Arrive in Santiago airport bloody tired and wondering a little why I choose to take myself so far out of my comfort zone..but I knew I'd feel that way at the beginning! Finally made it through customs and immediately realized how stupid it was not to have learned better Spanish! Nonetheless I figured out the bus and metro and finally found my hostel (because a taxi is way too easy)..first impressions of Santiago were a big dirty concrete jungle..met a lovely Aussie girl called bec (nice to have someone to chat to), made the most of the free hostel dinner then hit the sac. 13 hours sleep later I felt a little better! Spent the next couple of days exploring the streets and indeed Santiago redeemed itself somewhat..the quaint arty streets of Bella vista and the awesome views of the andes lifted my spirits..tried some street food (empanada)..met another couple of lovely people, climbed a mountain (one way to get over jet lag) had a pisco sour and shared some delicious local food..learnt a little about Chilean history (military coo, dictator, how well the street dogs are looked after) on a walking tour then decided time for the next destination!
Caught a bus to Valparaiso..which took a lot longer than expected due to an epic crash on the highway..walked a bloody mile with my bag and then had to climbed a ridiculous amount of stairs to find my hostel (Casa Valparaiso), which was tucked away in a delightfully arty alleyway. What a city! Each building a different colour..so much street art even a non artist can appreciate the beauty of..met a nice Aussie guy who was at the end of his trip so kindly pointed out highlights for me (thinking 3.5 months is nowhere near enough time...). Explored a little though was cautious not to stay out too late, I'd heard plenty of times to 'be careful', even just from passers by..even so, people had been kind..one bus driver even giving me a chocolate 😝
Explored the city some more, got a tad lost meandering the hills (oh my gosh are there some hills in this place 🙄) and met up with Aussie friends bec and Jolli .Had some wine whilst we watched the lowering sun light up the colourful buildings..shared some ceviche (local dish with cured fish)..according to my phone I'd walked 72 floors today, boy were my legs feeling it! (Yesterday 50 floors also..)..terrible nights sleep with snoring roommates! The challenges a light sleeper faces in the Hostelworld..
Bec, Jolli and I got a bus (we were the butt of the bus drivers joke, but of course we couldnt understand why he kept laughing) to nearby town vina Del Mar,.wouldn't recommend it :/ their version of a resort town however essentially just an overpriced place with horrid architecture and an average beach. To be fair, we were there in the wrong season! I got a cool bumbag though so that's something :P Bid farewell to bec and jolly and got my bag from the hostel..stupidly spent my last change on chickpeas (of all things) so had to withdraw money (with a massive charge), then struggled massively (with my stupid bag on) to get someone to change the big note for bus change! Post office, bank, street vendors..finally had to pay $4 for a 'coffee' (hot milk with instant) to change the note..anyways! You find your true strength a bit when you're traveling and you're exhausted/mad/frustrated and have no one to turn to but yourself :P Note finally changed I got the trolley bus and coach and headed back to Santiago to an awesome hostel on the edge of the city (Princesa Insolente)..met a few more nice travelers then hit the sack!
Up at the crack of dawn to catch a flight down to the end of the world (Patagonia)..it was a bit of a last minute decision to fly down there and I knew three nights in a place that many plan to explore for months wasn't long however it was the time i had and I thought why not!..had a bit of trouble at punta arenas airport as I hadn't booked the bus but I waited around and was lucky enough to jump on one that had a spare seat..we had to stop for a herd of cows being drafted which was cool and omg I'd read about the Patagonian wind this time of year but the way it moved the massive coach around was something else! Safely arrived at puerto Natales (gateway to Torres del Paine NP) late afternoon, checked in to the Singing Lamb..it honestly did feel like the bottom of the world! Freezing cold, not many people and surrounded my ocean and snow capped mountains..awesome (glad I packed thermals). Booked a tour for the next day (I'd wanted to do my own thing at the park but being off season transportation wasn't available) and walked around the odd little town..met some more travelers, most of which were more hard core hikers etc than i!
Woke up very early to catch my tour bus..what a drive to the NP! Stunning vistas everywhere..plus we saw loads of Guanaco (Patagonian Llama) and even some emu things. I didn't really know what to expect from the day, I just knew we were hiking around 18km to the iconic three tours in the park (the east wing of the infamous W circuit, a hike that takes around 4 days and requires you to carry your tent etc and camp at refugios)..I was crossing my fingers for good weather! And also that I'd be up to it with my average fitness..although I met an older Aussie woman who assured me she too was not very fit!
