Tag: Trekking

Visiting Sorata and Hiking the Illampu Circuit: Everything You Need To Know

We mentioned it in a previous post, but hiking in Bolivia is a little unusual. Poor trail quality, limited information online and from tour operators, human habitation everywhere. However, our experience with the Condoriri didn’t put us off – there is incredible beauty and a spectacular challenge in hiking at altitude in these less-travelled areas. The Illampu is particularly special because it circuits the Illampu mastiff – snow capped mountains are almost always on your right (going clockwise), with multiple peaks over 6000m sitting in the sub-range.

The Illampu Circuit itself is particularly strange because much of the trail is now a basic road – nothing paved, and it’s still very remote and with low populations, but we were passed by a few jeeps and a couple of diesel-spewing trucks on day three. It takes away from the serenity of nature when someone honks at you from behind. We understand that the main reason for the road building has been to facilitate mining in the mountains – an unfortunate example of ‘progress’, as in natural exploitation, changing the feel of a hike. While some of the passes are proper Bolivian track (inconsistent, unsigned, beautiful), there is a reasonable amount of walking along the rocky-gravel road. However, with the elevation changes, the gradual incline that comes with the road is quite welcome, and there are very few vehicles overall. And – the views are still incredible.

If you want something shorter in the range, you can also hike up to Laguna Chillata, which is an overnight glacial lake at the foot of Illampu. This can be connected into a mini circuit if you start at Lackathiya and walk along the side of the range.

Even if you’re not looking to hike, Sorata is a lovely place to visit. The town sits in an incredibly picturesque valley, and boasts a few homestays and basic restaurants. The climate far more mild than the plateau, though be warned that the descent into the valley is terribly windy – grab a front seat if you get carsick easily. And watch out for the tiny sandflies – they leave nasty bites!

Keeping it
short and sweet

Description

Hike 5 or 7 days around one of the highest points and mythic figures of Bolivia’s section of the Andes, Illampu. The classic hike starts and finishes at the village of Sorata, beginning in the humid jungle of the town and ascending through alpine grass into high passes at and near 5000m. There are many hamlets on the route, including the village of Cooco where there are a couple of stores to restock basics. This does mean that the majority of the hike is now connected by road – in particular, the first and final days on the full loop are completely on the road – so we shortened the hike to 5 days by catching a cab, also avoiding about 1500m of ascent and descent.

Climate

Drier, clearer skies in winter (April – October), wetter and warmer in summer (November – March). Starts in humid jungle, quickly moves to alpine walking (above 3500m), therefore very changeable weather. Cool during the day, fairly cold at elevations at night.

Distance

69km (110km)

Elevation

3480m to 5050m (5 days) (2680m if starting/finishing at Sorata).

Costs

None!

Track

Predominantly on the road, with sections/options to walk offroad in some places. Non-technical where it is not on the road. Does disappear at times – GPS required.

Facilities

None. Bury your poop, filter your water, leave no trace.

Notes

Because the track is so well marked, and most of the trail is near roads, we believe there is no need for a guide on this hike.

Getting there

The track starts at Sorata. There are collectivos going from La Paz to Sorata all day, though the majority of people will leave in the morning, so that will be your best bet for getting there without waiting too long. Taxi to near the cemeterio general, and tell your driver that you want to go to Sorata.

Day 0

Sorata – Lackathiya (9.4km, 1500m ascent, 330m descent) – we skipped this day, but the track and the road are the same. If you take this route, there is a lot of ascent with a big pack. If you want to skip as we did, the taxi to Lackathiya was 150bol.

Day 1

Lackathiya – near Ancoma (13km, 1230m ascent, 1100m descent) where we started – from the village of Lackathiya begin ascending towards to the Illampu pass, initially through farmland, and eventually up a steep scree pathway. If you get good weather, enjoy views of the mastiff the whole way up. Then descend gently through the neighbouring valley, curving to the right as it opens up into a perpendicular valley and eventually meeting up with a road. Follow the road for a few kilometres before turning off into another adjoining valley, and make camp next to the river.

Day 2

near Ancoma – near Cooco (14km, 1060m ascent, 1140m descent) immediately ascend the steep wall of the valley to the southeast. This leads to a different gently climbing valley, so follow that until the next pass. The descent on the other side is very steep but the trail is generally well marked. Once at the base, follow the road until the village of Cooco. You can restock the basics here – we bought a little bread and fresh vege for the night. Then, continue through the village still southward – you can walk on the road or divert off onto a slightly older path for three kilometers before stopping for the night. There are plenty of spots to pick from.

Day 3

near Cooco – near Abra de la Calzada (16km, 1500m ascent, 660m descent) This is the biggest day for elevation, though the ascent is broken in two. Begin the day ascending to the pass in the current valley, predominantly along the road. Descend along llama tracks and the road (a combination is fastest) until you hit the bottom of the next valley and several farms. Continue south along the flat road, but eventually it starts switchbacking upwards. The best campsite (flattest) is right next to the road.

Day 4

near Abra de la Calzada – Laguna San Francisco (14km, 630m ascent, 880m descent) Finish what you started yesterday – immediately ascend to the highest point on the track, then descend gently next to a beautiful alpine lake. After this lake and before the lower, the track diverges from the road and begins to climb again along the side of another hill. Continue climbing into a saddle, then pick a trail until you hit the next ridge. The track descends through another sandy bowl, angle always to west and slightly north until you can see another lake – Laguna San Francisco. Camping can be a bit of a nightmare – or it was for us – as the base of the valley before the laguna is a massive bog. The marked camp spots here are a bit questionable, so you may have to pick your way up the valley (northeast) to a rocky outcrop that is drier).

Day 5

Laguna San Francisco – near Millipaya (17km (12km), 410m ascent, 1500m (940m) descent) Our last day – again start with a steep ascent up the side of the valley wall. Enjoy spectacular views to the north of the mastiff. Once the switchbacks of an old road even out, the trail evens out over a low saddle for your last pass. On a clear day, you’ll see Lake Titicaca, and the mastiff on the other side. The next part of the track winds up and down the foothills, changing from alpine grass to real grass, farmland and trees. The path winds fairly randomly (e.g. it’s non-existent – walk where you please) until you hit the road. From there, it’s about 6km of descent until Milipaya, where you should be able to find a taxi, or someone’s yard to camp in. We got picked up by a random couple about 1km down the road, and they served as our taxi back to Sorata. Locals are always keen to help and make some money at the same time so if someone drives past you, wave them down and have a quick chat to see if they’re interested to take you. We got into the tiniest jeep in the world but it worked out!

Day 6

near Millipaya – Sorata (18km, 1500m descent) If you decide to hike the whole loop, it’s another big day with a lot of downhill, again down the road. The change in scenery is incredible.

getting out

As above, the collectivos run from Sorata to La Paz all day and into the evening. You can get back to the big centre the same day that you finish, easily.

Tell me everything

We ended up staying two nights in Sorata before we left for the circuit. Because we were uncertain about the track, mostly misgivings about the altitude, we hired a guide… or tried to. This was a real palava – the three guides on the Sorata tourism website didn’t respond to my Whatsapp messages; there was nobody at the tourism office on the first day; we managed to find someone on the second day, one Don Julio, and all was well for a time. Then after we’d sent a few messages to confirm the route details, Don Julio called back, to check if we had a tent… for him! It turns out that while Don Julio was a local experienced in wandering the mountains themselves, he didn’t quite have the gear to get himself through as we were hoping. It was all in all a hilariously chaotic situation – his strategy was to walk with us to the campsites, then find someone at each of the hamlets that he could bunk with, before running to find us again in the morning. The first day, he actually told us he was just going to head home for the evening. While we committed to the first day of pay and guiding, we quickly realised that we could probably make do by ourselves, and also that the sleeping situation wasn’t ideal for anyone, and excused ourselves of his services for the remainder of the hike.

Don Julio did provide interesting information for the first part of the hike – hiking tourism used to be far more prominent in Sorata, but post COVID (and probably since the roads were built) the allure of hiking and tourism agencies have diminished. He used to be a porter for hikers and climbers in the area, and is a native of the mountains, so was very comfortable with the track we walked.

Day one started with the three of us taking a very bumpy road for over an hour up to Lackathiya – a small hamlet where there is also an unused tourism office, a relic of previous years. The track ambles over various tracks in farmland to the east for a while before beginning to ascend steeply to the Illampu pass. This used to be the only track to the mines in the mountains – so a highway, essentially. On a good day, there are incredible views of the mastiff, but we only had a few sneaky peaks before the clouds made their bed. Before the road was built, this section was the main connection into the villages in the range – it’s a fairly rocky climb, and if you’ve also taken a taxi, make sure you walk slowly to prevent the altitude from doing anything weird to you. Stopping for lunch at Paso Illampu should give you incredible views, before dipping down the other side through a much more shallow valley. Descend for some time before eventually reaching a perpendicular valley, tracing the valley wall, and meeting up with the road. It’s easy walking along the road for a couple of kilometers until Ancoma, where the ‘track’ dips behind a property and follows the adjoining valley. Walk until you find a suitable place to camp – the trail continues the next morning on the true right of the stream (straight up the valley wall, into a different adjoining valley for the next pass). We camped on the true right in an old stone walled pen, taking off our boots a little early to cross the stream. The weather cleared up a bit, so the view up the valley to the snow peaks was incredible that night and in the morning. This campsite is at 3800m, so it’s reasonably warm overnight, but still high enough to see you hurtling into the tent after sundown to escape the cold.

Day one’s campsite is at the bottom of the valley, and the track for day two starts by heading up the valley wall – about 100m. This is a rough start to the day, take the time to use switchbacks when you can. Because of the easterly angle of the next valley, you should get sun once you finish this particularly steep bit. It’s then a continuous trail up this new valley for a couple of hours – the path becomes more unclear as the valley lengthens, and is at times boggy, so pick your path. Once we reached the pass top (4400m), we took a break before a muddy descent on the other side. Make sure you descend on the true right of the river for the easiest (and eventually correct) path. A number of switchbacks gave us great views of the valley Coyoco sits in, but it’s rough on the knees. Once you make it to the bottom, follow the road until you reach the town. We picked up some extra bread here, the stores are pretty basic so don’t rely on them too much. After a break and a restock, cross the river at the bridge, following the road to the south. This climbs again with the track remaining as the road, although it splits into the new road and an older one, to the right. The right-hand ‘road’ leads to the campsite marked on the map, and is much more private (the ‘old’ road is eventually blocked for cars). There are a few random houses in this area and plenty of old stone ruins, though we didn’t see anyone around. Despite the proximity to the road, there were some nice grassy areas and a bubbling brook that we pitched up alongside, and we had a really lovely night’s sleep here, at about 3900m. One thing to watch out for is the prickly grassy mounds that exist around this altitude. We initially thought we’d picked a lovely soft spot, but the grass is so sharp it breaks off into anything in touches! Thankfully, we didn’t stick any holes into our groundsheet.

Day three is rough. Like, insanely so. The day starts with the remainder of a gentle (relative term?) ascent up the current valley. Continue along the old road until it meets up with the new; you’ll have to cross the river at some point, we did so at a vehicle ford. The present pass ends at 4500m, offering some lovely views of the massive valley as you tramp along. The other side descends more steeply – follow a mix of the road and llama trails into the base of the next river valley, about 4000m, then it’s back up again. This whole section is on the road, and is where we were passed by all the ‘traffic’ – a handful of jeeps and trucks. While it’s gentle (with lots of vehicle-friendly switchbacks), it’s a fiendish ascent of 700m until the campsite. We also had pretty average weather coming up here, with the clouds packing it in again and some light drizzle, so it wasn’t a great end to the day for us. The campsite for day 3 is a little strange – it’s a ‘laguna’ on the map but really a bog for the most part. There’s a sandy patch which is nice and flat for pitching right by the road, as you arrive at the laguna. There are a few rocky/uneven spots toward the other end of the laguna, though the running water is closer and it’s a bit more private it would be a much less comfortable sleep. This is the highest campsite – at 4750m – so be prepared for a cold night with frost.

