To cut a long walk short...

So... yes... Torres Del Paine.

So, Í`ll spare you the step-by-step account and basically tell you that the 4 days i spent in the park were brilliant. It´s probably the most beautiful place i have ever been to and urge anyone and everyone who comes out this way to go there and see it.

The walking was not always easy - especially the scramble up boulders on the last night to see the Torres themselves - however, the pay off is that you feel like you earn the right to enjoy the park and the views are all the more sweeter when you see them. The landscape and topography in the park is incredibly divers n all - from glaciers and craggy ridges to thick forests where you can here the thunder crack of avalanches high above you. There are rivers to cross - not all with bridges and not all with obvious places to plant your feet in the swirling white water. There`s the incredible tranquil beach near refugio Los Cuernos (where i got drunk on Pisco with the chilean lads who worked there) with black and white pebbles (i think theres a photo of it in the flickr thing) where i skimmed stones on the flat water (i may have set a new PB). My favourite view tho was on the penultimate day walking up the ridge to the final valley and looking down and seeing wild horses running and some condors circling over the lush green land below me. Magic.

However, I think i got lucky with the weather. A bit of wind on day one and some rain in the morning on day 3, but the rest was hot and sunny. Which is in stark contrast to some of the "when good times go bad" horror stories i have since heard from a few other folk.

Nevertheless, as i sat, waiting for the bus to take me back to Puerto Natales, under a tree watching some gauchos rustle up some horses with avalanches tumbling down the far off moutain i too felt sad to be leaving.