There are many places in the world which bear their name because of the adventure that comes along with it. The Himalayas, The Congo, etc, are some amongst them. I once read the book Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin and was hooked to the ‘end of the world’ feel of the Argentinean order which is a large part of the attraction. Along the region of the Antarctic explorers, the Cape Horn, as well as the Darwin Voyages, the place seems to beautifully fit inside such a mesmerising beauty. Condors soar on the thermals and Guanacos and Rheas stalk the plains. There are Welsh missionaries and glaciers which make the place even more beautiful.

The main town is set on the Chilean side of the border. The Torres Del Paine National Park is home to the W and O trails that are famous and open to all the visitors. It is around 50 miles long and takes you through some of the most beautiful scenery that I have ever encountered. One of the popular routes for the visitors, there are various organized campsites en route. There s a bus from Puerto Natales which takes you to the Park Gates and offers a transfer service that runs you to the visitor’s centre. It takes you to a beautiful hotel with all the amenities.

Day 1 starts of with a day’s hiking that can be done with the W trail or as an out and back day walk. A pretty steady climb, this route takes you through the Ascencio Valley and offers a beautiful view throughout the steady climb. The Windy Pass drops down towards the Ascendio River and the Cileno Redugio where we topped up and collected our water. The trail continues through some beautiful rivers and forest where people had stopped for lunch before the most notorious section, the boulder field.

Channing’s knee started to give him trouble and it was painful so we stopped for a while. We had a huge portion of strew and were concerned at how his leg would restore to normal the next day and in what circumstances.

 

Day 2 started off with the well-rested sleep and a breakfast. The sun came out and we became a perfect blue. The shores were high above the ground and the colour of the water was vibrant. The scenic highlight of the day was Los Cuernos, the Horns as well as the rugged horns. The Refugio bearing their name had not opened for the season so we had to press on and were feeling weary by the time we had reach Frances.

 

Day 3 was another day of beautiful valleys and a wonderful day awaited us with clouds and a sunshiny walk. The forlorn looking Italian camp makes the day perfect with the mesmerizing view of the forests. Pantagonian wind started to pick up for the first time but gave us a really close view of the three iconic Andean Condors that played beautifully amongst the clouds. It was all just a picturesque view.

After we came back from the place, it was all a beautiful memory that we could keep with ourselves and an experience we will never forget. The wind was unbelievable and the forest ran through a lot of lovely meadows and riverside that could be left with its surreal experience that we had throughout our journey.