Chile III – Trekking the W

Hiking the W Trek to see Torres del Paine in Chilean Patagonia was one of the original drivers for our trip, so finally getting there 11 months later was pretty exciting! Big cheers go to Gareth & Michelle for giving Xavi the awesome book which seeded the idea!!

The previous 21 days on a boat wasn’t the best physical preparation for a 75km trek, but our time was running out with a pending onward flight out of Buenos Aires 10 days later, so we weren’t going to let that stop us. We spent a day preparing in Puerto Natales, another small town now very reliant on tourism since Torres del Paine has grown in popularity. We didn’t make it to the few tourist attractions of town, but instead were busy organising food, renting equipment, taking in the Erratic Rock Info Session (3pm daily @ Base Camp Pub), deciding the best route and calling home with the good news of our recent engagement. After all that, at last we were ready to set off.

The W Trek is a 75km W shaped trail in the Southern Patagonian Ice Fields at the end of the Andes, which visits the spectacular Torres del Paine (Paine Towers). There was a lot of confusion about the best direction to walk with many sources giving opposite recommendations so in the end we left it up to chance with the weather.

W Trek marked in red – red & blue together is the O and they call the red, blue and yellow combo the Q.

We caught buses in to Laguna Amarga starting point with a quick (compulsory) stop over in the National Park Office to get the briefing, weather report and pay entry fees. It was here we made the last minute decision to walk from east to west in the hope we would miss the upcoming rain when we visited the Torres. So we set off from Hotel Torres with the busload of other trekkers. We sadly left the less crowded 9-day O loop for the more hard-core trekkers & people with more time, but hope to go back some day!

The start of the trail from the East with the cloudy Torres in the distance on the right.

The 3.5 hr hike to Campamento Chileno was a good first day intro into what was to come, 4 days of incredibly beautiful scenery and some rather crazy weather! It really is four seasons in one day, and the wind that rips through the valley was enough blow sunglasses off our faces and knock us over. The walking stick became a trusty companion after that as the path often followed cliff edges which combined with the gusting winds deserved respect!

Rolling stones – some caution signs cause the opposite effect of what they’re made for…

Just after we finished setting up our tent at the camp and were getting ready to hike on to the Torres, we couldn’t believe our eyes!! Walking through the tents we ran into some familiar faces – Alex and Anne-So, mates from Sydney!! Who could have imagined that we would meet friends who we hadn’t seen in about a year (and had no idea they were in the area) in the middle of a trek…they were on their second last day after walking the trek in the opposite direction! Such an awesome surprise!!

Reunion at Torres del Paine!!

We had a great time catching up over the walk up to the Torres and over our camping stoves cooking meals. Luckily and thanks to them for the wake-up call, we made it in time to see the sunrise at the Torres the next morning too! Despite overnight rain, the morning was fine and with our headlights we tramped up to see Torres del Paine again following the track and the rough trail of moving headlights of other hikers ahead. Once at the top, we sat huddled together with all our warm clothes on to combat the cold morning air, waiting for the sun! It’s strange to think that a rock face can be so beautiful, but the way the Torres change as the rising sun lights them was incredible!

The sunrise just beginning opposite the Torres.

Before the sun really came up…

Then the light started coming over the other mountains! Talk about the golden hour!

After a good breakfast and farewell-ing Anne-So and Alex we started out in the rain on our way to Campamento Italiano for what was the longest day of walking (approx. 21 kms, 5-6hrs). The trail through the wilderness was beautiful, yet we didn’t feel too isolated as we crossed many other trekkers of all ages completing the trek with us or in the opposite direction. The weather cleared up just after Campamento Chileno, and we were treated to excellent views of Lago Nordenskjöld and los Cuernos.

Poor horses have to carry the gas in to the privately run campsites.

Los Cuernos (The Horns)

The four seasons continued to jostle each other to come out and by the afternoon of the second day it was really hot and we were in need of some refreshment!! We found a small desire path that led off the trail and down to the pebble beach by the water’s edge and had a refreshing swim in the glacial waters! It did wonders to give us the energy to continue on to the campsite!