Wake up the next morning ready to hit the highest point on the track. If you go for an early start, make sure you take care with any frozen poles – they’ll be much more prone to snapping. The highest point is called Abra de la Calzada, after which there’s an opportunity to diverge from the road and wander along the old hiking trail. This whole section has awesome views of the two lagunas below. However, there is a portion which traverses a boulder slope – which had suffered from a slip when we were on the trail, meaning it disappeared and turned into some dodgy path-picking. We had to scramble back up to the sturdiness of the road. And, once we’d got back on the road, it started snowing! Very cute at first, but it quickly became a bit problematic as the wind picked up and turned it into sleet. We hadn’t yet stopped for lunch, and with the sideways cold – now we couldn’t. We then lost trail again as it diverged from the road (cattle, llama tracks are everywhere!), and getting back on it meant sleet straight into our faces. We struggled on for about an hour, but thankfully the weather cleared up for our final climb onto the tops, which meant we could finally have some lunch before the wind picked up and got us moving before freezing. We had some lovely views over the tops, although our reactions were a bit dulled due to exhaustion. As always, the trail appeared and disappeared, but the general direction is clear for the descent into the Laguna San Francisco valley. This particular section on the mountain is very cool – it really feels like remote foothills, as you are finally completely away from the road.

However, the map had yet to give us the biggest lie! Laguna San Fransisco is a beautiful colour and looks like a lovely place to camp. As we descended, it appeared as a flat grassy old glacial valley, and the map told us the camping spot was right in the middle. Quite exposed – considering our experiences of mountain weather, we weren’t super keen to pitch up in such an open place. Then as we tried to explore the “track” to the campsite, we found the entire valley to be a bog. Fair warning – walking is really tough, and on the far side there are streams which can make your track impassable. We aren’t sure if it’s because we were so close to the rainy season, or if it’s always like that – but in our opinion, there was no way we could pitch up anywhere in the middle. Both sides of the valley were steep and full of thick alpine grasses and a variety of nettles – there’s an old stone hamlet on each side, but there’s no flat ground in either. It was one of those times where we were exhausted, underfed, over-altituded and filled with decision fatigue. Eventually we made our way further up the valley, after crossing, to a rocky outcrop, and were lucky enough to find a grassy spot (without bog!) to pitch up at. 5:30pm pitch and 6pm sunset meant a rushed dinner and a short evening to relax. If you’re doing this trek, learn from our mistakes! Head straight across the bog, don’t muck around with the map campsite, and head up the valley – the rocky outcrop is obvious from the top valley wall. There’s also a tepid stream (termas) on the way.

The final day begins with another ascent to the final pass. Head right up the valley wall along a mixture of old road and wide trail, and finally a gentle ascent through alpine grass. The pass is marked with a cairn shaped like a fullah with a hat on, and on a clear day you can see the spectacular blue of Lago Titicaca ahead, and the peaks on the right. The rest of the track descends randomly through farmland which gets progressively greener. Llamas turn into sheep into cattle as the pastures become lush. We lost the track a lot, ended up in several bogs, and generally were a bit irritated from exhaustion. However, luck stroke only a couple of kilometers after we reached the road. We were planning to walk to Milipaya, to then catch a taxi to Sorata, to then score a collectivo back to La Paz. However, a couple drove past us and offered us the lift to Sorata (for ‘un rojo’ – a 100 bol bill), saving us the 6km of walking down the road. So this walkie ended, with the kindness – well, opportunism – of strangers, and the chance to gaze at the changing scenery from the comfort of a seat rather than our two feet.

May 5, 2025
Essential Guide to the Condoriri Trek | 5 Day Trek [2025/2026]

Hiking in Bolivia is… chaotic. It’s not an activity that’s popular amongst locals, and travel agents aren’t very forthcoming with information on how to navigate tracks unless you pay them for a guide. Trails aren’t marked, the paths that you may find are probably made by cattle, and will probably disappear after five minutes. People and their livestock live everywhere in the mountains, so you’ll likely be walking on someone’s land (even though they may not be nearby to care). It’s certainly not a hiking experience of isolation and peace, but there is still a lot to be enjoyed and incredible beauty to experience.

Since we’d arrived in Bolivia, we’d chickened out of multi-day hikes in both Sucre and Cochabamba, but La Paz is perched on the edge of the major heights of the Andes, and we were set on our first foray into high altitude hiking. We’ve had a taste of altitude sickness before, in Ecuador in 2022 where we took a tour up to Cotopaxi base camp (4900m). It was only a day, we didn’t even summit, but we’ve experienced the nausea and lack of focus that altitude can cause. We thought we knew what to look out for, but the Condoriri means five days of walking, eating and sleeping up high – the lowest point is right at the start at around 4400m, but you never sleep lower than 4600m, and the high point at Pico Austria is 5300m. It’s only 43km, but we’d read other blogs & AllTrails reviews saying to do it over 5 days – which seems ridiculous! But it is completely reasonable. We’d spent four days in La Paz acclimatizing, but nothing really prepares you for sleeping at 4600m four nights in a row. Every day was a struggle – sleeping was freezing – the trail was fairly non-existent on the first two days – and we both got mild altitude sickness.

For anyone else who’s trekking for the first time at altitude – or for the people who’ve done it and want to relive their first experiences – we think the key aspect to monitor at altitude is a lack of appetite. It’s easy to identify acute altitude sickness. If you’ve got serious nausea and certainly if you’re vomiting, get out of there. Dizziness, headaches, are normal for mild sickness – but the lack of appetite is the absolute kicker. The effect is twofold: not eating means you won’t have enough energy to tackle the remaining hiking. It also means you aren’t reducing your pack weight like you planned, so you’ll just lug around (already feeling drained) an extra few kgs until the end of the trek. To be fair, stuffing yourself doesn’t really work, because it brings on the nausea (worse). A shitty solution is having foods that are more bland – anything that’s easy to consume without thinking too hard.

Don’t let the warnings put you off. We seriously think hiking at altitude is some of the best. It’s an incredible challenge that is so satisfying to finish – hitting heights that you haven’t before, pushing through lower oxygen and steeper hills. And of course, being in the mountains – walking under snow-capped peaks, past massive mirrors that are glacial lakes, and amongst rocky outcrops and alpine grasses is all part of the beauty of the landscape.

Note: AllTrails does have reasonable trail descriptions in Bolivia, so you can use this alongside WikiLoc to gather more up to date information.

Keep it Short & Sweet:

Description: A high altitude three or five day hut-to-hut (with prior booking only) trek between glacial lakes and under the peaks of the Andes. The glaciers have mostly melted, so the lakes have been dammed for preservation. Unfortunately, this means there is a lot of debris from construction along the hike, and you’ll see many hamlets and sections which are connected by road. The trek is part of a greater trail that runs along the sub-range between Illampu and Illmani, and can be linked up with a summit of Huayna Potosi, if you have time to acclimatise.

Climate: Drier, clearer skies in winter (April – October), wetter and warmer in summer (November – March). Alpine walking (above 4000m), therefore very changeable weather. Cool during the day, fairly cold at night.

Total Distance: 43km

Elevation: Highest point 5300m at Pico Austria (slight detour), otherwise ~4400m – 5100m

Costs: On day 3, before ascending Pico Austria, you need to pay if the collector arrives before you leave (this is the starting point for many day hikes). May need to pay fees to camp on other nights if there are shepherds/land owners around (very variable, we didn’t encounter anyone on night 1 or 2). If using refugios, fees vary.

Track: Non-technical, except for some of the rock scrambling around Pico Austria. Unmarked and inconsistent track. GPS essential. Some places require very steep ascents to make up ground if you lose the track. Many animal tracks make the path confusing. Each ‘campsite’ is at a hamlet of some description, so you’ll always be around some evidence of humanity.

Facilities: Hand-pour flushing toilets at the refugios (the refugios & toilets may be locked – see below).High altitude makes ascending more difficult than usual.

Notes: Always carry small change on these types of treks. If anyone wants to charge you they will not (or, they will say they do not) have change. Be mindful of your body with the altitude at all times. While a guide is absolutely unnecessary on this track, get in touch with an agency to help you book the refugios (or at least open the toilets for you if you’re happy to camp).

Getting there: Taxi to the north side of the Cemeterio General; take the bus going towards Cochabamba (20BOL pp); disembark at Palcoco (~1 hour); take a taxi to the trailhead (150BOL to Condoriri (2N 3D), ~300BOL to Laguna Karakota (4N 5D) (~1 hour for either)

Day 1: Laguna Karakota – Laguna Ajwani (10km). After arriving (probably around mid-morning), at the end of Laguna Karakota, ascend with the ridgeline. The path is not clear – pick your own way. At some point a path should appear and will turn eastward after about 3km, around the curve of the hill. The path continues into a bowl between the mountains, before reaching a high point and descending into the neighbouring valley. There is a road and a small settlement. Cross the stream at an appropriate place and then ascend steeply up the opposite side until about 4500m, then follow the elevation. The trail should eventually turn to the right, alongside a small stream. You may need to pass across a fence to reach a few deserted buildings and a dam. There was a number on the outside of a dorm room here: 71268235, but it and the bathrooms were locked.

Day 2: Laguna Ajwani – Laguna Juri Khota (8.3km). This day is more marching through a combination of dry alpine grass, across gravelly tops, and also through boggy wetland. The elevation is similar – ascend to start, drop down into the neighbouring valley, cross the stream, and head up the opposite side to the next laguna and your dam and campsite. This one had an unlocked toilet, a big locked new dorm, and some old concrete dorms which were unlocked. There was no contact number, but someone came the next morning to charge us for the Pico Austria walk.

Day 3: Laguna Juri Khota – Laguna Chiar Khota (6.1km+1.3km to Pico Austria). While the distance is small, do not underestimate this day. The highpoint of the trail is 5100m, but Pico Austria is at 5300m, and walking gets quite hard at that altitude. The trail is well marked with cairns as you ascend into the rocky saddle of Pico Austria. There are a couple of sketchy bits of moving around rocky ledges, so take your time and possibly rethink it if it’s rainy and certainly if it’s icy. The descent on the other side to the refugio is a very easy trail. Because Pico Austria is a popular trek, this refugio appears to always be open, so you should be able to get a mattress inside if there is space (20bol per person). If doing the 3-day trek, you can start with this day, or start at Laguna Chiar Khota (possibly leaving bags at the refugio) and climb Pico Austria as an out-and-back trail. This one-day ascent of Pico Austria is quite popular.

View from Pico Austria

Day 4: Laguna Chiar Khota – Unmarked Refugio (12km) There are a few options on this day for both camping and trail. We ascended via Paso Condoriri, then skirted around the next pass (trekking adjacent to Laguna Pouchinta, rather than upwards). There is a hamlet at Laguna Sura Khota, but no clear refugios which were open and no nice camping spots (a lot of rubbish). We continued up the hill, through a fence and along another road to find another refugio at a very small hamlet (halfway to Maria Lloko), where another group were staying – so we were able to use the facilities. Mario Lloko is at a higher altitude, and the campsite didn’t look amazing.

Day 5: Unmarked Refugio – Road End (6km). The advantage of continuing further the previous day is reducing the distance on your final day – and therefore how early you need to wake up. The trail follows the road for a few kilometres before starting up the hill and towards the final pass. At the other side of the pass is a road, and the end of your trek if you’ve arranged a ride. Otherwise, you’ll need to continue another 6km down the hill until you reach the main road between Huayna Potosi and La Paz.

Getting out: Pre-arrange a taxi from the closest road end, get lucky and meet a group trekking alongside you and jump in their car, or walk all the way to the main highway between Huayna Potosi basecamp and La Paz. For the last option: you must arrive before 11:30 to have a good chance of getting in a returning vehicle with one of the tour groups. After midday most of them will have departed.

