We went to Torres del Paine for a week, which is definitely one of the most beautiful places on earth.
Unfortunately, it's not a very well kept secret , so it was pretty busy. Fortunately, 95% of the people restrict themselves to a 2 or 3 day hike called the 'W' (for its shape). We did this hike, as it contains pretty spectacular scenery, then continued around the "circuito", the backside of the park where there are far fewer people and just as much to take your breath away.
The scenery is really varied - vast glaciers, alpine bowls, talus slopes, golden fields, jagged mountains, sparkling lakes. I guess the pictures speak for themselves.
At times it felt like hiking in BC or Alberta, then a flock of birds would fly by and I'd realize they were parrots! Very surreal.
We invested in some backpack covers (matching silver ones so everyone would know we were a couple!) and were pretty glad we did as it was rainy for a few days. It was also crazy windy at times, especially going through the pass - I almost got blown over a few times!
On our last day, Nelson got ill from some water we drank from a creek. He was such a trooper, though. We had to sprint the last 200m to catch our bus and he still beat me!
Upon returning to Puerto Natales, we caught a flight back to Santiago. It was incredible, flying up over all the distance we'd covered the previous month, and seeing just how huge the southern icefield is. Mount Fitzroy was in all its glory, and had us drooling all over the airplane window.
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