Puerto Natales & Torres del Paine

Torres del Paine is an absolute must on any trip to Patagonia, and we had been dreaming of it long before.

Unfortunately, we had known for a while that we could only enjoy the national park with some limitations, considering the flexibility that is important to us on our journey, and the money we are willing to spend.

Therefore, we had to give up the idea of undertaking multi-day hikes (especially the famous W-Trek). Thanks to Instagram and the like, the park has become so popular that reasonably priced camping options are booked out months in advance, and otherwise everything is so absurdly expensive that it is disproportionate. At the same time, everything is squeezed into a very rigid administrative corset, and without bookings, you cannot enter the park at all.

So we reluctantly decided on a guided day trip (so we wouldn't have to drive all the long distances ourselves), which turned out to be a beautiful experience anyway.

We set off very early with a scruffy, bearded rocker-guide, who was supposed to teach us a lot throughout the day about biology, history, and geology - at least after he woke up properly after the first 5 cigarettes and 2 coffees. Our driver seemed less trustworthy and unfortunately a bit overwhelmed with the road conditions, but at the end of the day, he fortunately didn't leave us in any ditch or abyss.

First, we visited the Milodón Cave, where you could really imagine how cavemen and women sat around a fire and found faith here.

On the rather lengthy way to the park, we made a few stops to admire guanacos, nandus, and condors that drew large circles in the sky.

In the national park itself, the weather was quite mixed with clouds, occasional rain, and - surprise - lots of wind.

Nevertheless, the many different mountain formations with insane shapes and made of various rock layers were totally impressive - a land before our time. Unfortunately, the photos didn't turn out so well due to the lighting conditions (no Instagram filter helps), so just go there yourself and be amazed! It did hurt a little not to be able to set off on bigger hikes.

As the day went on, the weather became stormier and worse, so we could only catch a glimpse of the famous Torres del Paine peaks on the side.

After a very long day with a lot of road travel, we checked into a creepy hostel in Puerto Natales in the pouring rain in the evening and were actually glad that we only had to spend one night in this remote place for the national park.

However, when we got up very early the next morning and waddled with our bags to the bus station in the storm and rain, we learned that because of the weather, the roads and the border crossing to Argentina were closed. So we changed our bus booking, found alternative accommodation, and spent the whole day in a café, watching the apocalyptic atmosphere and pitying the people who had to reluctantly start their long-planned trek.

That's Patagonia! One humbly submits to the weather and prepares for what is to come.

It was beautiful, let's move on (sometime at least).