Tell me everything:

As noted above, getting information about hiking in Bolivia is a bit of a nightmare. There are no hiking guilds, no government departments, and it’s not a super popular activity with the locals. There are plenty of agencies in La Paz who will offer you packages, but there is no need for a guide on this hike, unless you are interested in chatting to the guide while walking, and you’re in a big enough group to make the guide and cook fees worthwhile. It is worth noting that the hike will probably be more difficult than you expect – only because of the altitude. Keeping a light pack goes far in having a good time, so if you want to go unguided but are worried about gear, you should try to book refugios to save on tent and mattress weight. The travel agencies in La Paz can be a bit cagey, but if you ask directly and with confidence (there should be enough information here for you to know what to ask for! If not, leave a comment) for the refugio owners’ numbers, we assume they would be more forthcoming.

It’s also pretty cold at night at the altitudes you’ll be sleeping at, so having a refugio is a nice way to get another barrier between you and the frost. We actually slept inside 3 nights out of 4 – on the first night, none of the facilities were open, but on the second night, the doors on an old concrete dorm were only tied shut (rather than padlocked), and the toilet was open for use. We ‘pitched’ by setting our groundsheet down in one of the dorms, and our mattress on top – being in an enclosed space kept the warmth in much better. On nights 3 and 4 the refugios were open, and we paid a few bolivianos for our own room and a straw mattress each – and an extra blanket to throw on top of our sleeping bags. So cosy!

Getting to the start of the Condoriri requires a few different modes of transport, but the most annoying part is bartering with the taxi drivers once you arrive at Palcoco. Our hostel was very helpful in getting us this information – of course, you could take a private taxi to the start of the hike (as you’ll need to taxi at either end, anyway), but you can get a fair way via bus, which should cut your costs down. First taxi to the north side of the Cemeterio General; tell the driver you want to go to Cochabamba (also – take this bus if you want to go to Cochabamba, they’re cheaper than the ones from the main bus terminal). It should be about 20BOL per person. Tell the driver you want to go to Palcoco for the Condoriri trail. When you get off, you’ll be on a random bit of highway, but there should be a few taxi drivers waiting around. Now, these guys are used to taking people to ‘Condoriri’, which is the trail for Pico Austria, but if you are doing the 5 day hike you want to go to the far end of Laguna Karacota. It really is about the same distance from Palcoco, but because the latter is less popular (I guess from the Condoriri they can score a return ride) they tried to charge double to get to the Laguna. We spent a bit of time haggling but eventually settled on 220BOL. We arrived late morning, around 11am, to a construction site.

In this part of the Andes there used to be a great number of glaciers. Because of rapid global climate change, they are melting off, but the lakes that they form are essential to the lifestyle of the people in the valleys below. As part of maintaining the landscape, unfortunately, the government has had to build dams along the range. This means there’s a lot of really ugly concrete amongst what was once beautiful and untouched lagunas. However, it seems necessary for the lives of the local people. At any rate, the start of the hike was, for us, in the middle of a construction site, which also made us a little uncertain. We eventually found the trail, and although it didn’t appear for a while, the initial ascent provides increasingly incredible views of Laguna Karakota. We had incredible weather for this whole hike – very lucky with blue, blue skies and little wind. Once the trail appears, it’s reasonably easy to follow across the saddle and down into the next valley. Then it disappears again as you cross the base of the valley and begin ascending, just keep an eye on your GPS and it should reappear eventually. The last ascent takes you next to a small stream and into a property of some kind – we think it was an old dorm designed to house workers who built the dam (it was certainly abandoned), and a refugio. The number for the refugio was scrawled on the wall, and both the refugio and the bathrooms (down the hill) were locked up tightly. We slept in our tent outside the refugio – not the best place, but at least the ground was flat. We both had a bit of altitude sickness so had a really small dinner, and crawled into bed as soon as we could to ward off the bitter cold!

Day 2 is pretty similar to day one – up to the next saddle, down into the neighbouring valley, across a stream, and then back up the other side towards the next laguna and your campsite. However, for us it was a little less straightforward. As we climbed to the first saddle from the campsite, we had a little mishap with the reading of the map and getting our bearings, and ended up well to the right of the track. While we could’ve doubled back a little, we could see a track in the distance, and decided to go with it. Instead of skirting around the right of the main peak, we walked further to the north, walked up a different scree saddle, and ended up having to make a very sharp descent into the valley. We probably were on a random llama trail – a classic mistake, but thankfully we were still able to get down on the other side. It didn’t add too much time but it was a little stressful – better practice reading topo lines a bit more.

Another thing to note in the wet areas near the river – there are lots of hairy caterpillars! They’re weird little guys, but their crawling is a little creepy and they look like the type that would give you a rash if they touched your skin. Thankfully, they aren’t near the campsites, only in the low areas.

Once you’re out of caterpillar world and up the ridge, the next campsite awaits – this one is situated next to a stunning long lake and really gives you the idea of sitting at the foot of mountains – you’ll be able to see tomorrow’s challenge, Pico Austria. The campsite had a new big refugio (locked), and a small concrete dorm which was unlocked. There was a bathroom behind the main dorm which was only covered by a curtain, so I assume it’s always unlocked. We were a bit whacked by this point – having had the extra km or so with the detour, and generally being fatigued from the altitude and lack of food. However, we still arrived pretty early, set up in the open concrete area with our groundsheet, had a nap to stave off the altitude headache (it’s kind of like a hangover), enjoyed the sunshine, and tried to eat a decent meal before the sun set. The only problem with this campsite – was there was some asshole animal (rat or fox – who knows) who decided to scrape around in the discarded metal outside in the middle of the night, which woke us up a few times.

Day 3 started in a less-than-ideal way; Emma found that the zip holding her pack frame closed had burst, making the whole thing a lot less stable. While not a trip-ending event, it’s pretty annoying to have a 4-month-old 500NZD Osprey Pack break mid-hike, so we had a slow and unsuccessful morning while we tried to get it back together. This was also the first morning we saw anyone else interested in hiking – first of all, a fellow arrived on a motorbike, and once we were done with our pack disaster, came over to say hello and ask for payment for a ticket for the next part of the trail – we paid 20bol each. Once we got started, it turned out that he was probably there to get payment from a van of other hikers, so if we had’ve been a bit earlier in getting our shit together he probably would’ve missed us altogether!

This day really is a stunner, but it’s tough. At barely above 6km (7km, including the summit of Pico Austria), it’s short day in theory, but you’ll be hitting the highest altitude on the track today – so take it easy and take it slow. Eat and drink often. Today’s the only day it gets a little technical – it gets a little steep on the scree ascending to the upper lake (note, on the map it says you can camp next to this lake – but the campsites are tiny and it’s very rocky, so it might be a tough pitch. Past the lake, there is a little bit of rock climbing and scrambling – keep your cool and get your hands and feet set before you move too fast (especially with weighty packs!). Keep an eye out for cairns on this section of the track, as there’s no path to follow. It is, however, an incredible day. Once you get to the lake, you can see Condoriri and the snowy peaks to either side. The trail up to Pico Austria is tough but getting a true view of Condoriri (with the birdlike perspective!) is awesome. You’ll also get your first shot of Huayna Potosi, on a clear day.

This section is quite busy with day hikers, but the funniest thing (if you’ve got your big backpack on) is how interested and impressed all the guides are – every one asked us where our guide was, realised we were carrying all our own gear, and made a whole lot of impressed noises – hilarious, but also a great way to make a good impression (and some chatty friends!) fast.

View from Pico Austria

The track down to the refugio from Pico Austria is easy, with a well worn track, but longer than you’d expect. The descent can be tough on the knees so if you weren’t convinced by poles we would say 100% yes right about now. The refugios here are busy – there are a few different buildings – and lots of overnighters or day trippers or people heading up to Condoriri (at the laguna above) in the high season pass through here. We were able to snag a room with a couple of mattresses, and have a cosy night cooking and eating inside. We were absolutely stuffed after this day, so we were in bed very early – and seriously considering taxiing back the next morning.

We started day 4 slowly, uncertainly, but once a tour group of four, who had been staying in the same refugio as us, started up the trail to Paso Condoriri, challenge mode was on. It was actually an excellent decision too – the track up to the pass was icy and filled with mischievous llamas, and the views over the mountains on the way up and at the pass were incredible. The descent on the other side got a bit muddled, as (again) there are plenty of animals tracks mixing and mingling. The trail will cross over the river at the bottom, and we scrambled up the ridge to meet up with the road (we aren’t sure, but we think you can skirt around it and still meet up with the right place – it’s probably easier). The trail continues along the road for a while, before turning off and passing by the small Laguna Puchinta. There’s an alternative route that continues upwards, runs up to another saddle, and meets up with a big descent on the other side. We were able to see the track from the laguna, but decided that was a biiiiig no. The lower track is reasonably well marked and follows the curve of the hill, sometimes on quite loose scree. It ascends a bit, before dipping back down towards the Lagunas Sura Khota and Wichu Khota. There’s a hamlet between these two lakes, and we’d read that there are refugios here too; however, nothing was open, even though one local pointed us in the right direction. There was flat ground, but the vibe was a bit weird, and there was no running water. We were pretty keen to continue on to somewhere nicer, but we weren’t convinced by anything the map was telling us now.

Yet we were in luck! We didn’t realise, but somehow we’d overtaken the group of 4 and their guide and cook. As we sat at the ‘refugio’, a bit desolately, we spotted them coming down the hill. Not that we were waiting (we were waiting), but instead of turning towards us they continued along the other side of the lake. In comes a bit of hope and the smell of a little opportunity. We picked up our weary bodies and followed – under the pretense of walking toward the next campsite on the map, Maria Lloco, but really with the hope that they might stop at another refugio with a spare room. We eventually caught up to them, and we just want to acknowledge – we have really got so lucky so many times on this trip. We had a friendly chat about the track, the refugios at the lagunas, the general scenery… and their guide (our new mate Vladdy), who recognised us from the day prior, said we’d be able to stay in their pre-booked refugio – and that they’d have space for us in their vehicle going back to La Paz the next morning. An absolute stroke of kindness and good timing – we have been so thankful for such people!

We again got our own room at the refugio, comfy straw beds and an extra blanket. This refugio was next to the road, halfway between the lagunas and Maria Lloco (see the image of the map for the marking). We don’t really know who to contact for this one, but there are a few houses around here so you might just be able to knock on a door and ask to stay. The refugio is in a gorgeous spot surrounded by snow capped mountains and right next to a burbling stream. The tour group actually caught some trout for their dinner with the help of the refugio owner, which was a hilarious scene.

Refugio for our last night

The great thing about the stay at our random little refugio was the proximity to the road. We still had one more pass over 5000m to walk over (normal by this point – how did it end up like this?!), but it was only going to be 6km, and now we conveniently had a guide to follow. The track followed the road for the first few kms, before starting to ascend (a bit randomly) up the side of the mountain to the pass. Although the group had acclimatised a couple of days less than us, they also weren’t carrying anything, so we struggled a little to match their pace. However, it was totally worth it – where we were intending to walk all the way to the main road (another 6km) to wave down a taxi, the vehicle was waiting at the road right on the other side of the pass. The group of four were actually using the 3-day Condoriri to acclimatise for Huayna Potosi – so we first drove to basecamp, waited for the day’s hikers to return, then got back in the van back to La Paz. We ended up heading off at about midday; it’s really early, but we really recommend if you don’t have a pre-planned ride, try to get to the highway by midday at the latest – all the hikers get down at about the same time, and if you can’t get on one of those vans it’s really hard to find another shared ride.

We ended the hike still with half our food – a solid 4kgs or so of uneaten food, just weighing us down. Even though we’d worked through the appetite struggles by night 3, there’s only so much you can consume during the day. But what a learning experience it was – with stunning mountains and weather, friendly people and overwhelming kindness. While it’s not the most disconnected hike out there, it’s beautiful and it’s tough and it’s so very Bolivia.

