WHERE: The W-trek, Torres del Paine National Park, Patagonia
WHERE LESS DETAILED: Chile
WHY?: as 40mph winds batter the one-horse town of Puerto Natales and we attend a pre-trek lecture we ask ourselves the same question. The answer is that it was in lonely planet's 1001 places to visit before you die and the photos look awesome. obviously the photos don't capture the cold or wind or the abysmal food we are about to endure over the next 4 days.
FOOD IS: awful. a real let down. Mindful of the fact there are no tesco locals in the park we advanced book lunch and dinner in the refugios in the park. For ￡12 a packed lunch and ￡17 a dinner you would expect tasty fare but oh no. The only thing Paul can compare it to is the pressure cooker stew his mum used to make (and which Paul that routinely threw out the window into the back garden) or his dad's Saturday afternoon "left-over surprise"...
... Worst still is the 1980s attitude towards vegetarian meals which consists of taking the meat-eating option and simply removing the slab of overcooked beef and plopping some cold tinned button mushrooms ... discovering Puerto Natales is stuck in some sort of Hot Tub time machine timewarp with snow-washed jeans everywhere and 80s hits on repeat in every restaurant ...
HIGHLIGHTS/LOWLIGHTS: ... judging by the large number of old people on the trek we reckon it's going to be a walk in the park, which technically it is, but I mean we reckon it will be nice and easy... 30 minutes into the first hill of the trek and we're already sweating bullets and wondering what the hell is going on... within the first climb of the first morning of our first day we decide we’re not really trekkers, and if you could get to these beautiful places on a ski lift, or a golf buggy then we would much prefer that … ah well only another six hours, today, then nine hours tomorrow, then seven the next day, then four the last… we get to see “the towers” and suddenly it’s not all that bad this trekking lark … turns out trekking is very much like pregnancy, the end result seems to make all the hassle worthwhile ... Rhaani’s attempt to cover her entire feet with blisters falls short when we discover a untouched bit between her third and fourth toe … the food continues to plumb the depths …
... by day two we appear to be getting the hang of this trekking lark and are no longer taking off layers and putting jumpers back on … Paul develops his triple threat of headwear with beanie, strange 80s ski-headband and a bandana all taking turns (often within the same hour) … beyond that there’s nothing interesting to say, really. Rhaani’s feet get worse and by the last day she can barely make it up the hill, but hobbles for a couple more miles until she's being overtaken by old people … Paul continues to change his headgear every few steps … the wind at the top of the middle bit of the W is a bit frantic … we camped for a night which wasn’t as cold as we thought although Julie says her feet were freezing … the accommodation continued to be overpriced and the food crap … on our last night we did get to stay in a cool place which had plugs and a tasty spaghetti Bolognese …
...then we finished the W and got the ferry back to the world and some proper food and crap American TV …
UP NEXT: a stops in El Calafate to do some washing then Buenos Aires then onto
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