2011.12.28Unpaved roads only allow cars to access a small section of Torres del Paine National Park. Separated by lakes and rivers, the majority of the park can only be reached by hiking trails. The famous TDP Circuit is 100 miles long and usually takes 7~10 days to finish. It is often considered as one of the best hiking trails in the world. The shorter and less demanding alternative, the W trail, requires about 4 days. My original plan was to see the Glacier Grey on the day of our arriving and hike a couple of hours on the second day. However, as we wasted our first day with our vehicle, we wanted to cover as much as we could by car on the only day we would spend in the park.

To catch the sunrise, I got up at 5am and went to the vista point that overlooks Lago Pehoé. Unfortunately, thick cloud covered the entire sky. The lake and the mountains were all casted in a cold blue tone. I waited for 20 minutes and the cloud showed no sign to retreat. Distracted by the bushes and thick vegetation, I pointed my camera to the ground. For no reason, I raised my head and I was astonished by what I saw. The cloud opened up a thin line that allowed the sunshine piercing through the leaden sky. The stripe of light projected onto the mountain in a bright red color. Hurry to grab my tripod, I actually pushed it down and my camera hit the ground. I had to clean my lens before I could take any picture. The light lasted less than 5 minutes and I only manged to make two shots. As a photographer, it’s a great pity to be at the right place at the right time but not being totally ready. Nevertheless, it’s the most glorious sunrise that I’ve ever watched. The pictures can never capture the excitement I experienced at the moment.

Sunrise over Lago Pehoé

There is a full facility camping ground 2 miles down the road. It costs only $6 per night. I went there to take several pictures of the lake from a different angel.

Lago Pehoé and Cuernos del Paine

I drove back to the hotel and went to bed with the concern that if we would have a clear day. After several hours, when I stepped out of the room again, wind had blow the cloud, as well as my worry, away. Lake Pehoé revealed itself in turquoise color, similar to the glacier lakes in Banff, under the blue sky.

Cuernos del Paine

After the breakfast, we started driving to the north. The first stop is the port of Lago Pehoé. At the time we arrived there, a boat was just about to set off. A lot of hikers were ready to get on board. In the summer, there are 3 shifts of cruise boat (Catamaran) to take hikers crossing Lago Pehoé. It is one of major entry points to start TDP Circuit trek.

Salto Grande Fall

We parked the car and started walk a trail towards Sendero Mirador Cuernos – a view point that overlooks Cuernos Principal across Lago Nordenskjöld. Cuernos means Horns, which is a vivid description of the shape of TDP’s most famous peak. The trail made a turn to the north, we now had a open view of Cuernos Principal. From here, we could walk to the waterfall, Salto Grande, that we saw earlier. The wind suddenly got much stronger, we could hardly stand still on the open field.

Stormy Weather of Cuernos del Paine

Salto Grande Fall

We decided to turn back and continued driving to northeast side of the park. At one point, we saw a group of guanacos. They are the close relatives to Llamas and Alpacas we saw in Peru. I knew them from the comic book, The Adventures of Tintin, as they spit on Captain Haddock several times – it is their nature to spit when threatened. Looked very vigilant, they were not afraid of people in close distance. We took many pictures with them.

Guanacos

Guanacos

Cuernos del Paine and Monte Almirante Nieto are the dominant existence of the TDP National Park. They were never out of our sight as we kept driving. Although we planed to reach Hotel Las Torres, which is the starting point of the challenging 9-hour must-do hiking trail to Base Las Torres peak, we actually only drove half way there. The unpaved road were too bumpy and annoyed us a lot. A 4-wheel drive jeep passed us like wind. That’s the car I will rent next time.

Cuernos del Paine and Monte Almirante Nieto

We returned the hotel at 2:30pm, had a lunch and took some rest for a hour, then started off to Lago Grey. Again, we didn’t go very far after we reached the park’s administration where we found the polices the earlier day. The road was too bumpy, the wind was strong and we also worried about if our gas was enough to return Puerto Natales. On our way back, we made a stop at Hotel Salto Chico. This is a hotel at the price of $7000 for 4 nights, even more expensive than Sanctuary Lodge at Machu Picchu. It was hot and dry half an hour ago, but now it started raining. We walked around the hotel to see another waterfall, Salto Chico, that the hotel is named after. The wooden plank road took us to the view point behind the hotel, but with the gusty wind blowing the freezing rain against us, I felt the platform was not very safe, not as nice as the open-air jacuzzi that some residents were enjoying.

Around Hotel Salto Chico

Patagonia’s weather is capricious to say the least, 10 minutes later and several miles away, when we returned to our hotel, the rain stopped and the sky was getting clear again. It’s 6:30pm now. We decided not to go anywhere but rest at the hotel. Although we were not able to do many things we originally planned, after all this was only an overture of a grander journey.