April 24, 2025
An Essential Guide To Hiking in Northern Argetina: Tilcara-Calilegua Traverse (4 days)

This walk was a lesson in “if you’re willing to wing it a bit, it may just surprise you”. The Tilcara Traverse was a trail we picked based on a hasty search of Wikiloc, after a hot minute of deprivation from trekking (okay it was maybe three weeks… but it felt like months since Patagonia!). We weren’t certain what the hiking would look like in Bolivia, so we were willing to try something out before crossing the border.

We knew that we were going to be walking on paths less trodden by tourists, as all of the recommendations were by locals with local guides (and there were no blog posts at all!), but the kind contributors to Wikiloc had left great detail. The paths would still be well trodden, as the route we were going to take is one used by the people who live in the mountains – the range is dotted with pueblitos, so they need ways to connect to their neighbours, and to the roads for supplies. While the crossing from Tilcara to Calilegua is one of the most direct ways across the range, there are plenty of small trails that veer off to other villages and individual homes along the way. It’s an insight into a totally unique way of life in a really special part of the world; being able to see it first hand is a true privilege.

It was also technically the ‘low’ season for this part of Argentina – being so far north, the summer/winter seasons are more like wet/dry, and of course hiking in the wet season is never ideal!

Click here to take yourself to short and sweet where we summarize this blog post.

Tell me Everything

Because the trail runs between villages, and actually amongst a lot of private land, the trek is a homestay to homestay number. We camped nights 1 & 3, and stayed in beds on night 2 (the weather was rubbish and the price was great… who were we to say no?), but even on the nights we camped, we were on someone’s property and were able to use a flushing (!) toilet and a makeshift shower. The relevant people can be contacted on WhatsApp before; this is most important for night one as the Yuto Pampa is not a village, but is a loose collection of houses – other homestays may be in the area but it’s not clear.

Our original plan was to hike from Tilcara to Molulo, then return by the same route to Tilcara – because the trip back to Tilcara via road is so convoluted, and there are so many buses to catch, we were a little hesitant to waste a day or two travelling back around when we wanted to get to Bolivia (read: had meant to be in Bolivia two weeks prior…). However, the first two days were so spectacular (and we had descended SO much), that we decided to continue in the spirit of ‘just wing it’, and figure out the buses as we went along. And well… read on to see how that went!

Day 1: Tilcara to Yuto Pampa (7-9hrs)

It was not a good start. Our hostel host had organised a taxi pickup at 8am to the trailhead, which is at Casa Colorada, with an agreed price of 35000ARS – which was on the limit of what we were willing to pay for a 50 minute taxi. Halfway through breakfast our host burst in to inform us that the taxi was actually only going to take us to La Garganta del Diablo for 35K (a 30 minute drive, but the day before we’d walked it in one hour!) – and if we wanted to go to Casa Colorada, it was dependent on the ‘condition of the road’ (the weather had been perfect) and was going to cost us 50K! Clocking out at nearly 75NZD just to start our hike was an absolute no-go for us, and we were pretty upset as we felt like our host had been untruthful and it was feeling really, really scammy. We told him we couldn’t catch a taxi for that much and he got pretty mad – in Spanish, so unintelligible to us – and pretty much stormed out of the dining area while saying we had to follow up our end and take the taxi regardless of the cost.

That was a pretty bad vibe – we had been planning to leave our spare kit at the hostel, but we really couldn’t afford to take this taxi, and we didn’t want to leave our stuff in the lap of someone who was potentially going to be looking for revenge. When the taxi arrived, we had a conversation about the mishap – the driver was very amicable, and relaxed about letting the job go. Nevertheless, with a few angry WhatsApp messages waiting on the phone, we shot out the door with all our things and spent the next 30 minutes finding a new hostel to book a room post-hike to secure our bag storage.

In hindsight – we do think it was a genuine mistake by the host, and not that he was in kahoots with the taxi driver – partially because we walked past the taxi stand on the way out and checked their (always inflated) prices. The language barrier is always tough with this kind of thing. We spent the rest of the day to-ing and fro-ing – we were in the right, we were in the wrong. But at the end of the day it was done, and we had an extra 600m elevation and 6.5km to tackle!

From Tilcara village, follow the track to La Garganta del Diablo. Without packs, this takes an hour – with packs and a burning sense of injustice, it also takes an hour! Continue along the road for another hour, climbing steadily, until you reach Casa Colorada. When we passed by, it seemed deserted; we had contacted them on WhatsApp for room prices out of curiosity, but there was no response at all, so we aren’t sure what the deal is there. Either way, it’s the last place you’ll find real shade the rest of the climb – so take a break!

The road then continues on vaguely, but eventually peters out and becomes a normal track. The trail really just is switchbacks, cactus, and views over the valley until you hit the saddle. We were incredibly lucky with a cloudless stunner of a day but with a decent breeze, so we never got too hot. At beginning of the saddle, there’s a small river crossing via rock bridge, and then you enter a flatter valley filled with flowers and lush grass that rises to the maximum point of the hike, before descending somewhat to Yuko Pampa and El Cokena Refugio for the night.

We would love to tell you that the views are gorgeous, that the descent into the pampa is magnificent – and while we’re sure it is, we have no clue personally, as the weather completely clouded over for us before we even reached the high point! We reached the refugio damp from cloud, rushing from impending rain, and feeling a little off from the altitude. It’s an important point to consider – even if you start from Casa Colorada, it’s a massive gain, and you’ll be sleeping quite high. We’d messaged El Cokena’s owner in advance, so they knew that we had our own gear – we guess that was why there was nobody there to greet us, and why the dorm rooms were firmly closed & locked. They don’t seem to live in or near the refugio (again, visibility was terrible, so we could have missed something), but there was a flushing toilet (that is, a toilet designed to flush, with big buckets of water to flush it yourself! No plumbing needed) and shower under a concrete shelter which were open to use. We had a bathroom, running water, and a flat space to pitch up – what else could you want!

With the altitude playing tricks on our appetite, it was cookies with nutella and peanut butter for dinner, and an early night.

Day 2: Yuto Pampa to Molulo (5-7 hrs)

Day 2 also started a little miserable – the cloud hadn’t cleared, so we woke up fairly damp and still without a view. The altitude sickness was still playing on us, and who wants to cook breakfast in misty rain, so it was a quick pack down and off we went. The track continues to descend into a valley – and with this descent, we finally got some clearing clouds and some very cool sights of red clay against green hills, with horses and cattle peppering the hills. Down it goes (and down slips the hiker!) until the river that carves out the valley, and then it’s back up the other side. The track is not entirely clear in this section due to the livestock, so check your GPS regularly. The trail then winds around the tops of this part of the range for some time, which we think would give incredible views on a clear day – maybe even all the way to the yungas forest from certain points. We were lucky enough to see sporadic vistas of our close surroundings – little hamlets would appear randomly at the base of the ridge we were walking; peaks would suddenly loom out from across the valley; sunlight would peek through to warm and dry us off for a few minutes. Not quite knowing what we were walking through really added a layer of mystery to the journey.

Yea, couldn’t see nothing!!!!!

The track eventually leads you into the village of Molulo. Here, there is a school and a little hospital, and a collection of houses and two or three homestays to pick from. The popular refugio in the pueblo is Refugio Lo de Lili (according to Wikiloc), but we found an alternative called ‘Mi Esperanza’ – and we couldn’t have been happier with our choice! The area is generally quite muddy, there’s not a lot of grass, plus we’d been walking in rain all day, so we elected to splurge for the night on a dorm bed each – 15K ARS each, about 21NZD. The family we stayed with were so kind and welcoming – plenty of chooks, a couple of friendly dogs and a tiny wee puppy wandered the yard, and along with Soledad, our host, there were four relatives of varying ages. They were all a little shy (except for the youngest – she was so curious, of course!), but we felt very welcome. The accommodation was basic, a mixture of traditional adobe and concrete, but so comfortable. Another ‘flushing’ toilet, too! They gave us some space once we were settled in by heading out (to a market, or a friend’s place – we weren’t sure), so we cleaned up and relaxed in the common area, had a hot drink and finally got set on cooking a hot meal!

By the time our host Sole and her family returned, we were feeling pretty chuffed with our decisions and comfortable and warm inside. We knew a good night’s rest was just around the corner. We also knew that if we followed our original plan of an out-and-back, we were going to spend tomorrow hiking up all the downhill we’d just trekked down… so we decided to continue down the trail to Calilegua. We toyed with the idea of walking all the way out the next day – but Sole laughed at the idea, telling us that while she could walk all the way out in one day if she needed to, there was no way that us gringos would match her mountain pace! Our plan the next day would be to head to the next pueblo of San Lucas, and stay the night at Sole’s recommendation of Refugio Montana Ramona.

Day 3 :Mololu to San Lucas (6-8 hrs)

We woke up early, (just in case we made good time and could make it all the way to the road) to clear skies on day 3. With a quick breakfast we began the trek down to San Lucas. The first part of the day was unbelievable – Molulo sits tight up against the hills facing east, but the refugio itself was tucked in behind some trees, so we couldn’t see the sun rising. However, once we were out of the village and onto the trail – the vistas were insane. We finally got the full picture of where we were walking. The track is reasonably flat to begin with, cut into the side of a hill. An alternative track runs along the ridgeline above you, if you want to start the day with an ascent to see a different view, but there are plenty coming. Our initial views were just across hills of alpine grass, but as we continued we got an idea of where we’d come from – even higher hills – and where we were going. The yungas were covered in cloud, as rainforest is so commonly, but the sights of the yellow-green of the pampas graduating into verdant forest, which quickly disappears into a blanket of cloud as far as the eye can see – well, it’s a pretty humbling perspective.

The track follows the sights – the rough alpine plants were replaced by bushes, then eventually trees began to surround us, and suddenly we were back amongst humid clouds. The altitude is still reasonable at this point, so it’s not hot – yet. The trail is pretty well worn and clear for this section, and the whole section is mostly downhill – but it still requires concentration, as it can get very, very slippery, especially on sections where the red clay is the prominent. There are a few small uphill sections, and throughout the trail enjoy the variety and beauty of the jungle growths.

Walking into Refugio Montana Ramona

Coming into San Lucas, the track widened out into a grassy area, with horses popping in and out of the bushes. Refugio Montana Ramona is well signposted and is the first dwelling in the village proper. The Refugio is run by two kindly old sisters; we arrived as they were doing some building work in one of their rooms – the language barrier meant we didn’t quite know what, or why, but we were eventually able to communicate that we just wanted a spot to pitch our tent, and we didn’t need food – it seemed like they weren’t keen to take dorm visitors and didn’t have the time to ‘host’ properly. Once they realised we weren’t going to be a hassle, they were happy for us to hang out. This refugio was so lovely. As it’s the first property in the village, it sits at the top of the hill with a great view of the valley. There’s an outdoor undercover space to hang out in, with a big table to sit and cook and eat. There’s only enough lawn to pitch one or two tents, but as we were the only ones there, it wasn’t a problem. And there was a proper flushing toilet, and a hot shower if you were feeling fancy! There are lots of other homestays in San Lucas, as it’s a reasonably big mountain village, but if you can get a spot at Ramona we would highly recommend it.

We had arrived quite early, so we spent most of the afternoon lounging, drying off our gear, playing with the kittens and the dog (or watching them get uncomfortably close to our tent), and generally enjoying life. Eventually the views turned to rain for the evening, so we were very happy with some shelter from the rain.

Day 4: San Lucas to Pena Alta (2.5-4hrs)

We woke up before sunrise to get on our way. We’d done some research before we left (and hence decided to only go halfway-and-back…), and our hosts confirmed that there was only one bus from the trailhead to Libertador General San Martin, and it came at 4pm. From Libertador General San Martin, we’d have to catch another bus to San Pedro de Jujuy. Then another to San Salvador de Jujuy. Then another to Tilcara. A logistical nightmare! But we were filled with hope – for hitchhiking is common enough in Argentina; all we needed was someone to be driving along the road.

