The W trek diaries

We reached Santiago after a 30 plus hour travel from Chennai. The last 4 hour leg from Sau Paulo was especially cramped and it was a relief to get some sleep in a horizontal position. In Chile, February is equivalent to July in the northern hemisphere, but despite the long summer days, it was still dark When I woke up at 7.30 am. I learnt later this was because of the hills on the East. Chile is fascinating geographically, a long, thin strip of land bordered by sea on the West and mountains on the East.

Near the Pullan Vitacura Hotel where we stayed were a park and the San Cristobal hill. In the morning, we went on a walk to visit the Japanese Gardens on the hill. I first saw the Monk parakeets here, noisy, communal birds with huge nests. In the afternoon, we walked around the administrative part of the town with a local guide on a history tour. Santiago appeared on the surface much better developed than we had expected. The frequent earthquakes leave their stamp on the city. None of the buildings are very old, and everything is built to withstand some quakes. However, the repeated warnings from the guides and locals to stay in a group, not venture out of known areas, avoid displaying gold, phones or my camera in the open showed that it wasn't a very safe place. And again highlighted how incredibly safe India is compared to most places I have been.

The next day we went on a full day trip to Valparaiso. A once important port, Valparaiso lost its traffic when the Panama canal was opened. Many of the buildings are old and beautiful though and reflect styles from the various visitors. But what really distinguishes the place is the graffiti everywhere. It apparently began as a way for the locals to express their dissatisfaction with the government. But it has evolved into an art form and every bit of wall everywhere is covered in graffiti. And not just graffiti, there is just art everywhere. Shop name boards, restaurant menus - everything was done tastefully and creatively. At the end of the day all of us felt we could have stayed there overnight and spent another day.

The next day we went on an Andes road trip. Turned out to be a disastrous trip with a young first time guide and a four hour drive each way in an uncomfortable vehicle across uninspiring dry desert to spend a short time at a reservoir at the site of a dam. But at least we got a taste of the Andes landscape which was very similar to that in Ladakh with the brown expanses and blue skies. We canceled the trip planned with the same operator the next day. I walked to the park nearby early in the morning and got to photograph some birds. Later we visited the Museum of Pre Columbian Art. Our brief sojourn in Santiago was coming to an end and we leave for Puerto Natales next day.

We had an early morning flight and almost all along the way we were over the Andes range with huge glaciers and icefields running into lakes. Reaching Puerto Natales at midday, we ran into gusty weather and rain. Luckily that was the worst weather we saw and it was better during the rest of the day and during the trek. There were a lot of Black-necked Swans and Imperial Cormorants on the shore. Evening was spent on the critical activity of planning and packing for the trek. I had finally settled on carrying my Fujifilm X-T3 along with two lenses - a 33 mm F2 prime and a 10-24 mm f4 wide-angle lens. I had considered the option of the X-E4 only as a lighter alternative, but I was confident I could keep the bag weight to under 10 kg even with the current choice.

We woke up early to catch the bus at 7.15 am. Everyone had the last minute jitters if they left anything important in the bags we were leaving. It was a two hour drive across rolling pastures with brown grass and cows, sheep and goats with also an occasional cowboy on a horse before we reached the park.

After the formalities at the parl entrance, we started the trek around 9.30 am. First was a 3 and half hour walk to our campsite at Chileno. The last part of this leg was a steep climb, which was a little difficult with the heavy bag. After a quick lunch, we set off for the towers (El Torres) with a small bag containing some warm clothes, a rain jacket and my camera. This was a steady climb, steep in places, for 5 km which took about 2 and half hours. It was a little tough, but nowhere near as difficult as some of the blogs had mentioned. Our destination was the base of three tall towers of stone from which the park takes it's name. In front of them is a pool of crystal clear water filled by meltwater from glaciers. Probably the most picturesque place in the trek and it was worth the difficult climb. Took pictures there and sat around for about half an hour. The descent back to camp was equally difficult and took another 2 hours.

The campsite is a luxury as we have never experienced on a trek before. There is a restaurant to sit and have food. The tents are placed on elevated supports with pillows and sleeping bags inside.

Today was a long tough day that let me utterly exhausted. It was a 16 km walk from Chileno to Frances campsite and took me 7 and a half hours. The very last bit to reach the camp was a long steep climb. And we had to carry the bag all the way. The route had a series of picturesque lakes coming up one after the other on our left while, the mountains kept offering a different face on the right. Again, I enjoyed the sophistication of the campsite with a sprite which tasted better than any I have had before and a warm shower.

I slept well through an absolutely blustery night with the winds threatening to carry away the tent. We started by 9 after breakfast. The first stop was at the Italiano ranger station about one and half hours away. There we dropped the bags and taking a day pack set off for the viewpoints. There are two viewpoints and we reached The first one after about 2 and half hours of walking. The trail wasn't bad. An incline, but not too steep, and rocky but not too difficult to traverse. From this viewpoint we had a close up view of the glacier. We had the option of proceeding to the second viewpoint. But we decided it was unlikely to offer anything more than the first one and wasnt worth another two hours of climbing. So we turned back to the camp where we picked up the bags and had lunch.

After lunch we had a 7 km walk to Paine Grande where we staying for the night. This place is known for the heavy winds and we experienced that as we got closer to camp. The wind comes in fierce howling gusts pushing us off balance and blowing away any cap that you wear.

Today was a reasonably easy walk, at least compared to the last three days. 11 km in 4 hours. A few ups and downs but did not feel tiresome at any point. About halfway through the walk, I had my first view of the Grey glacier and some floating icebergs that had broken off from it. It was absolutely mind blowing. Definitely the highlight of the trip for me because all the other landscapes - dense forests, grassy meadows, snow clad peaks or alpine lakes are all things that we have seen in the Himalayas. Although we went to Gaumukh to the mouth of the glacier from which the Ganges emerges, this was completely different. We could see a vast stretch of the glacier from above, flowing down and then, at it's foot, the water from its melting and the icebergs. I sat alone at a point where I had a view of the glacier to have lunch. The rest of the walk kept bringing me closer and closer to the glacier. After reaching camp, I walked a short distance to a viewpoint which was very close to the glacier and offered incredible views.

After sleeping like a log through the night, we reported in the morning for the kayaking. It turned out that the kayaking was canceled because of the weather, but instead they took us in a boat around the icebergs and very close to the glacier. That was an incredible experience, the boat smashing on the choppy waters, the immensity of the glacier and the blue of the icebergs. After lunch, we took a ferry and then a bus back to Puerto Natales. The next day we flew back to Santiago and then from there back home.