[[Torres del Paine was always listed very high on our to do list and we could not wait to visit it. It's one of the most famous and visited national park in South America and we were awed by pictures from it years before this trip. In this leg of our journey, our friends were leaving us, so we decided to alter our schedule so they can see it with us - so don't take this as any ideal route :)///Torres del Paine was always listed very high on our to do list and we could not wait to visit it. It's one of the most famous and visited national park in South America and we were awed by pictures from it years before this trip. In this leg of our journey, our friends were leaving us, so we decided to alter our schedule so they can see it with us - so don't take this as any ideal route :)///Do Národného Parku Torres del Paine sme sa tešili už od začiatku. Je jedným z najznámejších a najnavštevovanejších v Južnej Amerike a bol nám veľmi dobre známy ešte pred plánovaním cesty. V tejto časti sa od nás odpájali naši priatelia a preto sme tomu prispôsobili našu trasu, aby sme si ho stihli pozrieť s nimi, takže ju rozhodne neberte ako ideálnu :)]]
[[Two basic routes, that roughly 90% of the visitors choose from, are W Trek(60km) and O trek(120km), named by their shapes. Originally, we thought about doing the more popular W trek, but as Janka still had some problems with her injured leg and wasn't sure about hiking 60km, we decided to go for doing parts of the W circle and then driving to some less visited parts of the national park. You can find incredible amount of information about the two treks, so we won't bother you with that :)///Two basic routes, that roughly 90% of the visitors choose from, are W Trek(60km) and O trek(120km), named by their shapes. Originally, we thought about doing the more popular W trek, but as Janka still had some problems with her injured leg and wasn't sure about hiking 60km, we decided to go for doing parts of the W circle and then driving to some less visited parts of the national park. You can find incredible amount of information about the two treks, so we won't bother you with that :)///Základné trasy, medzi ktorými si vyberá cca 90% ľudí sa volajú W Trek (60km) a O Trek (120km), nazvané podľa tvaru jednotlivých trás. Pôvodne sme zvažovali populárnejší W trek, ale nakoľko som mala stále problémy s nohou a nebola som si sebou istá, rozhodli sme sa pre časť W treku a menej navštevované oblasti. Na internete nájdete neskutočne veľa informácii o jednotlivých trasách, takže vás tým nudiť nebudeme. :)]]
[[Short notes only: don't forget a small portable stove, ideally one with propane canister that works here, and get some food that is fast to prepare and does not weigh almost anything(with 15-25kg backpack and 60km+ of hiking in mind). But ideally the type of food you'll want to eat...somehow we had a lot of instant soups left. You can find all these in Puerto Natales(Chile) easily. As we entered the park from the other side, we had to buy the food in Argentina, where the prices and availability of the food were much worse. One last thing - if you arrive by your own car, don't forget to refuel before heading to park - there is no gas station in Torres del Paine, the park is big and the nearest one is in Puerto Natales. Leave at least ¼ of your gas tank if you want to reach the city later :)///Short notes only: don't forget a small portable stove, ideally one with propane canister that works here, and get some food that is fast to prepare and does not weigh almost anything(with 15-25kg backpack and 60km+ of hiking in mind). But ideally the type of food you'll want to eat...somehow we had a lot of instant soups left. You can find all these in Puerto Natales(Chile) easily. As we entered the park from the other side, we had to buy the food in Argentina, where the prices and availability of the food were much worse. One last thing - if you arrive by your own car, don't forget to refuel before heading to park - there is no gas station in Torres del Paine, the park is big and the nearest one is in Puerto Natales. Leave at least ¼ of your gas tank if you want to reach the city later :)///Iba malé poznámky, ak sem pôjdete: nezabudnite si nabaliť varič so správnym plynom a nakúpiť jedlo, ktoré je rýchle na prípravu, nič neváži(15-25kg batoh a 60km turistiky dá zabrať) a hlavne ho budete aj chcieť jesť (ostalo nám veľa polievok). Najlepšie nakúpite v Puerto Natales. My sme do neho išli až z parku, takže sme nakupovali ešte na argentínskej strane, kde moc dobrý výber ani ceny nemali. Pri návšteve parku vlastným autom musíte ešte zohľadniť, že v parku sa nedá kúpiť žiadny benzín a najbližšia pumpa je v Puerto Natales. Odporúča sa nechať aspoň ¼ nádrže, aby ste prišli do mesta bez problémov.]]