So we were off early, slipping and sliding through the clay tracks of San Lucas, in the morning mist. The track is a little convoluted through the town as there are lots of houses and connecting trails, but once you’re out it’s very straightforward to the road. The track descends quite a lot to start, down into a ravine. The track then follows the wall of the ravine, which is pretty spectacular, occasionally passing over or through connecting waterfalls. The descent is slow along the ravine, until it’s not! But this is the final section – a drop down to the water, across a bridge, and then back up 100m or so until the trailhead. By this time you will be sweaty – the altitude isn’t enough to stop the heat and humidity, and it’s really mosquito central. Have your bug spray ready if you want to stop.

We really hustled through this section, and took a short break at the road before beginning to walk towards San Francisco – the closest town about 7km away – as we thought that getting a hitch might be a bit more likely from there. Luckily, we weren’t walking for 20 minutes before a ute stopped for us – a friendly young Argentinian guy who was happy to take us to San Francisco, although his plan was to head to Termas del Rio Jordan, a famous thermal spot on the river, to pick up his friends who were kayaking down towards there. We thought that sounded ideal – a touristic area was way more likely to have people coming and going, and our chances of snagging a ride would be way better. Our new friend was munching on coca the whole way, and was happy to practice his English with us, so we had a good yarn before he dropped us off at Cañon de los Loros – a little further than he’d meant to go, as he needed to find a local guide to take him down to the termas. There were plenty of people at the Canyon, so we were hopeful, but all of them were tour groups who were just starting their canyoning tours, and then continuing onto San Francisco – so, the wrong way!

We hung around for 20 minutes or so, before Awal suggested continuing walking away from the groups of people. We looked a little out of place, there was a bit of traffic around, and there was a little bit of a mind game behind it, too. Do you think you’re more likely to give someone a hitch if you see them struggling? Looking miserable? Or just hanging out at a touristy area, looking hopeful and bright… Awal thinks the former is a better play, so we got our packs on and started walking (again) along the road. Now, it was really just luck, not strategy, because the first car drove past us while we were walking without a second glance, but the next car – well, it was our saviour! We were picked up by a super kind Argentinian couple from BA, who were on a birthday holiday in the north. We spent the whole drive out of Calilegua yarning – in broken Spanish, with a bit of Google Translate thrown in, but they were so interested, kind, and welcoming to their country. AND in a stroke of complete luck, they were staying in San Salvador – so they offered to drive us all the way there, directly to the bus station. We were totally overwhelmed with kindness – and the pure luck of being able to get back to Tilcara in a single day.

Lovely Argentinean couple that gave us a 4hr hitch

This was one of those hikes that totally, unexpectedly worked in our favour. The views were sporadic but it meant they were so much more memorable. The locals were kind, helpful and welcoming – not just our hosts, but the people that we met on the trails who were going about their day to day. And of course, without the kindness of friends who offered us a ride all the way to San Salvador (4 hour drive), our experience would have been completely different. We finished up in Tilcara with warm hearts and full of gratitude.

Keep it Short and Sweet:

Climate: Wet in summer – December to March ; dry in winter – June to August

Total Distance: 65km

Elevation: 4500m up and 5780m down

Description: A one way; homestay-to-homestay (book in advance via WhatsApp) track that traverses a mountain range. Walk between small mountain villages in alpine grasses into a humid jungle. If it’s not overcast, there should be fantastic views from the alpine hills across the jungle plains.

Track: Non-technical, mostly well trodden, not always well marked.

Facilities: Homestays with dorms or a space to camp; flushing toilets; makeshift shower; running water (filter needed); food available if you book in advance

Getting there: The track can start from the town of Tilcara. The ‘road’ ends at Casa Colorada, so it’s possible to take a taxi if the conditions are good enough (50000ARS) or walk there from the town (extra 2-3 hours).

Day 1: Tilcara -> Yuto Pampa. Steep uphill most of the way, with views of Tilcara and the surroundings in the valley. At the ridge, take in the views then continue to descend into the pampas. The homestay we contacted didn’t have the bunkroom open, I believe because we had our own tent. The toilet and a makeshift shower were accessible. You will have passed through some substantial altitude, so increase your water intake and be sure to eat well. Homestay: El Cokena – Marcela (+54 9 388 477 9368)

Day 2: Yuto Pampa – Molulo. Descend into the valley, cross the river, then ascend the other side. The track can get a little unclear in patches after this, so check your GPS to eventually descend into… and stay at the home of Sole Martines (+54 9 388 462 4023), Refugio Mi Esperanza

Day 3: Molulo -> San Lucas. Continue around the alpine ridges for a few hours before descending into the jungle. It should still be cool enough that there aren’t any mosquitos. Stay at one of the homestays in San Lucas – we camped at Refugio MontaNa Ramona, which is the first refugio in the village, without a booking.

Day 4: San Lucas -> PeNa Alta (trailhead). Descend for about 4 hours, mostly alongside the river, in a ravine, until reaching the road at a point called PeNa Alta. You’ll be watching out for mosquitos by the end of this track – keep your repellent handy.

Getting out: Is complicated! The range you’ve just walked over is not passable, so you have to drive all the way back round (or double your distance – hardcore). The bus only runs once a day from the trailhead to Libertador General San Martin at 4pm – 5pm. From there, take separate buses to San Pedro de Jujuy, onwards to San Salvador de Jujuy, then finally to Tilcara. Factor in an extra night to travel back. Agencies may offer private transport if you’re willing to pay. We were able to get a hitch hike straight back to San Salvador – which was incredibly lucky, as we only had to catch one bus.

March 18, 2025
Los Glaciares in El Chalten: Patagonia’s Most Famous Hikes & A Moral Conundrum

It’s curious to consider how a region gets famous, and the fine difference between popular and overrated. Is it the difference between online-generated expectations and reality? Is it the crowds of people? Is it the burgeoning prices? Or some perfect, unfortunate combination of the above.

Parque Nacional Los Glaciares is probably the most heavily visited area of Patagonia, iconic for Petito Moreno Glacier in the south, near El Calafate, and for the Cerro Fitz Roy mastiff in the north, by El Chalten. The accessibility of natural beauty from these two towns is a key reason for their popularity. Petito Moreno is an hour bus ride each way, but only a 30 minute walk to see an advancing glacier. And while trekking to Fitz Roy is a fairly long day (25km return), the trailhead is right in town. These two small Argentine towns have a mountain-village charm that – for us – was somewhat worn down by exorbitant prices.

Prior to summer 2024 – 2025, there were no fees to enter Los Glaciares. Prior to January 2025, there were no camping fees in the park, and wild camping was permitted – but all of this changed, quickly, without warning, and without the infrastructure to support the changes.

Entry to Los Glaciares now costs 45k ARS per day – although Guardparque Stations only exist on some trailheads, and the Guardparques are only serviced from 7am-5pm, so avoiding the fees is very much doable. A night’s stay at any of the campsites in the park costs 15K ARS per person – with long-drops available, but no campers’ shelter.

As in our previous budget posts, the high cost of goods is some unlucky combination of Argentina’s changing economy and Patagonia’s isolation, but all prices are also driven by demand, of which there is plenty. Of course, we are complaining as reasonably well-off tourists – so if we found the prices in supermarkets rough, it only stands that the locals have it even harder.

But while consuming food and booking accommodation supports the local community, it sounds like the changes to the park and park fees themselves are having little impact on the local people or the park maintenance itself. Although, whether that is the truth or a tale designed to make us all feel better, we have no proof.

We’d say that in general, we’re pretty rules-driven people. We like lines. We think sign-in books are cool. We’re comfortable paying for an honesty campsite. And we both instantly feel guilty when we do something that we know isn’t right – so camping in Los Glaciares was a mixed bag for us.

We planned the trip to El Chalten based on information collected from the previous year – which turned out to be wildly wrong. It wasn’t until we had booked flights in and out that we checked again – on reddit – only to find out about all the changes to prices. We were already massively over-budget in Patagonia (a good start to a year travelling!), and couldn’t even remotely afford an extra 60USD each per day. Our only option was to hide out in the park, free camp in secluded places, and enjoy the solitude as much as possible.

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Overall, we spent 11 days in Los Glaciares, with one restock. Five days were on the Huemul, which we’ve detailed in another post, then another 6 in the ‘main’ section of the park.

Skipping Petito Moreno

We flew from Ushuaia to El Calafate, as we’d already travelled through Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales, and didn’t need to return (and it ended up cheaper). We decided to only spend a single night in El Calafate, skipping a visit to the Petito Moreno Glacier. If you’ve the cash to burn – don’t do what we did! It does sound spectacular. The walkways are close to the glacier front, so you get stunning views all around. In the afternoon, it’s supposedly common to see the glacier calving, where it sheds chunks of ice. But it’s 45k ARS entry (as part of Los Glaciares), plus 50k ARS for the return bus. That’s about 100USD ea…

Bus Prices: Calafate to Chalten

Talking about extortionate – buses in Argentina are far more expensive than those in Chile. The three hour ride between the two mountain towns will set you back 38K ARS per person, each way. Apparently, there is one bus that’s cheaper, but we don’t think it runs often (or at all) anymore.

Camping at Laguna Sucia

After the Huemul Circuit, we restocked and reentered the park late, snagging an uninspired camping spot in some trees a couple of hours in. The next day, we continued on with the intention of enjoying Fitz Roy from the neighbouring Laguna Sucia, rather than the main track, and camping there the night – we’d read and heard that there were lots of good campsites on this track. As mentioned, we had snapped a picture of an old park map, which had multiple tracks that are no longer displayed or ‘recommended’. So when we went to turn off onto the Laguna Sucia track, there were a couple of signs telling us to turn back! We ploughed on, crossed the river and did some fun boulder hopping to get to the laguna – which is absolutely worth it. It was super quiet, and the weather was stunning – no wind, no clouds, and only one other person, who wasn’t camping there. We picked a spot with a big rocky barrier someone had kindly built, and settled in for a calm evening.

Little did we know – although perhaps it should’ve been obvious by the absence of other campers at the laguna – a storm was coming over the mountain. And that’s the problem with camping near such dramatic peaks; the sudden changes they can cause. From 9pm, the wind and rain picked up more, and more, and more, until we were pulling on rainproofs, crawling out of our shaking tent, restaking pegs and tightening guys – and eventually, changing clothes completely, packing up everything non-sleep related, and considering packing down and leaving. But at 3am, the storm eased off a bit (to the point where we didn’t have to hold up the tent’s buckling pole system), and we slept uneasily until sunrise. We snapped a cute photo and enjoyed the morning light on the mountains, slept a few more hours, then made our way down the mountain and away from the horrors of the previous night.

Camping by Lago Electrico

We’d wanted to spend two nights at Laguna Sucia recovering from the Huemul, but there was no way we were taking another chance there. Our next goal was Lago Electrico – at the far end of the park, and far away from the big crowds. It also turns out, Lago Electrico is actually private land and isn’t technically part of the park. There’s a shitty little barbed wire fence that has been maneuvered to fit a hiker, but otherwise we were easily able to move between the two without any guard stations.

From the base of the Fitz Roy trail, we traversed down the true left of the Río Blanco, which enables you to take a side trip to some cool views of Glaciar Piedras Blancas. There’s a bit of rock hopping around this section too, which is fun, but will slow you down a bit. With the pack weight and the tiredness, this actually ended up being a much longer day than we anticipated.

Río Electrico and the valley run perpendicular to the Cerro Fitz Roy mastiff – that is, it runs in the direction that the storm came the night before. This didn’t become obvious until we exited the cover of the forest, right after the Piedra Del Fraile refugio. Camping at the refugio was available for 20k ARS a night, so we continued on to brave the winds…

… which did not work out in our favour. It took over an hour to reach the shores of Lago Electrico, where again, we’d read there were good camping spots – all of which were super exposed! There were a few ‘sheltered’ areas amongst the rocks on the way, but the wind simply said no – it must’ve been gusting at well over 100kph, and always found a way to rush around or over the surrounding escarpment. As we retreated back from the beach, we tried to set up in three different spots, quite unsuccessfully, and eventually were forced to run back to the trees, racing a rain front and the dying sunlight, and setting up camp alongside the cliff-face ascending to Piedra Negra. It was cookies and nutella for dinner.

