Torres del Paine lies at the Southern tip of the Andes in Chile. Within the park are some of the most impressive mountain sights in the Southern Hemisphere as well as some of the world’s most iconic trekking routes. The park draws approximately 100,000 visitors per year, who come to see the Paine Towers, Los Cuernos, French Valley and Grey Glacier. The W Trek and the Paine Circuit or Q Trek are two of the most popular routes. The park is set up so that people of all ages physical ability can take advantage of the parks beauty. At many of the campsites there are lodges called Refugios with hotel accommodations, restaurant and camping rental equipment. Visitors can choose to hike independently and be self sufficient or they can go with a guided group. They can make reservations at a refugio and sleep in a bed at night or rent a tent from the refugio and camp at the campsite. This is much more expensive. However, it makes hiking much easier when you don’t have to carry your tent, sleep mattress, cook stove and food.  I did the Q Trek, which usually takes from 8 to 10 days to complete.

Click To Enlarge

How to get there: Torres del Paine National Park is located in southern Chile in the Andes Mountain Range. To get there from Lima, Peru I flew to Punta Arenas, Chile with a layover in Santiago. I then took a bus approximately 70 miles to Puerto Natales, Chile, which is the closest town outside of the National Park. Several busses run daily from Puerto Natales to TDP park entrance. You can fly directly into Punta Arenas, from the US. However I found those flights to be very expensive. Most of the people I met flew to Punta Arenas from Santiago or Buenos Aires.

Puerto Natales, Chile  is the gateway to TDP. The town was originally a small fishing village but now feeds off of tourism and services backpackers and tourists traveling to TDP. It’s a small town with lots of hostels (including Erratic Rock Hostel), budget guest houses and small restaurants. It also has several retail shops which sell or rent camping equipment and clothing. You can buy or rent all of your supplies here before before your trip to TDP. Also, most hostels rent equipment and supplies. There is a large Unimarc grocery store and several small fresh produce stores, which also sell dried fruits and granola type snack food.  Many of the people I met in the park rented tents, sleeping pads, stoves etc in PN, which is convenient if you are traveling to other locations afterwards and won’t be camping. Just be aware, all of the the rental equipment is bomb proof and HEAVY. I hiked with 2 women who rented all of their equipment and were struggling will full backpacks, each weighing more than 40 lbs. In comparison, my total pack weight, including 1 liter of water and 5 days of food was 22 lbs. More about this later

Aguas Calientes is a small town which lies in a deep gorge, approx 3 miles beneath the ruins of Machu Picchu. The town basically serves as a terminal for Peru Rail and is the principal access point for anyone visiting Machu Picchu. The gorge is beautiful but the town is nothing but restaurants and hotels, with lots of construction trying to keep up with the huge influx of tourists. It’s a necessary evil if you want to see MP. I stayed here one night and enjoyed the hot springs after my visit to MP before boarding the train back to Cusco.

My tickets through Aita Peru included a guided 2 hour tour of Machu Picchu beginning at 7am. You have two options to get to the entrance of MP: 1) You can take a bus, which leave AC starting at 6am throughout the day.  2) You can hike 3 miles on a trail straight up with no switchbacks. I chose the latter because I wanted to see the sunrise at 6am.  The night before I packed a sandwich, snacks and water in my day pack. The next morning I woke up at 4:30, left a bag at the front desk of the hotel with a change of clothes and started following the trail out of town in the dark with my headlamp. Actually, I just followed the line of lights from other eager tourists in front of me. I was told that it took approx 45 minutes to hike to the entrance.

After 15 minutes I was dripping with sweat. By the time I reached the entrance at 6:10. I only beat the first bus by 5 minutes. My clothes were drenched with sweat and rain from a light drizzle. The passengers getting off the bus were dry and fresh and most were still eating their breakfast to go. I walked through the entrance but the entire mountain was engulfed in a thick cloud so I walked back and waited for my tour guide, rethinking my choice to hike vs sleeping in and riding the bus. The clouds added to the beauty in the morning and by 10am we had clear skies for my climb up

My first view of the ruins as the clouds began to clear at 7am

Chillin with a few of my friends

Llamas graze throughout the ruins.

Julio, our guide was awesome!  Highly recommend having a guided tour for first 2 hours. You can spend the rest of the day roaming the ruins.

The stonework is amazing!

The climb up Huayna Picchu was well worth the effort.

Up in the clouds on Huayna Picchu

I loved the mountains surrounding Cusco and I could hardly believe that I was looking at architecture that was built in the 13th century and still standing. However, what I loved most about my visit were the local people who took time to talk with me and who showed me kindness during my brief stay.

I met Miguel on my first day in Cusco in the Plaza de Armas. He spoke better English than I did Spanish but that didn’t stop him taking the time to answer my questions about the city and culture. When he found out that I enjoyed hiking, Miguel told me that I must come back and visit the Colca Canyon, Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Huayhuash, Chachapoyas (Warriors of the Clouds), Pacaya–Samiria National Reserve in the Amazon. He took the time to describe each and typed the name of each location in my smartphone notepad for me.  I saw Miguel again on my last day in Cusco.  He called my name as we passed on the street and I told him that it was my last day in Cusco. He insisted we go have a going away beer, which he poured and I paid for….I thoroughly enjoyed the brief time I spent with Miguel listening to him enthusiastically tell me about his beautiful country.

Flute and Charango

Weedeater in Plaza de Armas.

Late for work. Rushing through the Plaza de Armas

Maria Abella Sanchez Fernandez, the day manager at Pisko & Soul. My “go to” person.

Jorge, Breakfast Cook at P & S. In addition to Mate, he had hot coffee ready for me each morning!

Coca Tea 

There is also a food court in the Market that serves local dishes at a fraction of the cost of most local restaurants.  Although the sanitation borders on disgusting, I did eat lunch and dinner there for 3 days without getting sick!  Here’s where my restaurant background allowed me to enjoy some great Peruvian cuisine and live through the experience unscathed.  My epicurean rules of engagement:  Look for crowded vendors. (I mean standing room only with local diners). Assume that none of the vendors have washed their hands within the last hour. The food must come out of a steaming hot pot and be served with a spoon. NOT their hands. Served immediately. This eliminates any cold foods or food served at room temp. No food prepared in advance.  My only hope was that the serving pot would be at least 180*F  to kill any bacteria cuties.

Sopa Pollo -Fantastico!   5 Nuevo Soles = $1.61 (I had this soup every day)

Huevo con Arroz – 5 Nuevo Soles – Lot’s of starch here but filling and cheap.

Peruvian Cheese

The San Pedro Market is the place where locals gather and go for their groceries. Everything was on display and I loved hanging out there. Just wandering around the stalls with towers of fruit, mounds of baked breads, spices, seeds, fresh flowers, and handmade crafts, alpaca bags, hats & sweaters and fried guinea pigs (cuy) and pig heads on the adjacent aisle.   It was an inside look at Peruvian everyday culture.

That’s right! Just around the corner from the flower lady

After breakfast I headed into town to walk the streets and look around. It rained all night and was still sprinkling as I walked down the series of steps. I was almost dreading my climb back to Piskol & Soul at the end of the day.

Then I looked up and saw my first double rainbow!

Plaza de Armas

Cathedral Basilica on the Plaza de Armas

It doesn’t take long for the locals to spot a tourist.

 Cusco at sunset.