Began the walk with our guide Al near one the uber expensive hotels in the park (there's also little igloos that people stay in). Walking along laughing with the Aussie (Sunny) it was all fun and games until we hit the first incline..which lasted about 4kms 😳 was feeling the burn and we were just at the beginning! Nonetheless I soldiered on and enjoyed the absolutely breathtaking scenery, feeling so blessed to witness it..we were super lucky with the weather, only windy and cloudy sometimes but mostly sunny..the hike was extremely difficult and at the very end the last km was almost vertical (literally had to climb up rock faces) and then had to walk through snow!! That was so deep my leg sometimes sunk almost to my knee..lucky for my good boots, I'm not sure why (stick technically being their winter and all) but I hadn't expected to be trudging through snow more had I expected such a climb! Areas were treacherous whereby there was a very real risk of falling down the verticals cliff if you slipped (which happened frequently seeing as we had no snow boots on)..the hiking stick helped somewhat..whenever I thought we were nearly there there was always just that little bit more to go!! FINALLY we made it, to a final elevation of 875m (although there'd been a lot of up and down)..and it was all worth it :) beautiful blue lake with the iconic three towers behind. Absolutely stunning..although they were shadowed by some cloud it didn't matter as it snowed! Which made it all the more magical..as we sat on the rocks in the snow and ate our lunch you could hear thundering sounds as massive rocks slid down the cliff to the water (at first I thought it was an avalanche)..we also observed a cheeky fox steel someone's drink bottle thinking it might contain food! It was a very surreal experience and we had some laughs trying to walk around to get photos without loosing our legs in the snow or slipping over completely (which of course I did once)..alas, it was time to turn around and walk the 10km back..indeed it was mostly downhill although not always easy (particularly at the start with the snow, at one stage we opted to slide down as it was just too slippery and dangerous). And my legs were exhausted from the way up! But somehow they stayed strong and I picked my way back down..walking down, I had absolutely no idea how I'd made it up..it was often so steep and it was so far that I didn't think I was capable! But I did it. It was also so nice that there were very few people doing the trail, being shoulder season. At the bottom there was a herd of beautiful horses which had obviously been carrying tourists around as they were tired and sweaty..but in fairly good condition thank goodness, it was such a lovely thing to watch them at the base of one of the mountains. Finally, at 7pm (we'd started at about 9.30am), we made it back to the van!! What a day!!! My phone said 36840 steps and 24.6 (up and down!) kms..crazy..but what an achievement and experience :)
Needless to say I slept like a baby..I was thinking about going back to the park the next day on a bus tour that took you to different sites but opted not to as it was quite expensive and I felt I'd experienced the park pretty bloody well! And that sitting on a bus and taking pics wouldn't make it more special..Would love to see lots of it but maybe another time..instead I went on another hike (sucker for punishment) with Aussie friends I'd made Steph and Jarren. It was a mountain on someone's property and yet again it was quite a challenge (particularly with tired legs!) but slowly and surely I made it up..not quite as stunning as the day before but beautiful trees on the way up, chats with good company and awesome views of Puerto Natales and the surrounding water and mountains made it worth the effort! There were also massive condors circling which was spectacular. It was soooooo windy at the top we had to crouch to avoid being blown over, the windiest wind I've ever experienced! We were supposed to go and have coffee and cake with the owner of the farm at the end (part of the $10 we'd paid) however we opted not to as we were pretty upset by the site of one of her sheep dogs tied up outside..you could see every bone in its body and we couldn't see any water :(
We rested up a bit then headed to the local brewery for a beer with one of the locals, who helps hikers prepare for the W trek..it was great to talk to him, an interesting character..he mentioned that cruise ships would be going to the area in the coming years so I was glad to have seen the place now, even if only so briefly!!
Next day I began an epic journey to Argentina..a 3 hour bus ride to punta arenas, 3 hour wait at the airport, 3 hour flight to Santiago, waiting/transiting for about 4 hours..an overnight bus that was supposed to leave at 9.30pm arrived at 10.30pm, if been waiting outside in the freezing cold having no idea what was going on (eventually a guy that spoke broken English helped me a bit)..I was also anxious I wouldn't make my connecting bus in Mendoza the next morning..and didn't that turn out to be true! We got stuck at the chile-Argentina border for scout 3 hours..I was so stressed but a kind girl helped me get wifi so I could at least contact the work away man (Fernando) due to pick me up that I would be late..actually everyone was very kind, realizing I didn't speak Spanish they helped however they could (when using google translator to tell me to hold my hands up going through customs)..once at Mendoza (5 hours later than scheduled), a nice guy even helped me translate to try allow my ticket to be valid but no luck..so I bought another one, contacted Fernando with the time I was due at the pick up spot..but alas my travel stress wasn't over, the bus arrived over an hour late and I'd had no way of letting Fernando know (so he'd just been waiting)..