We spent three nights in the same spot – the next day, the sun shone and the trees gave us shelter, so we spent the whole day lazing around, eating our spare food and enjoying the break. The following day, the rain packed it in again, so we had a slow morning before taking a day-walk back to the shores of Lago Electrico. Emma really wanted to see the marked ‘Playita’ campsite on the map, but the river was impossible to cross without getting boots wet – so in the spirit of taking it easy, we enjoyed the view of the back of Fitz Roy and headed back for an early night.

Cerro Fitz Roy

Day 10 in the park – a few hours walking took us from Lago Electrico and back to the big crowds, and it was time to join in – for the most famous peaks in Patagonia. Actually, only Emma ascended to admire Fitz Roy from the traditional spot, and Awal stayed with the packs (a kind gesture, but also driven by being a wee bit hoha). It was a gorgeous day; although the wind was howling the whole time, the clouds would part to expose the peaks. What I found most hilarious was the line of people waiting patiently to stand on ‘the’ rock in the laguna, which provides the best shot of you, the clear blue waters, and the dramatic peaks. Do take care heading up – there is a steady line of people in both directions, and some places are well worn and quite slippery. It’s great fun to race up and down (especially being pack-less after walking 10 days with a pack!), but watch out for the wind in the exposed sections, it will blow you over if you’re moving too fast…

After snapping a few shitty (hilarious) selfies with ol’ Fitz, we carried on to find a new campsite, again running away from a rainfront, and trying to find a spot nice and close to a trailhead for an early morning exit. We eventually set up near Laguna Capri, and had an early night hiding from the rain.

Over and Out

We exited super early the next morning down the main Fitz Roy track, and en route were greeted by dozens and dozens of other early risers! So many people complete this trail, from keenos who want to see the sunrise to trail runners getting their ks up to the majority – who just want to get through before the guard gets onto their shift. Since we’d been off the main tracks in the popular hours, this final part of our hike was the real ‘holy shit’ moment of the density of people walking in Los Glaciares.

And it was a good thing we left early – we rocked up to the bus stop to check our tickets at about 7:50am, and found out that our midday bus was cancelled and we could only get on the 8am bus! There was a rush to grab some snacks, and then it was a prompt return to El Calafate and the biggest pot of post-hike maccy cheese you’ve ever seen. Delicious!

Keep it Short and Sweet

Normal Routes

So we did a few odd things, and spent a few extra days just chilling out, but in the end didn’t backtrack on ourselves that much. We’ve put a little annotated map below, with a similar circuit and some options for wild camping that we thought might be good. Aside from our recommendation, there are apparently two massive circuits that you can complete – one that links up the Huemul to the main attractions instead of re-entering in the town, although you’ll need to do an extra Tyrolean and hire the harness for your whole trip. There’s also a super hardcore route, which you should only do guided or with expertise, that takes you over the ice sheet itself from Lago Electrico down to midway on the Huemul – it sounds so amazing!

Our route in Los Glaciares

Our recommended route in Los Glaciares

So… Our Recommendation

In conclusion, we had a superb time enjoying the hiking in Los Glaciares – there are plenty of trails to fit a journey to your liking, and plenty of spots that are less crowded to explore. What we did absolutely not enjoy was the continuous stress. Will someone find us without a ticket? Are we allowed to camp here? Is someone going to fine us? Is any of it worth it? On this trip, we realized the extent to which we are not rulebreakers, and while we loved the walking we were able to do, we aren’t sure that we could stomach doing it again.

So, a lesson for us and maybe some insight for anyone reading, always stay true to your values, because doing the opposite doesn’t feel good!

February 16, 2025
Essential Guide to Huemul Circuit in El Chalten- 4 day trek

El Chalten and Parque Nacional Los Glaciares is one of the most popular parts of Patagonia, primarily due to Cerro Fitz Roy and the two neighboring peaks, which create a dramatic backdrop to stunning mountain lagoons. However, it’s not all that the park has to offer, and in our opinion, the centre of the park is Absolutely NOT the highlight. The Huemul Circuit is a 4 day, 65km loop that runs around the southern of Los Glaciares (but still starting from El Chalten, so not that south – it’s a big national park!). It’s technically a very normal hike, with two exceptions – two Tyrolean Traverses, which require you to hire a harness in El Chalten and carry it for the hike. The Tyroleans are so cool, and an awesome experience if you haven’t done it before (like us!). But the true highlight of this track is the Southern Ice Fields. If you’re lucky enough to complete this track with good weather, you’ll come across the first pass with an unbelievable view of the world’s second largest non-polar ice field. If the mouthy title doesn’t impress you, the views absolutely will!

If you are only here for planning purposes and only want key info about the trek, then please CLICK HERE to take yourself to ‘Keep it Short and Sweet’

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Hiring a Harness:

A harness, safety rope, a steel carabiner and a aluminum carabiner are all musts. Optionally, you can hire a loop of retrieval rope. We didn’t know much about the traverses before we did them, so we hired this, but it’s absolutely not necessary if you’re completing this loop in the direction we describe. The only reason it can be helpful is if you have a big group and want to pull all the bags over at once (instead of each person clipping on their bag), or if you complete the track clockwise (and you’re in a multiple), because there is only one retrieval rope on the second Tyrolean, and it’s on the wrong bank.

The cheapest place (Feb 2025) we found was Viento Oeste, at 8k ARS per day for the essentials, and 2k ARS per day for the retrieval rope. The other four shops in town were 10k per day. Viento Oeste was also the only shop that checked we could put the harness on correctly before hiring it out – which made us feel more comfortable!

Starting Off:

El Chalten is your start point. From the bus stop, head back south across the bridge to the visitor centre for the trailhead. At the centre, the staff can give you any up to date information on the track, and there’s a form to fill out with your intentions. I don’t think they check it, to be fair, so have your own safety system set up (as always!).

At this office, we were lucky enough to snap a photo of an old park map, which marks a number of tracks that new park maps don’t show. It was very helpful once we moved back into the main section of the park!

More details on the above photo will follow in our Los Glaciores post.

The track starts behind the office. This is one of the trailheads that was marked by a guardparque toll booth in 2025. Enter after 6pm as required. The track is marked well in places, and can be unclear in others. Make sure you have a GPS or offline maps. The campsites are all free, but there are also no facilities. Always be a good hiker and bury your shit well and away from water sources, and piss somewhere it will get washed away. Be aware there are lots of stinky spots!

We’re describing the ‘normal’ way to do the track, anti-clockwise, though it is doable clockwise too, we can imagine the ascent up on the 2nd day (3rd in our blog) would be quite rough.

Day 1: El Chalten to Laguna Toro; 16km; 4 hours

Day 1 is fine, but our memories are limited as is not hellishly interesting compared to all the other days. We completed it quite late, as we arrived late in El Chalten, and were hustling down the track. The trail starts quite rocky and uphill, but eventually changes to a mix of boggy fields and drier forest. There is a lot of cattle on this section, weirdly enough, but also great views to the north of the iconic tip of Fitz Roy. Eventually, the track descends back down towards Río Túnel, and then alongside it for another hour or so until you reach the (very basic) campsite, sheltering In some trees. We actually started so late we didn’t make it to the campsite, just found a flat spot near the Río Túnel.

Day 2: Laguna Toro to Paso del Viento Camp; 16km; 5 – 7 hours

From the campsite, start weaving your way around the rocky formations on the true left of the river. The track can be a little unclear at times, so check for cairns, but you’ll know you’re in the right place in about 30 minutes, when you reach your first Tyrolean Traverse! This Tyrolean runs over a ravine that the water has carved – there isn’t an alternative crossing place. The traverse is short and a bit steep, so definitely keep your bag off your back, and clipped in by your feet. ALWAYS remember: steel-on-steel. Make sure your harness isnt twisted. Take your time! Safety is more important than someone else’s impatience. There are plenty of videos out there, either keep one downloaded or screen-record if this is your first time to make sure you’re comfortable with the process.

Awal did the traverse with his backpack on his back and he would not recommend this! Your back pulls you down and you cannot stay upright as you’re attempting to pull yourself uphill. DONT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID! Take your backpack off and clip it too the steel carabiner aswell.

We were lucky to reach this Tyrolean first, so we could get comfortable with the gear and set up. As we said, it’s short but quite steep, so it can be a bit rough on the forearms. The dismount is also a bit hectic, because the rock face is fairly steep, so again take your time here!

Once over the ravine, and the adrenaline rush wears off, continue along the true right of the river along the rocks. This wends around a bit until you come to your next challenge – walking on or next to a glacier!

It’s important to be careful here, as the moraines are unstable and the glacier, well, is icy. We found there was a well travelled path on the moraine, that wasn’t too slippery, so we followed that along the edge of the glacier, and just jumped on for a walk on it at the end. Poles definitely help with the slipperiness. There were lots of crevasses on the glacier that we could see, even right next to the moraine, so we kept off it until right at the end.

Once youve had your fun on the ice, the track begins to ascend steeply, providing awesome views of the glacier below. Continue climbing for views over the glacier, which is broken up into two pieces now (or maybe it splits into two? Either way, it looks amazing!). The climb continues for an hour or so until you come to the top of the saddle.

Now, if you’re lucky with the weather, this is the real extraordinary part, with the Southern Ice Field opening up below you. The views descending the pass into the valley below are the best you’ll get – we advise stopping and taking your fill of the view here and now.

When we completed the O Trek, one of the rangers told us that as we ascended the John Gardener pass, if we were lucky we’d be able to see up the glacier to the Southern Ice Fields – and we were not lucky, so seeing it this time was so spectacular.

The main campsite descends to the left of the pass, and is only another hour’s walk. It sits next to a little lagoon and at this one, there is a tiny little campers’ shelter – which smelled like piss. There are several camping boundaries set up with rocks, and there’s not a lot of privacy. Being people who don’t love that vibe, we managed to find a little flat spot up in the rocks above the campsite (beyond the ‘toilet’ section – watch your step).

Before that though – if you have terrific weather and time to spare, we recommend heading down to the right and camping at Laguna Ferrari for an extra night, which is a brilliant blue and is close to a series of moraines that overlook the ice sheet and give brilliant views. Obviously, being close to so much ice means it is quite cold, so wrap up tight overnight! It’s only an hour between the two campsites.

Day 3: Paso Del Viento Camp to Bahia de los Tempanos; 14km; 5-7 hours

As above, this was our day 4, but we’ll keep the numbers as is. The day starts with some easy, flat walking parallel to the ice sheet, between rocky moraines and stream ridden grassy fields. Eventually, the trail starts turning to the east, and you’ll start catching views of the Glaciar Viedma, which splits off the ice sheet. There’s a particularly nice view, and a good spot to take a break, just before the track begins to narrow and follow a sheer wall on the left, and a solid drop on the right. This is also where, for us, the famous Patagonian winds began to really pick up. The ascent up the pass is very steep, but not too technically difficult, and we did it with the wind blowing into our backs, making us trip up into the hill, but there were times where standing was nigh impossible!

There’s a slight reprieve of a bowl at the top of this section, though the real ‘peak’ of the pass is up to the left a bit further. We took a right turn here before checking the GPS, and had to backtrack (big regrets in the wind). The track descends through scrubby legua forest – we assume the roots keep erosion to a minimum, but they make for some leg raises as you’re walking! The real rough bit comes on a very steep, eroded section a little way down. There are some ropes to help (it’s basically on sand covered rocks, but at about 45° – hell), but we both spent most of it sliding down and not really walking. The descent overall is quite long, so take care on your knees.

Eventually the track flattens out though. Take care, as you’re again in a section with lots of cattle, and misleading tracks. The campsite is only about 30 minutes walking more, where the final stretch descends to Bahía Tempanos of Lago Viedma, sheltered by the trees. There a lotsssss of rats at this campsite, so keep your food triple bagged and out of your tent. We think there’s an alternative campsite another 30-60 minutes along the trail, but we didn’t check it out. The beach is rocky and slippery, and with the wind can be quite rough, so take care if you swim (but it’s so worth it).