Hosteria Pehoé

Hosteria Pehoé

We checked out of hotel at 9am the next day. When we reached Puerto Natales, the gas tank was still half full. The returning trip was uneventful except a couple of herds of cows and sheep we encountered, for the rest of the time, the strong west wind was our only companion.

Cloud in Strange Shape

Cattle Herd

Unpaved Bumpy Road to TDP

It’s 2pm when we saw the Strait of Magellan again. The wind was continuously blustering and has become more and more violent. Although fierce wind is very common in the westerlies region, even local people admitted that this was unusual in the summer. It was said the wind speed reached 50 mph (level 9). We got in touch with the tour organizers of Antarctic Dream. They told us that most likely the next day’s flight wouldn’t be affected because “they have done that before”, but that didn’t really ease our worries.

A couple of hours later, mother nature revealed her power again – magically, the wind stopped completely. We walked to the restaurant La Marmita to have the dinner. This is Punta Arenas‘ No. 1 restaurant recommended by TripAdvior users. The decors and settings were nice, but the taste was at the plain side. Looking thought the window, the smallest branches of the tree didn’t move at all. We saw it as a bless to our journey the next day.

Restaurant La Marmita

Restaurant La Marmita

2011.12.27Patagonia is a region located in the southern end of South America. The Argentina side is characterized by semi-arid plateaus, embellished with ponds and lakes; the Chilean side, also called Austral, stretches from south Andes to Tierra del Fuego island and Cape Horn, features the landscape of volcanoes, lakes and snow peaks with unsuspected natural beauty. The single mention of the name evokes the fascination of remote and pristine. (To fully appreciate the wildness of Patagonia, I recommend a documentary film – The Last Wild Race.) Our trip stayed within the Chilean side of Patagonia. It would take 3-hour drive from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales, and another two and half hours to reach Torres del Paine National Park.

Leaving the Strait of Magellan behind, mountains were still far away, the only thing we could enjoy was the openness and nothingness of Patagonian plateau.

Nothingness of Patagonia

Driving for about an hour, a herd of thousands of sheep blocked the highway. Sheep farming is another main economic activity of Patagonia besides tourism. The shoulder of the highway was narrow here so the herd had to take over the highway. The shepherds drove them back and forth across the road, sheepdogs followed behind and kept all the sheep together. We fully enjoyed the scene and stopped to take pictures, but other cars didn’t have the patience as we had. Eventually, sheep were gathered at one side of the road when the space was wider so we were able to pass.

A Herd of Sheep

The roadside scenery became more lively as we drove further to the north. Land were all covered by grass and various of flowers. Snow mountains at afar started revealing themselves.

Roadside Flowers, Patagonia

Overlook Mountains of the southern Andes.

Puerto Natales is small town by the bay that connects to the Pacific Ocean through winding Señoret Channel. It is a gateway to TDP nation park and not much else. Buses run every hour from here to the park. Because accommodations within the national park are usually expensive, many visitors stay here over night and go to the park as day trips. As the result, there are good choices of restaurants and hotels in the city. Our plan was to take a rest and maybe have a lunch here.

There will be no gas station beyond this point. It’s important to fill the tank at Puerto Natales. When we stopped at a gas station, the worker pointed to the left back tire of our car. The tire was not just flat, there was a large gap. When we opened the trunk, we found the spare tire was flat too. People working at the gas station were very helpful. They inflate the spare tire and installed it to the car without asking us any money. They tried to speak to us about something but we couldn’t understand a word. Luckily, we found another traveler who was washing his car at the gas station knew both English and Spanish so he could translate for us. They suggested us to get the flat tire repaired so we would have a backup and they told us the shop that could do that.

Not very clear with the direction they gave, we ended up having a short city tour. Eventually, we found a small shop that had a pile of tires outside their door. The old tire was not repairable. They asked us to pay 20 bucks for a used tire in stock. We called the local Hertz office, but as expected no one answered the phone. It’s not a time to bargain. We bought the tire, put it into the trunk and hit the road again. It’s about 2pm.

Puerto Natales

The road split after 10 miles out of Puerto Natales. On the left, the road was unpaved. It’s supposed to be the newer road and can take you to the park faster. Although it is more tempting to stay on the paved road, it is said the pavement won’t last very far ahead. We turned left. After a couple of miles, there was a tourist attraction, Cueva de Milodon, a cave where the remnants of a prehistory giant sloth were found. We didn’t pay to enter the cave, but stopped to check the tire – it ‘s going flat again. For next 1 hour or so, on the unpaved road, others drove 30 miles per hour while I only drove 15 mph. At last, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I stopped at the roadside of Lago Porteño and replaced the tire with the one we just bought. It’s only 15-minute of work, but finally I felt more comfortable and confident driving on the rough road.

