Torres del Paine National Park

I spent 4 days hiking at Torres del Paine National Park. An amazing park in the Chilean side of Patagonia. It certainly is my favorite hike in South America, as everyday I got to see something different. Me and Jens (my German partner) followed the classic "W" shape route hiking from the West to East side.

This is our camp site on day 1, situated at a beautiful camping spot called Paines Grande. As you can see I have beautiful mountains for backdrop. There are also a lot of tents around us as it is peak hiking season right now. And no wonder too as we had an absolute jewel of a weather throughout!

The trek on day 1 is along a very expose ridge, with a huge river full of ice bergs floating down the side. It also explains for the state of these trees. Unfortunately the wind took it's toll on a German girl I met. She got pushed over by the whilst attempting to take a photo. She ended up rolling down the hill and breaking her leg. Yicks!

This mountain range in the French valley is what I saw on day 2. Basically you trek high up to this valley, and at the view point you are surrounded almost all the way (260 degrees) by mountains.

Unfortunately I lost Jens on day 3 of the trek. He had to turn around because of a stuff knee. It was a bit daunting for me being such a green camper as it meant that I had to carry everything whilst climbing more hills. Nevermind coz I did it! :)

This is the legendary Torres del Paine at sun rise on my last day of trekking. Seeing the golden rays of the sun touching the tip of these 3 granite rocks. Shaped by centuries of the retreating force of glacier ice, was mesmerizing. The rocks perturbs into the sky sharply and stand out against the surrounding landscape. The highest point is the middle - Cerro Paines Grande at around 2750 metres. The South Tower is at 2500 metres whilst the North Tower is at 2460 metres.

I can now go home happy. I have came to South America, and have seen everything I wanted to.

The Patagonia region was the last must-do thing on my list. And it has not disappointed. In fact, I may go as far as to say... It may have been the highlight of my trip in this region!