Glacial waters made for a very quick swim!

Lago Nordenskjöld

We arrived at camp at about 6pm, well and truely ready for a rest! For our third day, we planned to hike the Valle Frances, a 5hr return trip up and back the middle leg of the W and then arrive to Paine Grande (the bottom point of the left leg) another 2hrs later. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t on our side and the horizontal rain turned to sleet and then snow so we didn’t see too much. It was so cold, our fingers could hardly work to press the shutter button on the camera. Coming back which in the most part was mildly downhill, we had to run to keep warm because we were totally soaked.

Great weather for hiking!

Valle Frances (French Valley) – in a brief clearing in the clouds we could make out the back of the Torres

From Campamento Italiano to the Refugio Paine Grande, the terrain changed significantly again. There’s a large section which suffered from a huge forest fire in December 2011 caused by a backpacker burning toilet paper and the effects are still clearly visible!  When we got closer to the lake again, we could see the strong winds coming, pushing ripples across the lake, they knocked us about a bit, but we managed to stay standing this time.

Forest of recovering trees – a forest fire ripped through the area in trees

It’s always a good feeling during a long hike when you start to see the campsite ahead!!

Our first hot shower in days was waiting for us at Paine Grande camping site and after a day walking in the rain it was much appreciated!! That night we left Xavi’s shoes and backpack minus any valuables under a shelter to dry (as we had done with our stuff in the other free campsites along the way) and woke up to find it was missing. After travelling in some of the most dangerous countries in the world, who would have thought that we’d be robbed in the “most developed” country of them all!? Luckily however, Xavi’s giant hiking boots were not to the theif’s liking and were left there, so after about an hour searching the area for the pack and talking to the authorities, we decided to continue on with the last leg of the trek, a 22km, 6hr return loop to Refugio Grey.

Our first dry morning of the trek!!

Enroute to Grey Glacier

It was yet another day of amazing scenery! Despite having lost our lunch in the backpack, we calculated and rationed the remaining biscuits and trail mix that were in my backpack over the day (small snack every 30mins). After leaving Antarctica, we weren’t expecting to see any more icebergs on the trip, but were surprised to see quite a few more on the way to Grey Glacier. This leg of the W has great views of Lago Los Patos and Lago Grey and viewpoints of two faces of the glacier.

Lago Los Patos

Glacier Grey

One thing we didn’t see much of on the whole trek however were animals, apart from a few condors occasionally floating overhead we were surprised at the lack of wildlife. Locals refer to the W as ‘going to the city’ (busy with plenty of tourists) so probably that combined with burnt forests etc is keeping them away in the more secluded sections of the park.

We would have loved to keep on going to the next bridge after Refugio Grey which we heard had even better views of the Glacier, but we were running out of time, and were pretty tired by this stage so we went back to Paine Grande to wait for the catamaran which would take us back to Pudeto. The boat was full of familiar faces from the last few days on the trail and we all soaked up the last spectacular views of the mountains on the way back to civilisation.

The home stretch, last km!!

We never got tired of looking at these mountains!!

Back in our room in Puerto Natales and minus a big backpack, we faced the difficult task of trying to fit all of our belongings into one pack and few extra small bags. Luckily we were travelling relatively light and my bag is big!! So after hardly any rest at all, we were up the next morning in the dark to get to the bus stop, cross to Argentina and move on to our final destination in South America…Buenos Aires!! It’s kind of a sad feeling when you know the trip is coming to an end, but we’re still living in the moment and enjoying the ride. More to come soon from BA and another visit to the wonderful Argentinian family!!

Lots of love,

Xavi & Sal

Chile II – Puerto Varas, Chiloé y Carretera Austral

After staying with family and friends in Argentina and Chile for almost a month, taking the zillionth overnight bus of our trip regained its original excitement.

Our destination was Puerto Varas, a charming town with German heritage that breathed through historical buildings and bakeries.

Puerto Varas beach, by Lanquihue Lake

After exploring the town and meeting new friends at the hostel, we headed together to the Petrohué falls and Lago de Todos los Santos for a day hike.