Strange Halo

We drove along Lago del Toro and scenery was getting better and better . When we reached the southwest entrance of the park, it’s almost 5pm already. We paid the entrance fee, as usual in South America, foreigners sometimes have to pay 10 times as much as local people, and I decided to take some photos of the surrounding mountains. Right after I made the following shot, my wife run to me and asked, “Do you have the car key with you?” I instantly knew that the last thing I wanted to happen had happened. I left the car key in the car but didn’t tell my wife clearly. When she closed the door, the car automatically locked itself, with the key inside.

Southwest Entrance, Torres del Paine National Park

The entrance didn’t even have a phone. We found a couple who also traveled with their car and spoke some English. They took us to the police station 10 miles down the road. We were so lucky to have them help us communicate with the officers, because no one working in the park spoke English. We called Hertz, but again no one answered, plus I didn’t expect they could drive two hours to come to us. The police paged a patrol officer. When I saw him come with a iron wire I felt so relieved and though we could be on our way soon. However, when he took us to our car, we found he didn’t really know how to use the tool. Before long, another officer came. He had no idea either. Maybe the car was different in Chile, we removed the rim at the bottom the window but couldn’t found any hook inside the door. In the next two hours, three of us tried everything, using the wire to reach the key, to push the door control. The frame of the door was deformed, but nothing worked.

The breakthrough came when one officer made a circle with a thin wire and connected it to the thick wire. He managed to reach the hook that controls the trunk door and got trunk opened. Unfortunately, there was no way to get into the car from the trunk and the officer even got his finger cut. As they were working at the back of the car, I decided to try my luck. This time I tried to reach the door handle. I got it hooked at the first attempt, pull the wire, Voila! the door was opened.

We couldn’t thank for these two officers more. They never gave up on us in that two hours, even with all the efforts turned to disappointments. We tried to pay them but they refused firmly, instead, each of them took out a record book and asked us to write down our acknowledgment. One of officers proudly showed us his Chilean Police badge. What a lovely and honorable police force! No wonder Chile is the safest country of South America.

From Puerto Natales to Hosteria Pehoé in TDP

The rest of the journey was smooth. We arrived at our hotel, Hosteria Pehoé, at 8:00pm. It took us 10 hours on the road. Hosteria Pehoé is located in the middle of Logo Pehoé, the very heart of TDP. It was the most eventful day of all our travel trips, but there is nothing more rewarding than sitting in the restaurant having dinner while watching the unbeatable sunset view over the signature landscape of Torres del Paine National Park.

Logo Pehoé, Torres del Paine National Park

Hosteria Pehoé

2011.12.26After two connection flights at Dallas and Santiago, we arrived in Punta Arenas airport at 5pm. Our journey started at the southernmost city of Chile.

Dallas/Fort Worth Airport

Aeropuerto de Santiago de Chile

We got a Corolla from Hertz at the airport. While checking the car, I noticed the tires were not very good, but I didn’t pay much attention to it. I couldn’t imagine the trouble it would bring to us.

Driving out of the airport, the view of the open blue sea confirmed that we were indeed at the end of the world. In fact, it’s not an open sea, it’s the Strait of Magellan. We made a right turn and drove along the strait. After half an hour, we arrived at Punta Arenas. Although exposed to storms, compared to even more furious Drake Passage, Strait of Magellan is still a better choice of sailing ships. Before the Panama Canal was constructed, the Strait of Magellan was an important route that connected the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Because of that, Punta Arenas also became a booming town in mid-19th century. Today’s Punta Arenas is a tourist hub, visitors use it as a jumping point to explore Patagonia or cruise to Antarctica. However, the flourish and roaring past is history now, what remains is a quiet and small town by the sea.

Punta Arenas

Our plan in Chilean Patagonia region was to stay in Hotel Dreams del Estrecho at Punta Arenas for one night, visit Torres del Paine National Park and come back to the same hotel for another night before we headed to Antarctica. The newly renovated hotel earned very high ratings on the travel sites. Built right next to the strait, it’s one of the tallest building in the city. The first floor is a casino that attracts many visitors. After some negotiation, we got a room with a view of the sea.

the Strait of Magellan

It’s the Christmas day so most of stores and museums were closed. There were not many people on the streets. The good thing was, at the latitude of 53 degrees south, in the summer time, the sun won’t set until 10pm – we had a lot of time to walk around.

Punta Arenas

Punta Arenas

Punta Arenas

Several blocks away from the hotel, we found a couple of restaurants open. We stepped into Brocolino because they had a chalk board in the window with their menu listed. The exterior was not attractive, the price was not cheap and the first thing the waitress told us was, “there is a problem, we only accept cash.” We sat down with a lot of doubts, but when the food came out, it was divine! The seafood were fresh; the fish was tasty and grilled perfectly. The best of all – there were no fancy plating but a lot of crab and fish meat. We couldn’t finish our dishes.

Brocolino Restaurant

Brocolino Restaurant

I got up at 5am the next morning and got some very good pictures of Strait of Magellan. After the breakfast, we checked out and were on our way to Torres del Paine National Park.

the Strait of Magellan

Punta Arenas