Torres del Paine

Unfortunetly many days have passed since i was there (due to lack of cheap and reliable internet i was not able to write)... so the story will not be as juicy as it could have been ... :) Well, here we go... Torres del Paine is the national park in Chile in Patagonia... has very remote areas for trekking and camping... There are several ways to do it: you can either walk with small backpack and sleep at refugio (very basic rooms), rent the tent in the refugio or the backpacker´s way: carry your own food and tent. If you sleep in refugios, its expensive, i heard $40 for just a bed with no sheets (just use of your own sleeping bag). The dinner of some simple noodles can cost up to $15 in the refugio... Renting tents is cheaper and you have a lighter backpack, i bet... But to do it the backpacker´s way means carrying at least 15 kg of stuff (tent, stove, gas, pots, plates, cups and food for 5 days) and walk with it for 6 to 8 hours per day. Did i forget to mention, that the only camping i did before this, was drivng to the camping site and sleeping in the tent (that was set up by boys) on the air mattress with real pillows and blankets :) . At first i thought i would just go and sleep at the refugios, but after learning how expensive it is, i decided... to challenge myself and do it all... the hard core way. The ideal situation would be to go in the group of 3, so that we could redistribute the weight.. I waited for 3 days in the hostel hoping to meet some people that would match my skill level... but its just was not happening... there were tons of nice people , but i knew it was not my cup of tea... and soo, i decided to do it on my own!!! On my own in the sense that i would be resposnible for all my food and sleeping equipment. But there were tons of people on the trails to talk to and to hang out with. The day before the trip, as i was waterproofing my backpack, packing and preparing for the trek, my left hip and left knee were hurting like hell, it came out of nowhere, to the point that i could not even walk from my room to the bathroom without feeling the pain... At that point, i could care less, was already so fed up with being tired from all the fear, anticipation and indecisiveness. I decided to keep going anyways and just see how i feel in the morning! And just rented the knee support and the walking sticks as a precaution... The treck, was the most difiucult thing i probably have done... heavy pack, tireing walks, walking through the heavy rain and strong winds, crossing creeks and rivers, balancing and jumping from one rock to another so not to fall in the water, climbing rocks to reach miradores, freezing at night in my sleeping bag that was not warm enough for this trip... :(, eating instant chicken stock for breakfast, dry fruit for lunch and instant noodle soup for dinner!!! The first night was raining... , and in the morning i had to pack my tent and all my staff and walk in the rain, there is no time to wait for the rain to stop... becasue i need enough time to make to the next camping site... By the time i packed my tent and backpack in the freezing rain, my fingers were numb from cold and were tingling, and i was almost in tears feeling sorry for myself... One night, i had to cook my dinner inside the tent, becasue the water would just not boil outside due to freezing cold and strong wind, and worrying not to accidently turn over the stove and set up my tent ... and me ... on fire ::)). I made many mistakes, and one of them was not to take enough food ... since i was terrified of already super heavy backpack!! Day 3, in the morning, i must have looked very hungry and exhausted, becasue some guys offered me bread and jam ... and i took it!!! :). Day 4 , i was hungry even more and my new friends, Charlene and Selene, gave me 2 cereal bars, that i savored every crumb of for 2 days!! Yes , they lasted me 2 days!! I had to ration my foods... :) Interstingly enough, I learned that i was able to turn the survival mechanism on and not to fall appart. There was nobody around me who would care if i was cranky or moody anyways... :) , so i didn't!!! Day 5 ... in the morning i woke up at 4 am from freezing in my tent and waited inpatiently for 5 am for others to wake up and lead the way to the Mirador for sunrise to see the main Torres... I had no idea how to climb on my own in the darkness.. was afraid to get lost and kill myself by faling off the rocks :)). (The day before I started the trip, there was a guy who was found bleeding and uncoscious here).... So, as soon, as i saw some people started walking up with the lights, i joined them... It was really beautifull and freezing!!! I was laying there on the rocks in the sleeping bag, and drinking hot Nescafe ( I was given an advice to bring the sleeping bag and breakfast to the top by some super duper climber dude) !!! Paradise... Who knew Nescafe is such an awsome drink!!! Pictures willl come, eventuallyyy!!! :) The last couple of hours on the way to the point where we were being picked up by minivans, I was sprinting... The huge backpack felt like a tiny purse.... I did not feel a thing!!!! I was not hungry, i was not tired, and my feet were not hurt at alll!!! I was soo happy to be alive and well... and had such a feeling of accomplishemnt that is hard to describe!!!!!! I was smillling for a week for no reason... All I could think was- What a lucky girl I AM :)))