Petrohué Falls

The lake is crowned by the Osorno volcano which, with a permanent snowed peak, is used as a ski resort in winter. We have never been to Japan, but if we had seen someone wearing a kimono, I’d have sworn we were in front of Mount Fuji!

Volcán Osorno

The hike was beautiful except for the harassment of the tábanos (horse flies) that only appear in this area for 1 month in the entire year. How lucky were we?? We even tried to get rid of them by swimming in the chilly waters of the lake…but then our heads were their only available target… so we resumed the walk shortly after.

Feeling exhausted but happy to have shared a great day with new friends, we all decided to chip in and buy the ingredients to make our own home-made Pisco Sour. It’s the national drink in Perú and Chile which is made with a grape liquor called Pisco, similar to the Italian grappa.

I asked a Chilean guy to supervise our cocktail making and the only thing he disapproved of was the alcoholic percentage of our pisco. We got the 40° instead of the 35° we were supposed to use… but no one complained about it really. If you want to make pisco: 1/3 pisco, 1/3 lemon juice, 1/3 sugar syrup, 1 egg-white for every litre of pisco, sugar and ice. Mix all the ingredients but the egg-white, which you will add at the end and shake the whole cocktail lightly (cocktail shaker) or blend it for a short time. You don’t want it to foam too much. Enjoy!

From Puerto Varas we were supposed to go to Puerto Montt and catch a 4-day ferry to Puerto Natales. However, the ferry was booked out until 2 weeks after, so we decided to visit Chiloé, Chile’s second biggest island. We loved Chiloé for many reasons, first you have to access it by ferry (there’s a project to link it to the mainland by a long bridge) and we saw plenty of sea lions on the way.

Ancud

Spanish fortress in Ancud

Ancud, in the north, was the first town we visited. While this town is quite famous for its Pingüineras, we decided to save the bucks and walk its calmed streets and fortresses instead. There was also a museum containing reproductions of the most important UNESCO recognised churches on the island, a unique example in Latin America of an outstanding form of ecclesiastical wooden architecture.

Seafood is quite popular in this area, so I was quite excited to try Curanto, a local dish made with a mix of mussels, clams, sausages, pork knuckle and potatoes that is smoked in a pot or buried with a local leaf. The smoky flavour is beautiful and Sal didn’t complain much because there was meat involved. The mussels were some of the biggest and nicest we had ever tried and one of them came with a little pearl that I almost swallowed, bingo!

From Ancud we headed south-west to visit Chiloé’s National Park. Once the tent was set, around midday, we realised that we had missed all the buses going to «El Muelle de las Almas» (The Souls Dock). We tried renting bikes but the prices were just a rip off… so we started asking locals if they wouldn’t mind taking us there for a fair price. People in Chiloé are really nice and it didn’t take us long to find a driver.

El Muelle de las Almas

El Muelle de las Almas is this beautiful spot close to Cucao, known in the local traditions for being the place were souls start their journey. A few years back an architect built the dock that seems to lead to eternity. The legend says that souls carry two coins and are taken by the boatman to the resting place. Those souls without coins are stuck in the area forever, and you can still hear their cries mixed with the crashing of the waves.

Chiloé is a place of superstitions, legends and mythological creatures. Inhabitants talk about them naturally and some still believe in them. One of our favourites is «El Trauco», a kind of ugly forest dwarf who is able to seduce women. Back in the day, when there was an unexpected pregnancy, people used to blaim El Trauco, so funny.

The day after we went to Castro, on the east side of the island. Castro is famous for its «Palafitos», colourful houses that rest on wooden columns over the sea and that give the town a really cool look from the water.

Palafitos in Castro

Castro’s eye-catching cathedral

More Palafitos in Castro

From there we went to Quehui (pronounced very close to Kiwi), a tiny island 2 hours from Castro where they were celebrating a «Fiesta Costumbrista» (Folklore Party). If you ever go to Chiloé, make sure you’re there between the end of December and Mid February, when different towns organise these parties.

