No hablamos mucho espanol

We arrived in the portal town to the Torres Del Paine national park, Puerto Natales, only to be grabbed by a little old lady called Melinda, who took us to her hostel or' hospedaje', which is more of a private home than a hostel. It was the cheapest we have found so far, but then again the price reflects the condition and the next morning, we discovered an Irish/Canadian couple had bed bugs, bad luck.

We headed over to the information spot, Erratic rock, a hostel that gives a long talk about trekking through Torres del Paine. There are a few options, the most popular ones being the 'W', a very easy 4 day trek, or the 'Circuito', an 8 day moderate (to demanding in places) trek. We chose the latter, got our shopping done, our equipment packed, and boots laced up and arrived at the start of the trek at Lago Armaga. After checking in with the local rangers, day one consisted of alot of rain, low clouds and familiarisation of our big backpacks for long days. It was a pretty easy start through sparce vegetation with signs of the remnants of the 2005 forest fires (started by campers knocking over a cooking stove and as a result, they have built shelters in which you must cook your food when camping to prevent fires.) At the first campsite 'campmento' we started meeting the group of people also doing the circuit, who we got to know over the next week. Day 2 cleared up considerably and we had clear views over the rear side of the famous 'Towers' or 'Torres'. After some climbing, we enjoyed views over several emerald lakes, a nice way to enjoy your soup and crackers for lunch. The walk led us to what has been the best campsite of the holiday so far, campmento/refugio Dickson, which resides under a glaciar and by Lago Dickson, very scenic indeed! Our tent faced out onto the snowcapped mountains, a nice view to wake up to in the morning, and a minutes walk to the glacial lake behind us (just had to avoid stepping in all the horse manure on the way!) Before we even had our pasta meal, our gluttony got the better of us as we shovelled down half our ration of chocolate for the week! Later on on the trek we would regret this as we had to top up with a £5 bar of chocolate ouch. Poor Gordie celebrated a rather dry St Patrick's Day and had to watch on as the Canadian/Irish couple guzzled down a litre of Gato wine next to our tent. That evening we started mingling with the others, we call the 'circuit chicos', and Susan was really happy to have a luke warm shower in a portable hut (note Susan had 2 showers in 8 days, and Gordon had one and smelt pretty!)

Day 3 was an easy stroll of about 4 hours from Refugio Dickson to Campento Los Perros. On approaching the campsite, we emerged from the forest to be greeted by scree slopes and a monstrous wind as we progressed up to Glacier Los Perros. This was our first taste of 'knock-you- over' style wind as we braced rocks and propped ourselves up with branch walking sticks. We finally found Campento Los Perros hidden in a small forest, perfectly sheltered from the hammering wind. The one thing that we said we would kill for as we were walking that day was a snickers bar... Low and behold, the Campento stocked them. 8000 chilean pesos laters (£11), we had a stock of 8 snicker bars. The best tasting ones we have ever had! We stuffed our fat little faces with not 1, not 2 but 3 bars each and reluctantly held onto one each for the next day's crossing of the pass, which we knew would be the trickiest and hardest part of the trek. That evening we cooked our, yes pasta meal in a makeshift camping shelter of galvanised tin and coal bag fabric. Gordon went out to chop some wood from the forest to get the oil barrel burner going in the shelter and all the circuito chicos were excited about the prospect of warmed boots, until someone decided it would be a good idea to ignite the fire with brine remains from his tuna fish tin...no fire tonight, folks.

We didn't realise how long day 4 was going to be when we woke up that morning. We got an early start to beat the weather and cross the pass that morning. This is notoriously tricky if you get a strong breeze and you can experience 4 season weather up there: sun, wind, rain and snow. We were very lucky, the gradual slope up to the pass was pretty windless and after a very steep slog just before the pass crest, we arrived greeted by 40-50km winds and amazing Glacier Grey that stretched beyond the eye's limit. With our large backpacks, you had to brace yourself every time you turned for fear of being swept off your feet. (Susan was lucky when Andy from the circuit gave her one of his walking poles for support.) Worth it though! We enjoyed our snicker treat with Andy and Adam behind a make-shift rock wall before taking some photos and making our way down the west side of the pass. The circuit is typically done counter clockwise and we could see why on the descent. We meandered down the scree slopes for about 30 minutes before arriving at a forest that would punish our knees and legs. Each step was anywhere from 1-2 feet in height and that really took it out of us. Killer. We managed to find a nice tree trunk to re-energise with soup, tea, chocolate, crackers and peanuts before continuing down the steps, knees really starting to ache from the weight on our backs. Our aim was to make it to the second free campsite after the pass, but once we had bumped into an Austrailian outfit who were making a day trek to the pass from Refugio Grey (the newest refugio in the park) had told us about the hot showers, kiosk and wine, we were on a mission to Refugio Grey. We traversed a few hundered meters up on the slopes overlooking Glacier Grey with a few ladders chucked in for good measure to clamber up and down some deep ravines. Susan managed to clamber down with ease given her vertigo and we arrived at Refugio Grey SHATTERED, 10 hours later! Being a really busy, popular campsite, our choice of tent pitches were limited and we were rather exposed. As we erected the tent, a gust caught it and broke one of the metal sleeves to connect the poles. A quick repair (that was broken by the following morning) we set about the food and wine. Plenty of singing (French songs), chatting and vino later, we hit the sack and slept like babies until...the tent collapsed on us half way through the night. We (Gordon at least, Susan refused to wake up!) awoke nice and early to quickly pack up the tent before it completely flew away. Luckily we borrowed a repair kit from the group so we could continue camping (refugios are really expensive.)