Day 4: Bahia de los Tempanos to El Chalten; 16km; 5-7 hours

As mentioned, take care with the cattle trails compared to the track. GPS can be helpful in this section to keep you confident. Also note that when we completed this section, we had to do a small stream crossing about an hour in. It’s a couple of hours trekking through grassy countryside until you reach the second Tyrolean.

As mentioned, this Tyrolean only has one retrieval rope, but you should be on the correct side. Just make sure you don’t forget anything on the pulley (or let go of the pulley too early… maybe before you’ve attached your harness for your trekking partner… just a thought). This one is also quite long! So be prepared for a workout, and possibly wear gloves to help with the rope chafing.

From here, it’s pretty flat walking out of the park. If youre lucky, or organised, you can plan a ride to picn you up another 30 minutes along the track. If youre not so organised, or cant afford the taxi, its another hour and a bit to the road, which at this point, is really just a slog. But you’ll get there eventually, joining up to the road, and a beer and a bed.

Keep it Short and Sweet

Track Type: Circuit

Distance: 65km

Elevation: 2500 meters gained

Days: 4

Park Entry Cost: 45k ARS (the guards leave after 6pm)

Camping Cost: Free. No facilities at campsites.

GPS needed in sections, in general the track is easy to find.

Cattle tracks can be misleading.

The cheapest place to hire a harness is from Viento Oeste, at 8k ARS per day for the essentials, and 2k ARS per day for the retrieval rope.

Day 1: El Chalten to Laguna Toro; 16km; 4 hours

Cruisy day

Day 2: Laguna Toro to Paso del Viento Camp; 16km; 5 – 7 hours

First tyrolean traverse, glacier walking

Day 3: Paso Del Viento Camp to Bahia de los Tempanos; 14km; 5-7 hours

Walk up a pass with a sketchy downhill

Day 4: Bahia de los Tempanos to El Chalten; 16km; 5-7 hours

Bit of a slog and final Tyrolean traverse

February 12, 2025
A Journey to the End of the World: Hiking the Dientes De Navarino- 5 day trek
From Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas – we’ve been detailing our moves to the south, and our next stop is the most south we’ll ever go – Puerto Williams, on Isla Navarino in Chile.

There’s not much to Puerto Williams. Being at a tiny town so close to Antarctica has a real charm, but we travelled there for one reason – the hike at the end of the world, the Dientes de Navarino.

The trail is named for the mountainous prominence the circuit winds around, which look a lot like – well – teeth. If you fly into Puerto Williams, you’ll probably be able to see them out your windows. They really are an impressive rocky feature, like stone canines protruding from mountain gums. The best views (and photo opportunities) are on day one, as you initially climb up into the range but there is plenty to see on the track that will make your own jaw drop!

Click here to take you to ‘Short and Sweet’ that summarises this blog post!

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Getting There:

Being the end of the world Puerto Williams is not the cheapest or easiest place to arrive in. There’s three ways in and out:

Ferry from Punta Arenas: a 30 hour trip through Patagonia fjords. Apparently, one of the most gorgeous trips you can take, even if the sleeping conditions are questionable.

Fly from Punta Arenas: the quicker option and for a similar price, but you miss out on the experience of the ferry. We did this, and wished we’d taken the ferry!

Ferry from Ushuaia: this is the only way to get to Ushuaia from Puerto Williams, but it is so expensive – 320USD for the ride!

Generally, whichever method you take, your accomodation should offer to pick you up. Puerto Williams is tiny and tourism not a core industry, so the airbnb and hostels are pretty kind.

Accommodation

We stayed with Luis, at his airbnb cabin – it would be at least 40 minutes walking from the town, but it is only ten minutes from the beginning of the Dientes track. We don’t usually comment on where to stay, but we would highly recommend this accomodation – it’s super cute, quiet and an amazing way to disconnect. The family is incredibly lovely, and a friendly homestay lives out the back, too. If we ever found ourselves down that way again we’d stay there in a heartbeat.

The Hike

The Dientes actually has reasonable information on Wikiloc, and the trail is reasonably well marked for the most part. A GPS is still necessary – some sections are confusing and, this part of the world gets a lot of rain so there’s also a lot of bog. Also, clearly, it’s very close to Antarctica – so while not all the track is what would usually be considered ‘alpine’, the weather is incredibly changeable. The passes can snow up and be impassable all year around. If you have the flexibility, arrange to be in Puerto Williams for additional days, and certainly take an extra days’ food and extra dry food, in case you get stuck in your tent. In saying that, the weather forecast should be reasonably accurate – just be prepared that you may arrive and not be able to start in the first place!

The Dientes de Navarino track itself is not very long. The days are around 10km on average. The beauty of the track is in the scenery and the wildness, and being one of the southernmost people in the world. The challenge is in the isolation. You could do it in three days sure – but why would you? You’ll probably never be so far south again, so enjoy the seclusion!

Day 1: Puerto Williams – Laguna Del Salto; 11km, 6-7 hours

The track starts as a day hike, climbing up with switchbacks through forest to Cerro Bandera. There are multiple viewpoints along the way, but the view at the summit is the most spectacular. Treat yourself to the view of Tierra del Fuego. The track then continues along the side of the ridge and towards the Dientes de Navarino. Coming around the ridge you’ll get awesome shots of the Dientes and lakes and rivers below. This is actually the view that our logo is taken from! Eventually, you’ll descend to a lake below the Dientes, where the first campsite is located. All along this route, the campsites are clear with people having set up stick or stone walls to give the tents some shelter.

There is an alternative route into this location, alongside the river, if the winds are too high to walk to Cerro Bandera. We believe some people also walk this as an overnighter loop. There was certainly a large group on the day we stayed at this campsite, and we didn’t see them again.

Day 2: Laguna Del Salto- Laguna Escondida; 9km, 5-6 hours

Where day 1 was all great views and chill walking, day 2 was a shitty slog for us. It started raining at about 8am and didn’t let up until the next day. Day 2 is where you should get even better views of the Dientes, as you pass underneath them and through the mountain pass. We didn’t see anything – to be honest, we can hardly recount the track, except that there was a lot of up to start, and a bit of slippery boulder clambering next to a lake. The campsite on the map is pretty nice, situation by a laguna with a great view (we saw in the morning), but we continued onto the other side of the laguna to get a little more privacy – we knew there were quite a few other hikers behind us!

This was a day we were so glad for our tent setup – we can put the footprint and fly up, then sit in the shelter and dry off before putting the inner up. Awal almost got too cold, but our setup meant that everything important stayed dry. The rain did not stop, so it was a cold bread & cheese dinner for us.

Day 3: Laguna Escondida- Laguna Martillo; 7km, 5-6 hours

We woke up to a smattering of sun and rain, and quite a bit more cold. Today was the day we were the most south we’ll ever be! It was to be a tough day – another pass for the southernmost point, plus snow and wind on and off all day kept us guessing what we should wear. At times, it was a winter wonderland, but it never lasted too long. As we circled the mountains we got spectacular views of the surrounding valleys. On this day you also pass the turnoff for the Windholm circuit which does actually pass further south than the Dientes. The Windholm passes into more difficult territory(verify). After the southern pass, the track circles the mountain for some time before dipping into another laguna for the campsite. We followed the track a little further to find a lovely campsite overlooking that laguna, however we did camp next to a beaver site, so we had to be more careful with our water. We managed to set up the tent before another bout of snow arrived!

Day 4: Laguna Martillo- Laguna Los Guanacos; 10km, 6-7 hours

This was a boggy day. The track carried on down into a valley filled with forest and a lot of waterways, which made going fairly slow. Then, the final pass – where we lost the track multiple times because the way up through the trees was also a bog! We struggled uphill for an hour or so before it changed to a rockier and drier track. Eventually the track levels out to some flat top walking. Some of the cairns are hard to spot, so keep your eyes peeled. Eventually, this last high pass does end – you’ll come to overlook the final laguna and again you’ll have an amazing view of the Beagle Channel. The descent to the laguna is pretty fun (although, if it were icy or snowy it would be awful). The scree is thick enough to run or bound down the slope. The track then travels around the left, to a viewing platform and the campsite. Continue down through the bush for some more sheltered campsites – the wind coming up from the channel can be strong.

Day 5: Laguna Los Guanacos- Puerto Williams; 3km, 3 hours

The last day is meant to be short, but don’t rely on it! The start of this day is filled with beaver dams, tracks and general skulduggery. This makes it really difficult to follow the trail, both because of the misleading tracks and the dams which block the real track. Not so fun fact – all the beavers are introduced, initially for hunting game. However, the beavers have no natural predators, and the trees have no natural defenses, so the result is some serious deforestation where there shouldn’t be any. The result is also a nightmare of a couple of hours, where there is no real track to follow. Eventually, it dries out as the track ascends a ridge and follows it for some time, before descending into a normal forest – we found that the markers were inconclusive in this forest, so keep an eye out and on your GPS again!

The track eventually meets the road by some means. You can follow the road back to Puerto Williams, but we were lucky enough to pick up a hitch and shave a few kms of road walking off our hike. Then Luis’s wife drove us back to the airbnb, we lit a fire and had a warm, toasty evening of celebrating our achievement!

Keep it Short & Sweet:
- Trail type: One way
- Distance: 40km
- Time: 4-5 days
- Day 1: Puerto Williams – Laguna Del Salto
- Day 2: Laguna Del Salto- Laguna Escondida
- Day 3: Laguna Escondida- Laguna Martillo
- Day 4: Laguna Martillo- Laguna Los Guanacos
- Day 5: Laguna Los Guanacos- Puerto Williams
- Important checks:
  - GPS
  - Amount of snow/ weather forecast over the next 5 days.
  - Entry fee: FREE
  - Camping fee: FREE
  - Facilities: None (complete camping kit, cooking kit and pooping kit are essential)
  - Getting there: Walk from your accom
  - Best place to stay: https://www.airbnb.co.nz/rooms/24642603?viralityEntryPoint=1&s=76&source_impression_id=p3_1747523451_P3U13MhGQgyfrJRp
  - Getting back to town: The town is very small and everyone is very lovely. Hitchhiking is very common!
February 1, 2025
Essential Guide to the O-Circuit in Torres Del Paine | [2024/2025]
There are some things that are on every tourist’s bucket list, and this hike is one of them. If you are heading to Patagonia, then this trek really is a ‘must-do’.! This 8 day trail will take you on a 120km adventure around Torres Del Paine (TDP) National Park. You will see beautiful glaciers, beautiful lakes and the famous Torres.

This post will equip you with all you need to know if you are planning to complete the O-Circuit. The O-circuit is usually open from November to March, although the track can see snowfall and heavy winds all year around.

We completed this trek with all our own gear. We had our own tent, food, sleeping bags, mats, liners – the whole honky. It’s nice to be able to rely on your own gear, and cheaper to boot. We assume you want to do the same thing, so all costs will show how to book this as cheaply as possible.

If you are only here for planning purposes and only want key info about the trek, then please CLICK HERE to take yourself to ‘Keep it Short and Sweet’. This section at the bottom of the post will provide all the essential info for planning & logistics with no extra details. We get it! Sometimes you just want to enjoy it by experiencing it on the trail.

Tell me everything:

Why the O-Circuit?

Whilst researching what hikes to do in Patagonia, the O-Circuit will definitely come up on your radar. Most likely, it will be on every single “South America Hiking” list you look at, and even on some ‘top 10 hikes in the World’ lists. There are 2 main treks you can do in Torres Del Paine National Park, the O- Circuit and the W-Trek. Old maps show that there used to be several extra tracks around the park, but most have been closed, for a combination of conservation and tourism management.

