chile

34 hours by bus and we are transported to modern santiago. a world of difference from bolivia.

out with mates from england, jemma and alfonso...and their chilean friends.

ladies and gentlemen, the band.

we enjoy many piscolas...

alfonso!

frida!

about 2 hours drive and we are on the coast for a gathering at a mates of alfonso's. this cabin/house is amazing...

...and the location, stunning.

alf and jemma!

constantly something meaty on the bbq...

jemma serves it up.

porch jam session.

a short walk and you're on the private beach...

...down we go.

farewell dinner...jemma's fish pie, mmmm. thanks for havin' us alfonso and jemma!

now much further south, into parque nacional torres del paine in patagonia. we set of to circumnavigate the paine massif, seen here.

day 1!

rio paine.

cerro almirante nieto.

our riverside campsite.

day 2. windy viewpoint overlooking lago paine.

a further 2 hours and we arrive at the greyish greenish waters of lago dickson.

and further still to laguna de los perros where we'll camp.

jenny's kitchen.

day 3. going up and getting increasingly windy, we look back at our route...

its so windy at this point its difficult to stand still. as we walk, gusts nearly blow us over. luckily there is this wind shelter.

the view of the enormous glaciar grey opens up before us as we continue. wow.

day 4. glaciar grey meets lago grey.

considering the position of that tree, probably not the best spot to pitch a tent?

day 5. grazing ducks by turquoise lago pehoe.

towering above us, cuernos del paine.

we venture up valle de frances to our campsite.

setting up the kitchen/dining area.

ice formed 'horns' on the peak of cerro paine grande.

day 6. looking down valle de frances over lago pehoe.

ice chucks noisily fall off glaciar frances.

the scenery continues to impress...postcard perfect.

tediously beautiful...

a massive massive ice chunk dislodges...thunderous noise.

a luxurious campsite with a table! our new friend helen joins us.

dayt 8. an early start to see torres del paine at dawn.

on the move again and now in central patagonia. rainy weather halts our trekking plans, so we take our time 'village hoping' slowly making our way north along the carretera austral. here we are in puerto tranquilo on lago buenos aires, the second largest natural lake in south america.

villa cerro castillo.

we travel with andy and julia (germany) and hiro (japan) for a couple of days...

near the village is an ancient rock-art site, painted by ancestors of the tehuelche people...perhaps 6000 years ago?

we were being watched...

also known as the 'southern highway'.

a 'huaso'...a chilean cowboy.

scenic puyuhuapi, on the puyuhuapi fjord.

our lovely hosts, who always had the fire going for us.

slatted wood church in futaleufu...

no buses running into argentina today...

...so with our new friend olivia, we attempt to hitchhike but end up walking the 10km to the border.