Day 5 was a 5 hour wet and windy slog to campmento Italiano through the most recently burnt out area of the park (an Israeli camper lit his loo paper and that is how it started!) We arrived at the root of the leg into the 'French Valley' where we spent day 6, relaxing, reading and enjoying the ampitheatre-like views in perfect weather, our favourite day of the trek. Day 7 took us to the 'pinnacle' of the trek, the 'Torres', the famous symbols of Torres Del Paine, which we saw at sunset and luckily only had to share the spectacular view with 5 other people. Most choose to wake up at 5am and catch it at sunrise (Gordon being one of the mugs!), but we were fortunate to get a good sunset as the sunrise was non existant and Susan was smirking as she lay in bed for an extra 2 hours! Once Gordon returned we had porridge (with the added bonus of saltanas), agreed a meeting place for a celebratory meal with our fellow circuito chicos later that evening, and then retreated to refugio Los Torres to get our bus back to Puerto Natales.

We wrapped up del Paine by devouring kilos of chips, pizzas, drinks (Pisco Sours, the typical Chilean cocktail), ice cream brownies, not a care in the world about the calories! (This was repeated the following night!)

Next Stop: Mount Fitz Roy.

Hasta pronto chicos!

Our supply of food for the trek

Day 1 ready for the Torres circuit

The view from our tent at Refugio Dickson

Glacial lake at Refugio Dickson

Refugio/campmento Dickson

Dickson's perfect setting

View from our tent

Susan ready for day 3

Mmmmm SNIICKER time!

Aussie Andy joined us to cross the pass

Upwards towards the chill of the glaciar

Nearly up the pass wearing 3 layers, it was ICY!

Andy nearing the top of the pass

Glaciar Grey beckons

Gordon at the top of the pass greeting Glaciar Grey in the background

Susan battling the high winds

Breathtaking

Had to climb up and down several high ladders (hard to see in picture) to get to Refugio Grey

Glacier Grey creeping along

French Valley, day 6

Gordon and the three amigos. 'Frenchie' as they nicknamed him (the middle one) seemed to know a load of Irish songs that his English teacher taught him in school, stating it would come in use one day...it did

Some more circuito chicos

French Valley

Airing boots stand back!!

Susan with brother and sister travellers, Bear and Wendy

Reading the kindle in the French Valley

Departing early on day 7

Gauchos prepare the horses for clearing out one of the refugios. Most of the logistics in the park are by horse as some of the more northern camps have not vehicle access

The three towers 'Torres' looming over the lake

Day 8, finally finished.

Guanacos

Adam and Heath enjoying a well earned drink.

Post trek meal

We have arrived at the end of the world 'fin del mundo' at Tierra del Fuego, the ´land of fire.´

Regrettably our ferry trip through fjords and uninhabited islands to Isla Navarino did not quite go to plan due to no ferry being available that week (we are used to changing plans quite frequently along the way now). We arrived at the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia fresh with entusiasm for the start of Patagonian trekking, camping and (apparently) variable weather.

The first evening in Ushuaia entertained us with our first encounter of the Argentinian-Anglo dispute over the small penguin inhabited Falkland Islands (known over here as 'Islas Malvinas'). To make life easy for us we have been saying that we are both from Ireland (if you mention that you live in the UK at the moment, you are never sure what kind of reaction you will get). Susan accidentally let it slip that she worked and lived in England. Oops. Let's just say that the chap from Buenos Aires suggested that Susan get back on Cameron's recently dispatched frigate and return to the UK. Charming! He then proceeded to sit on his bunk and stare at us ( and the wall) for an hour. Needless to say we were on our guard that night and swiftly left the hostel the next morning with our apparent 'breakfast' (i.e. a cup of instant coffee and a tea bag) and found a much more pleasant hostel, which we would recommend to all travellers, called Yakush Hostel.