Quehui

Quehui

The few inhabitants in Quehui welcomed the 2 or 3 boats coming from Castro with open arms. We were some of the few tourists and were lucky to meet a Chilean family who told us about the traditions on the way to the island. All the action happened in the main square of the town, more like an open field than a square really, where they had set up 4 tents cooking local dishes (Curanto and Patagonian lamb BBQ) and a little stage.

Curanto in the making

The master of ceremonies led the party and introduced the local dancers, a little procession, a music band and, to everyone’s delight, the popular games: tug-a-war and wood-chopping.

Regional dance

Knitting demo

I took part in the tug-of-war, joining the team of non-locals. We beat them on the first round (whether they gave us advantage on purpose or not will remain a mystery), but trashed us in the next 2 rounds. Good fun anyway.

When volunteers were asked to compete against the local lady in the wood-chopping comp I gently pushed Sal forward. When the locals heard that she came from Australia she automatically won some supporters, mostly male I should say, and a fierce competition started. Following the advice from the cheering audience Sal started rolling the log to cut it from different angles. A dodgy move was allowed when a guy swapped the local girl’s axe for a different one and, probably 5 hard minutes into fierce chopping, the local girl managed to split the log. Sal was very close though and the locals recognised the really good effort.

 

Picture the crowd yelling: Australia! Australia!

The day after we took another ferry that crossed us back to mainland, into Chaitén (not to be confused with El Chaltén in Argentina). Chaitén was buried in ashes in 2008 after the eruption of a volcano with the same name and it’s located on the Carretera Austral.

Chaitén

Having missed the ferry between Puerto Montt and Puerto Natales, the Carretera Austral was our only way south; however, even in summer, the frequency of buses is scarce. This road was not built until 1980 and it was one of the few positive things that Pinochet did during his dictatorship. As a result, people who live in the area are quite fond of Pinochet and have even named towns after his wife (Santa Lucía) or his government team (La Junta).

Fly fishing is one of the favourite hobbies in the area

A couple of nights before we had also received the best news of the trip. After a few cancellations, we were offered a spot on a sailing boat to go to Antarctica! While we had never budgeted for it, the last minute deal and the savings from the previous months allowed us to make it (sacrificing little luxuries paid-off!). We were literally jumping on the bed celebrating the good news!

This meant that we only had a week to get to Ushuaia, more than 2,000km south, with unknown modes of transport and on one of the most isolated roads in the world…challenge accepted!

You can spot plenty of glaciers in Carretera Austral

We arrived to Chaitén at around 6pm and decided to give hitch-hiking a first try despite it being late. Not long after, we were sharing a ride with a guy who organised fly-fishing trips in the area. We drove past beautiful parks and glaciers that we hope to visit more calmly in the future with our own car and he left us near a nice free-camping spot by a glacier river.

Walking in the middle of nowhere, after our first ride

When we were convinced we were going to spend the night in the middle of nowhere, a bus passed by carrying just a couple of Chilean backpackers. It wasn’t a scheduled trip, but the driver had to pick a group of tourists from a town down south the day after. We got off in Puyuhuapi where we camped around midnight, having covered almost 200km.

Waterfalls close to Coyhaique

The day after we were one of the first to hit the road and it paid-off. A really nice truck driver from Coyhaique gave us a lift all the way there (220km), but the road conditions meant driving all morning.

After lunch we walked to the other side of town to start hitch-hiking again, but this time we weren’t so lucky. A lovely lady took us 20km south, next to her farm, and from there in the absence of rides, we walked for around 2hrs, carrying our bags further into the middle of nowhere.

The Andes from Villa Cerro Castillo

We were starting to look for a secluded spot to hide from the wind and spend the night, when salvation arrived in the form of a combivan driven by 2 Americans who had also been hitchhiking recently.

They were coming back from a 3 day hike called Cerro Castillo, highly recommended if you have the time and they left us in the town by the same name (Villa Cerro Castillo, 95km south from Coyhaique), where we spent the night in a cheap guesthouse with the company of 2 Chilean ladies and 3 Israelis.

The morning after we spent 2 hours and a half waiting for a ride.

