Preparing for the 'W' trek

Picture perfect view of 'Las Torres' in Torres del Paine

I had been debating for ages whether to make the 6 hr crossing into Chile to visit Torres del Paine, one of Patagonia's most renowned and beautiful national parks.

When I met a girl at my hostel who had found a small group of interested others I decided to go for it and we made our way to Puerto Natale's in Chile, the nearest town to the park entrance.

The most popular trek in TdP is called the 'W' because of the shape it maps out and it takes 4-5 days to complete. Although there are hostels, called 'refugios' along the way, the high price of these means most people camp and cook for themselves which means renting and carrying tents, camping stoves and food for 4 days.

Me carrying all my gear on the 'W'

Now this sounded suspiciously like DoE to me which 15 years ago I vowed never to do again and the moral of this story is if you know you don't like doing something, don't do it! It definitely surpassed the Inca trail as one of the hardest things I've ever done. Read on with a hot cup of tea to feel really smug...