[[We arrived to the park from Cerro Castillo and entered it at Lago Sarmiento entrance. The entry fee is 28 USD / 18000clp, but you can pay in EUR too - the best is of course to pay in Chilean Peso. Maps, leaflets with information about the treks and when to leave so you can get there before sunset, we got the lot. Also what to do if you see a puma - take out your camera, take a few shots as quickly as possible and then run for your life... :) (all right, don't run, look straight to her eye, try to appear bigger while making noise and slowly back up). If she's with her babies or eating, you're in trouble, my friends.///We arrived to the park from Cerro Castillo and entered it at Lago Sarmiento entrance. The entry fee is 28 USD / 18000clp, but you can pay in EUR too - the best is of course to pay in Chilean Peso. Maps, leaflets with information about the treks and when to leave so you can get there before sunset, we got the lot. Also what to do if you see a puma - take out your camera, take a few shots as quickly as possible and then run for your life... :) (all right, don't run, look straight to her eye, try to appear bigger while making noise and slowly back up). If she's with her babies or eating, you're in trouble, my friends.///Do národného parku sme prišli smerom zo Cerro Castillo a vošli sme cez vstup pri Lago Sarmiento. Vstup do parku môžete platiť v dolároch aj eurách (28 USD / 18 000 clp), ale najlepšie je samozrejme platiť v čílskych pesách. Vyzbrojili nás mapami, kartičkami s najneskoršími možnými časmi odchodu do jednotlivých staňovíšť a upozorneniami, čo robiť ak stretnete pumu - vyberte foťák, rýchlo urobte pár záberov a utekajte... :)(ok, nebežte, pozerajte sa jej do očí, tvárte sa, že ste väčší a robte hluk a pomaly ustupujte. Ak sa náhodou kŕmi, ale je s mladými, máte seriózny problém).]]
[[Also, only gas stoves are permitted in the park, no fire. One would have thought that it would be obvious, but in the past few years, they were a few devastating fires with billions of dollars worth of damage... because of fires.///Also, only gas stoves are permitted in the park, no fire. One would have thought that it would be obvious, but in the past few years, they were a few devastating fires with billions of dollars worth of damage... because of fires.///V parku je možné používať len plynové variče, je zakázané zakladať oheň, historicky sa však aj tak niektorým turistom podarilo spôsobiť strašné požiare s obrovskými škodami.]]
[[We kind of got used to the fact, that the majority of the land in Chile is privately owned, even in the middle of nowhere. This is the same in Torres del Paine - it definitelly got our attention that some parts of the park have a private owner. You can still go through them, just don't wander off the trails :)///We kind of got used to the fact, that the majority of the land in Chile is privately owned, even in the middle of nowhere. This is the same in Torres del Paine - it definitelly got our attention that some parts of the park have a private owner. You can still go through them, just don't wander off the trails :)///Už sme si zvykli, že veľa pozemkov pri cestách, aj uprostred ničoho, bolo súkromných. Inak tomu nie je ani v Torres del Paine - pri pohľade na mapu vás určite zaujme, že istá časť je na území súkromného pozemku, takže treba ostať na vyznačených trasách. :)]]
[[Our first steps lead us to the most famous place - the view on Torres del Paine (alt. 2850m)///Our first steps lead us to the most famous place - the view on Torres del Paine (alt. 2850m)///Naše prvé kroky viedli k najznámejšiemu výhľadu na Torres del Paine (2 850 m).]]