In the end we had to pay for one but they took us right where we wanted to go: Puerto Tranquilo (123km south) by the Lago General Carrera, a stunning turquoise water lake that shares borders with Argentina. Over there we reunited with the 2 Americans and the 3 Israelis and we got the chance to visit the «Catedral de Mármol», a series of marble formations in the lake.

Dog face!

The Carretera Austral still continues for another 500kms or so until Villa O’Higgins, but we had already spent 3 nights just to cover a bit over 600kms and we only had 6 more days to get to Ushuaia.

General Carrera lake changes its name to Buenos Aires lake once you cross the Argentinian border

That’s why when we were offered a lift to Chile Chico (at the Argentinian border) by a friendly Chilean couple, we didn’t think twice and offered them to pay for the petrol (cheaper than the bus). We left the next morning with them for another half a day driving journey through beautiful landscapes.

We had made it back to Argentina but we had just scraped the surface of Carretera Austral, which stays on our bucket list in big letters. We’ll be back one day with our own wheels, definitely the best way to explore its pristine nature.

Coming soon, our 4 day incursion into El Chaltén, the hiking capital of Argentina!

Love, Sal & Xavi

 

 

 

 

Chile I – Santiago & surrounds

After a long drive from Mendoza, the marathon border crossing in the Andes and the typical map-related arguments (it’s complicated when the map is missing streets and half the names!), it was a relief to finally arrive in Valparaíso.

Valparaíso is a rather curious city, it was built on top of a group of many steep hillsides overlooking what was once one of the most important ports in the Pacific Ocean (and the world!). The big commercial shipping port gives it a gritty feel, as do all the once grand, but now dilapidated buildings, but this is mixed in with colourful houses on the surrounding hills, an unusual system of funicular lifts, UNESCO world heritage recognised streets and our favourite part, excellent graffiti murals.

It was once the most important port in the world due to its location as a convenient stopover point for ships travelling between Europe and the Californian gold fields. So it was full of wealth and opulence, European immigrants and of course sailors, until the Panama Canal was built and most boats opted for the shortcut through Central America instead.

Valparaiso Port

Signs of its former glory…

Given the hilly nature of Valpo (as the locals call it) you really have to wander the streets to get a feel for it, so we sought out the local tour4tips for a walking tour (very recommendable!). There are 45 cerros (hills) surrounding the bay and the houses & buildings have been built to measure, adapting to the terrain. In order to access the hills apart from lots of stairs, there are funiculars (or ascensores – lifts), many of which are more than 100 years old and still in operation!

Built to measure

Ascensor Cordillera

Funicular operator at work

Ascensor Concepción

After visiting the main sights down on the flat area of town, we took a funicular up into the hills Cerro Alegre and Cerro Concepción where we started to see the street art culture coming alive. Graffiti remains illegal in Valparaíso, however the murals are used as an ingenious way to avoid unwanted damage and tagging on the walls of buildings and houses. We spent hours wandering the cobbled streets seeing vibrant, abstract and sometimes a little shocking works of art. Valpo attracts many famous artists both local and from around the world who come specifically to make murals there.

Several artists stood out from the crowd as we started to see their work on many different walls. Our particular favourites were murals containing clown-like dolls usually with a lot of symbolism and indigenous culture references by Inti Castro, humming birds and other native animals by Charquipunk, and strange half fish half man murals by Daniel Marceli.

Inti Castro Mural forms part of the Valparaíso cityscape

Daniel Marceli’s half fish half man

Charquipunk’s Humming Birds

Three artists in one mural!

Even the bartenders are creative!

We also made a quick day trip to the more upmarket neighbouring city, Viña del Mar, to check out the beach and to see one of the only Moai statues from Chile’s Easter Island that is now on the mainland.

Roser, Antonio & the beach at Viña del Mar

Quiltro!

We won’t make it to Easter Island on this trip but seeing a real Moai will do for now

Once in Santiago, we hit the streets again for the local tour4tips and, with Roser and Antonio, we very ambitiously signed up for both morning and afternoon walking tours (6hrs in 30 degree heat!!). It is another city of vast contrasts and we traipsed from the beautiful green parks, through the old, but neat city centre, to the central market and poorer neighbourhoods and the grand cemetery.