Being this close to the Antarctica AND KING PENGUINS, made it a very tough decision not to jump on the next ship heading south, but we restrained ourselves and went on a really scenic 5 hour boat trip down the infamous Beagle Channel past sealion and penguin colonies, past Les Eclaireurs lighthouse and waved as we sailed past Isla Navarino (we met some people who did the trek there a few days before and to say Gordon was jealous is an understatement!) Even though it was a very touristy boat trip, we would recommend it, or a kayak trip down the channel, as the views are very pretty on a good day.

We pushed on the next day to get our moneys worth out of our new tent, which we had only used once so far and found a campsite just out of town. We pitched our tent and headed straight up a steep, disused ski slope just above the campsite towards glaciar Martial. While traversing upwards, having to look at the old chair lift we could just jump on didn't ease our pain, but it was a good workout nevertheless (and we certainly need to work off all those fatty empanadas!) We walked through a pretty forested area in full autumn bloom, which follows a nordic ski run all the way to the foot of the glaciar. We got our first taste of fresh glacial water running down (tasty, fresh water is hard to come by in many places in SA so was a treat.) The next day we stayed put due to bad weather (fortunately the only poor weather we have experienced in Patagonia to date) and bumbled around Ushuaia town WINDOW shopping (no space in rucksacks for real shopping!) and drinking local hot chocolate, which is renowned in the area. We will go into our chocolate speel later on. That evening we wrapped up our stay at the campsite by treating ourselves to a bbq steak 'lomo' (NB:meat before a hike=essential!) and met an Australian/German couple who gave us some tips on the hike we would do the next day.

Day one of the trek brought us to Lago Encantada, a charming and beautiful lake surrounded by very scenic mountains filled with glaciers, rocks and greenery. The highlight of the walk that day had to be shortly after setting off on foot, with a typical Patagonian backdrop of mountains, sun, blue skies and streams to all of a sudden hear a thundering noise. Low and behold about 15 horses came charging along the flatlands of the valley and through the streams while being herded by three or four local gauchos. We have never scrambled to get the cameras out that quickly...your standard Kodak moment! We had the glacial basin all to oursevlves as we tucked our tent in amongst a small forested area on the banks of the emerald lake. While Gordon strolled around the lake taking in the scenery, Susan marched off in search of beavers! Unfortunately their dam was evident (clever little animals), but they were hiding as they may be aware that beaver stew is common amongst locals and clearly did not want to be our dinner. We were certainly protected from the wind, but not the cool altitude and ice chill from the glaciar as we froze that night even when wrapped in double layers of thermals and sleeping bags. The warmest we were that evening was courteousy of Gordon's caveman fire-making skills, which quelled my whinging and dried my wet boots and subsequently melted them partially!

The next morning, we were frozen so cooked our porridge (Gordon now refuses to eat the stuff) and got up and about as soon as possible. En route, we could feel our toes and finger tips again, and set off on day 2 torwards Lago de Caminate. This was a fairly easy day apart from having to find our way through the largest maze of a beaver dam we have ever seen. The first attempt at going through the dam (i.e climbing through a maze of rotten wood, fallen trees, water, marsh etc) failed miserably as it appears that not only do beavers not wish to be found, but they don't appear to like the national park yellow markers so they destroy everything in sight. So we retreated and skirted the perimeter of the dam to eventually find the route out. Some hours later, after a really steep incline, some heights vertigo sufferers wouldn't revel at (and somewhat misinformed by The Lonely Planet Guidebook as to timings) we arrived at the most emerald lake we have seen yet. It was worth the effort. Again we had the camping area in a forested area to ourselves. Another fire to warm up and a slight misjudgement in pasta sauce purchase (West Indian Hot Sauce HOT!) concluded the evening. The next morning, another pot of porridge accompanied by mischievious-looking skies, we set off to cross the 850m pass to the other side of the valley. The first hour was challenging, but luckily the clouds dissipated to reveal clear, blue skies at the crest of the pass. We crossed the pass, took some pictures, froze for a while and pressed on a descend to Ushuaia. We enjoyed the panoramic views of the autumn-clad valley as we traversed along the steep scree slopes and celebrated the hard walk with tea, soup, nuts and chocolate. Ravenous.

We arrived back in Ushuaia after clambering for an hour or so through an obstacle course of storm-flattened massive trees. After a shower, some MEAT and a night to recouperate back at Yakush hostel, this ended our stint in Ushuaia and another 16 hour bus journey would take us to Puerto Natales, the entrance town to Torres Del Paine National Park.