[[After searching for a while, we found a campsite near Las Torres, it's a bit hard to get there by car. They let us sleep in our rooftop tent, on the condition that we stay on the grassy parking lot - no problem. 7500 chilean peso (1000clp = 1.33 eur, you can figure that out :) ) per person. Toilets, showers (much needed after the hiking) and places to cook and sit down included. There is also a possibility to charge some of your devices, if you ask at the reception. After we set camp, we quickly began the hike to the Tres Torres - you can make it in one day. It's about 9km from the hotel, that you can see from the campsite, or about 4-5 hours one way. There's also another paid campsite - Chileno shelter, where you can buy some refreshments. If you don't want to do it in one day like we did, you can set camp for free at Torres ranger station, close to the viewpoint to Tres Torres and finish on the next day. The hike was absolutely beautiful and definitely worth all the trouble :) But enough words, only photos will follow now :)///After searching for a while, we found a campsite near Las Torres, it's a bit hard to get there by car. They let us sleep in our rooftop tent, on the condition that we stay on the grassy parking lot - no problem. 7500 chilean peso (1000clp = 1.33 eur, you can figure that out :) ) per person. Toilets, showers (much needed after the hiking) and places to cook and sit down included. There is also a possibility to charge some of your devices, if you ask at the reception. After we set camp, we quickly began the hike to the Tres Torres - you can make it in one day. It's about 9km from the hotel, that you can see from the campsite, or about 4-5 hours one way. There's also another paid campsite - Chileno shelter, where you can buy some refreshments. If you don't want to do it in one day like we did, you can set camp for free at Torres ranger station, close to the viewpoint to Tres Torres and finish on the next day. The hike was absolutely beautiful and definitely worth all the trouble :) But enough words, only photos will follow now :)///Po chvíľke hľadania sme našli kemp pri Las Torres, cesta autom je k nemu trošku schovaná. Zastavili sme na parkovisku, kde sme si roztiahli aj náš strešný stan. Za kemp sa platí 7 500 clp (1 000 clp = 1,33 eur, rátajte si ďalej sami :) na osobu. Sú tam sprchy aj toalety, vonku nájdete aj miestečka na posedenie. Ak si potrebujete nabiť baterky, treba požiadať na recepcii, ktorá je blízko kúpeľní. Po úspešnom zakempení sme sa vydali k Las Torres. Trek začína pri hoteli, ktorý uvídite z diaľky. Celkovo od hotela je to 9 km, ktoré nám trvali 4-5 hodín až k výhľadu na Torres. Cestou je ďalší platený kemp pri Chileno shelter, kde sa dá kúpiť aj nejaké občerstvenie. Ešte vyššie, tesne pred výhľadom na Torres je Torres ranger station s možnosťou kempovania zadarmo. Prvý trek bol veľmi príjemný, stredne náročný a rozhodne stál za to.]]
[[Ok, last one - the weather in the park is extremely unpredictable - it can easily happen that you'll see the sun in the morning and a lot of fog, clouds or rain/snow later in the day. If you really want to see some parts, rather plan some days extra. We were armed with many layers of clothing and waterproof gloves, but fortunately had a lot of luck and the weather was beautiful almost all the time :) And as you can see, we saw a lot of condors, too.///Ok, last one - the weather in the park is extremely unpredictable - it can easily happen that you'll see the sun in the morning and a lot of fog, clouds or rain/snow later in the day. If you really want to see some parts, rather plan some days extra. We were armed with many layers of clothing and waterproof gloves, but fortunately had a lot of luck and the weather was beautiful almost all the time :)///Počasie je ťažko predvídateľné a môže sa vám ľahko stať, že niektoré výhľady budete mať schované v oblakoch, prípadne vás prekvapí dážď alebo dokonca sneh. Napriek tomu, že sme sa svedomite pripravili (nepremokavé rukavice, veľa vrstiev oblečenia) sme mali nakoniec šťastie a mali sme skoro stále krásne počasie a videli aj niekoľko kondorov, viď foto vyššie. Ak sa sem ale chystáte, treba sa pripraviť a nechať si extra deň-dva v prípade, že počasie vám priať nebude.]]
[[That's all for today - we decided to split the article about Torres del Paine, there's just too much for one blog post. See you next time then :)///That's all for today - we decided to split the article about Torres del Paine, there's just too much for one blog post. See you next time then :)///Na dnes to je všetko, rozhodli sme sa článok o Torres del Paine rozdeliť na viac častí - zaslúži si to. Uvidíme sa nabudúce :)]]