knew I was only 10 mins from the beautiful sight I was about to see! So after scrambling about in the rocks for another 10 mins, this is the sight I saw. Well worth all the pain and effort.

I stayed for an hour, waiting for the loud Americans (I'm not saying that all Americans are loud, just that these particular ones were) (and all the others I've come across but hey..) to leave the lakeside, just soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying the scenery, then off I went again. 4 more hours walking ahead of me. The rocks I had to cross were HUGE. Massive boulders 6 feet wide, so obviously there were deep crevices between them. I stepped from one to another with trepidation thinking I really don't want to slip here. 10 minutes into my homeward journey I started looking for these stoopid orange markers. I saw none. "don't worry you won't get lost" I heard myself saying to scardeycat. Oh well I thought. My heart started beating fast too. Not from the fear of being lost, just from the sheer exertion! I did start to think tho, it's only a matter of time before you slip and break your ankle or get trapped. I even said out loud (which I do frequently on this trip) Will I need to cut off my own leg if I get trapped, like that guy did with his arm? Do I even have a knife? Yes, I have a plastic spork knife thingy. How long would THAT take to saw through my chunky leg??

There's a reason there is a path and markers Pauline, as some of the smaller rocks I was standing on wobbled and even gave way, tumbling down the steep hill into eternity. I eventually saw the markers and headed (although admittedly not immediately. My way was slightly more direct) towards the path. I met a couple of French girls (I'll call them girls but they turned out to be really old like me), from the bus going up as I was coming down. We chatted a few mins then went on our separate ways. The half way hostel with it's tempting seating area came and went. There's no way I would be able to move again if I stopped, so I continued the other 2 hours. My legs were killing me. That was really tough. Harder than Scafell Pike the highest mountain in England, which was all steep steps. This was much harder. Although maybe it was the halfway beer?