More Inti Castro Murals in downtown Santiago

So hot the kids were swimming in the fountains!

Ollucos – some sort of root veggie in the Mercado Central

Cementerio General – full of impressive tombs like these!

Contrasts – neighbourhood near the markets, just 10 mins from the city centre

Amazing Murals in the Universidad de Chile Metro Station

It’s one of the world’s most impressive train stations

We were introduced to many of the city’s Quiltros (stray dogs) who joined us on the walking tour as they do every day protecting us from other dogs and, strangely enough, bald men, until we entered the metro where they know they are not welcome. Quiltros are very friendly and are generally a loved part of the society. Locals and businesses leave out bowls of water and food for them and there are even dog houses installed in the local parks.

Another intriguing tradition we came across in Santiago is the Café con Piernas (literally coffee with legs). So the story goes that when cafés were first introduced to Santiago, they were big failure until, in order to create demand, some clever minded businessman decided to create a café where the coffees were served by very short-skirted waitresses. This has since evolved into a scale of coffee shops, ranging from the basic short-skirt variety, all the way to the to the cafe’s with darkened windows that look like stripclubs – only that it seems to be perfectly normal for the local businessmen to be in there for the morning coffee meetings.

Café con piernas – G rated version

We also learnt loads about Chile’s 1973 military coup where Augusto Pinochet overthrew Salvador Allende’s socialist government to start a 17 year dictatorship. As we found in Cuba, it was very interesting to talk to various different people about Pinochet’s military dictatorship which lasted until 1990 and understand the different points of view. We also visited the Museo de la Memoria, which houses interesting exhibits about the military coup and events (violations of human rights etc) that followed in Chile’s history. They even have a station where you can listen to Allende’s last address to the nation which he broadcast nationally on the last non-compromised radio station during the air-raid attacks on the Presidential Palace. After Pinochet’s troops stormed the palace, according to the official story, Allende was found dead of an apparent suicide, however the bullet entry points potentially suggest otherwise.

Palacio de La Moneda – The Presidential Palace where the military coup d’état took place

More murals in Barrio Brasil on the way to the Museo de la Memoria

Museo de la Memoria

As we still had a hire car with Roser & Antonio, we also got to see some of the surrounds of Santiago on a day trip out to the Cajón del Maipo, another excellent wine region, and the Embalse el Yeso. The embalse is a turquoise dam reached along a rough and dusty dirt road. Unfortunately it was a too cold and windy to stay long and enjoy, but on the bright side the scenery was beautiful and we worked up a thirst for a wine tasting at the Casillero del Diablo on the way home.

Embalse el Yeso

Heading down to the haunted bodega..

El Diablo himself!

After farewelling Xavi’s parents we caught up with our mates Alex & Elena, for an awesome week of fun, catching up, great meals and more exploring in Santiago. We’re so grateful to have been able to stay with such great friends like these along the trip, thanks so much guys!!

Family lunch!!

For the first time, we also tested our recently acquired camping tent on a weekend away to Las Peñuelas. The tent was fine, but the best part was our campfire feast where Alex & Elena showed us a few things they’d learnt to improve an Aussie BBQ while in Chile.

…looks like the boys have just caught some game!

Awesome camp BBQ – including eggs cooked inside capsicum halves!!

Almost calçots..

Speaking of great friends, we also caught up with another old friend from our university exchange in Vancouver (2005), Cristobal, and got to meet his family and friends over a BBQ lunch.

Great Sunday lunch at Cristobal’s

Plus all the neighbours’ dogs came to play

It was great to see you Cristobal!!

We also crossed paths with Pete & Lina again after 3 months!

Between Christmas and mid-January we’ve been staying with family and friends which has been a very appreciated change from the backpackers dorms. Quite possibly our trip would have ended sooner if it weren’t for these mini-breaks! So, sad to leave our mates, but as always excited for the next adventures waiting for us down the road, we set off for Puerto Varas and to discover more of Chile’s south.

Big hugs,
Xavi & Sal