The O-Circuit is a loop around TDP national park. You can only do this loop in an anti-clockwise direction, in the Patagonian summer and shoulder seasons (Dec – Mar is easiest, Oct/Nov and April you may get snow). The loop makes its way around the north side of the park and meets up to include the W section at the ‘front’, southern side. It totals up to 120km over the 8 days. The alternative W-Trek can be completed in 4 days, in either direction, but it is only a one way track. You have to ferry in or out, although we did hear that some people were planning to walk from Paine Grande all the way back to Central.

For the rest of the post we will only be talking about the O-Circuit. The W-Trek is far more popular, and far more trafficked – fair warning for those attempting the O-Circuit and arriving into Refugio Grey! The W-Trek is shorter, more easily accessible, and has more of ‘classic’ photogenic spots, but we wanted to do the O-Circuit for a few main reasons:
- We love spending time on the trail!
- We prefer taking the path less traveled
- Glacier Grey – a sight which has become one of the highlights of our trip
How do I plan this hike?

When we were in the planning stage, we were overwhelmed with information. There is a lot to process before booking this trek. We will take you through everything you need to know from organising buses to organising shuttles to buying the park entrance tickets and most importantly, booking the campsites!

Firstly, let’s start with figuring out what the 8 day itinerary looks like with the relevant campsites/refugios. All of the refugio/campgrounds have flushing toilets (!) with toilet paper, and most have hot showers. There are no cooking facilities for campers, so you need your own cooking system. There is boiling water available in some refugios, but it wasn’t super consistent. All of the sites have a minimart with a variety of small (expensive) snacks and hiking gas if you run out. On the W-side, there tends to be spare gas left behind by those who don’t need it, so if you get in early you can avoid paying for extra.

Day 1 | Start at Central and hike to Serron to stay the night | Managed by Las Torres

Day 2 | Hike from Serron to Dickson | Managed by Vertice

Day 3 | Hike from Dickson to Los Perros | Managed by Vertice

Day 4 | Hike from Los Perros to Grey | Managed by Vertice

Day 5 | Hike from Grey to Paine Grande | Managed by Vertice

Day 6 | Hike from Paine Grande to Frances or Cuernos | Managed by Las Torres

*Day 7 | Hike from Frances or Cuernos to Chileno or Central | Managed by Las Torres

**Day 8 | Hike from Chileno or Central to Las Base Torres Lookout, back to Central and out of the national park.

*Frances or Cuernos are fairly interchangeable.

**Chileno is much better, as you cut 2 hours off your sunrise wakeup time! But it fills up super fast, so you may need to stay at Central.

There are 2 companies you have to book through, called Vertice and Las Torres. In the past, you could stay at the CONAF campsites for free but they are now closed. While we were on the trail, we had some chats with the CONAF park rangers, and they indicated that the cheap campsites will likely never reopen. CONAF now works with Vertice and Las Torres to upkeep the track and park as a whole.

As we’re sure you can imagine, this is quite a chaotic working relationship, which makes your life as a tourist confusing as hell. Vertice and Las Torres release the dates for booking at different times, with very different pricing models The release time varies year on year but should be sometime between April and June. The prices increase annually so the only way to know how much each campsite will cost will be when the company opens up the bookings. For our 2025 bookings of the Vertice campsites, we paid $11USD per person and for the Las Torres campsites we paid $40USD per person. Yes! This is to camp, bringing all of our own gear… so it is ridiculously expensive. All you get is a piece of ground that you can pitch your tent up in and access to a hot shower. At those prices, you’re damn right we used the showers!

If you have a fixed time frame you can go to Patagonia, then booking well in advance, as soon as the spots are released, is your best bet. We would recommend joining the reddit Patagonia page as when the bookings are open, info generally gets posted there first. At the time of writing, Vertice 2026 bookings are already open – so get booking!

Vertice: https://booking.vertice.travel/booking

Las Torres: https://lastorres.com/circuitos-y-tours/circuitos-de-trekking/

We booked the ‘simple campsite’ option as this one does not include any extras and is the cheapest. This also books out the fastest. Though, don’t necessarily trust what the company tells you. We had a pretty crazy time booking the simple campsite last year. The bookings at Las Torres opened online with no option for a simple campsite. Awal then proceeded to spend a couple of days going back and forward (via WhatsApp) with someone at Las Torres, who insisted that there was no such thing as a simple campsite, despite all the evidence to the contrary! We eventually managed to book the spots, but there was a pretty stressful time where our Vertice spots were booked and our Las Torres ones were not. And once the simple campsites sell out, the premium options are crazy expensive – and they really aren’t very ‘premium’

If you’re getting a bit overwhelmed and have some cash to spare, there are 3rd party companies that you can book with, which will save you from booking with Las Torres and Vertice directly. There’s about a 15% markup for the service. The most popular one is Torres Hike: https://torreshike.com/en

If you’ve already missed out on your ideal dates, don’t stress too much. The simple campsites can become available at a later date. This is because Vertice and Las Torres reserve some campsites for tour agencies to use up. If they are unable to sell it, the campsites become available. We came across a family of 5 who booked a week before! This comes with its risks – but we know there are people out there who froth that kind of last-minute organisation.

Once you have booked your spots at each location, you need to book the bus that will take you from the town of Puerto Natales to Laguna Amarga. Laguna Amarga is the entrance of the National Park. You can find buses through BusBud [https://www.busbud.com/en]. You don’t need to reserve this bus months in advance (in fact, you can’t), but it’s worth checking a week or two before to make sure you can get on one of the earliest buses. There will be many people who catch the bus for a day hike to Las Torres, not just people completing the O- & W-Treks. Try to book the earliest bus which will leave around 6:45am from the bus terminal in Puerto Natales and will arrive at Laguna Amarga at 9am.

TIP: throughout your travels in South America, you can find buses through BusBud and then jump on the website of the bus company to buy your ticket there. It will save you just a few $$, but over time it all adds up.

The day you catch the bus from Puerto Natales to Laguna Amarga, you will then need to present your national park ticket at the registration area. The ticket can be bought up to a day before you start the hike. The ticket to the national park can be bought here: https://www.pasesparques.cl/en/parks/torres-del-paine. We have heard some tales of people skipping the park entrance fee – there’s not a very efficient system at Laguna Amarga, so we could see how this would be doable. However, CONAF does an awesome job of servicing this park, the money really does go straight to them, and the systems in place are really effective for managing tourism, so we would definitely encourage you to pay your fair share 🙂

Once you have checked in at Laguna Amarga with your park entrance ticket, you will walk about 400 meters to the shuttles that will take you to Central which is where the hike begins – you cannot book these in advance but yes, there will be enough shuttles for everyone – don’t stress. The shuttle cost us 4500 CLP each.

TDP Park Rules and Guidelines for etiquette:
- You can only camp at the designated campsites
- No open fires allowed. You’ll read a story about a dumb traveller who tried to burn some toilet paper and set fire to a large portion of the park.
- You can only use a burner at the cooking areas at the campsites.
- You can drink the stream water and water is drinkable at all the campsites
- Check In to campsites are usually from 2pm. If you arrive early with a reservation to the campsite, the staff will let you set up your tent whilst you wait to check in.
- The checkout times are only for those staying at the refugio and staying in a pre-made tent as they need to be cleaned for the round of hikers. This being said, spending more time on the trail and appreciating the views outweighs sleeping in.
- You need to have your campsites booked before you arrive
- You are not allowed to hike at night. We weren’t specifically told this but there were lots of signs pointing to this act.
- Please note that swimming is not allowed in the national park. It might be tempting but, these are the rules for the park. We noticed many travellers breaking the rules and this is not a good look!
Now the fun part, TREKKING!

Below we will provide a description of what to expect on the O-Circuit, based on our own experience. One thing we can’t predict is the weather; this will vary dramatically in Patagonia, even over the course of a single day. Do note that your timings will be equally variable depending on the weather and your level of fitness. For reference: we’re fairly fit, but we also like a good sit-down in the middle of the day. If you are concerned about not being able to do it, trust us, you can! The track is in great condition, and there are plenty of people around to offer encouragement. If you know you are a slower trekker, start earlier in the day, take plenty of breaks, and trust your own pace. Another important note: every blog, website, signpost, you name it, will have a different distance and time on it.

Day 1: Central to Serrón (Approx. 13 km, 4-6 hours)

Your trek will begin at Central. There is a tourist shop you will walk through before beginning the hike. We recommend not buying things until the end of the trek as you will just have to carry it. The trail winds through recovering farmland and you will mainly be walking on a 4×4 track that Las Torres use to service their refugios and campsites. It’s not great walking, but about halfway through you get views of a glacial river, which is a stunning colour. Upon reaching Serrón, you will set up camp, have an afternoon tea, socialise with the other campers and those in the refugios, take a nice refreshing shower and enjoy a peaceful night in the park.

Day 2: Serrón to Dickson (Approx. 18 km, 5-7)

On day 2, hike from Serrón to Dickson. The trail is filled with scenic views and takes you through more diverse terrain than the previous day. You will pass Guardaria Cuoiron where you will need to sign in by showing the park ranger your booking for the campsite ahead. A screenshot is all that’s required. As you approach Dickson, you’ll be greeted by breathtaking views of the mountains, lakes and the very top of a Glacier, if you’re lucky. Settle in for the night at Dickson. We would recommend taking your time on this day as it is mostly flat and you will begin to see the beauty of Patagonia, as the day before was merely on a 4×4 track. If you wake up in the middle of the night, do some star gazing. The night sky is beautiful!

Day 3: Dickson to Los Perros (Approx. 12 km, 2-4 hours)

On day three, trek from Dickson to Los Perros. This section of the trail is mostly a gentle uphill as you climb the valley, and features lush forests that eventually turn into a rugged glacial valley. You will also begin to cross dodgy bridges at this point, maximum one person per bridge for good reason. There will be a few of these over the next few days and it honestly does not get better until you reach the more travelled W-Section of the hike. Towards the end of the day, you will be greeted with the beautiful Los Perros lake along with its glacier – very cool to see, but it has receded a lot. However, never fear, tomorrow you’ll see the real deal. After a pleasant but short day on the trail, arrive at Los Perros, which is a beautiful campsite nestled nicely into the forest, away from the winds where you can recover, chill and have an early night. The next day will involve a very early morning wakeup!

Day 4: Los Perros to Grey (Approx. 18 km, 6-12 hours)

Our View of Grey Glacier

Today’s hike is probably the toughest. It will take you from Los Perros to Grey, through the John Gardener Pass. This can be a very long day, somewhat dependent on your fitness, but realistically mostly dependent on the weather.. CONAF are very strict about the timing. You must be out of the campsite by 7am but they recommend starting at 5am or 6am. This is because you must arrive at Paso Guarderia below the pass by 2pm or they won’t let you continue, and you have to stay there for the night. From Los Perros, it is a steep, exposed climb uphill to John Gardener Pass; when we completed this section, the winds were pretty mental. Lots of rain covers were lost and people were being blown over so start early and take your time. CONAF will brief you on the weather the day before. Once you cross John Garner pass, you will be greeted by the beautiful and majestic Glacier Grey. If you’re really lucky with a clear day, you should be able to see all the way up the Glacier to the Southern Ice Fields – the 3rd largest continuous sheet of ice in the world. Just take a moment at this stage. One of the most breathtaking views we have ever seen.

After admiring the glacier, you will head into the forest for a steep descent until you get to Paso Guarderia. From Paso Guarderia, it’s another 3-4 hours descending towards Refugio Grey, along which you will find many opportunities to take in stunning views of Glacier Grey until the Refugio, where you will take a well deserved hot shower, have dinner and get some well earned shuteye.

Day 5: Grey to Paine Grande (Approx. 11 km, 2-4 hours)

This is a short day, only around 3 hours, so we had a really nice sleep in after the long day before. The trek to Paine Grande is very gentle as you will be trekking along a mountain edge alongside Lago Grey where you’ll be able to see Glacier Grey from another beautiful angle. Take your time and take it all in. The trek ends next to the beautiful Pehoe Lake where the Paine Grande campsite is located. We tried to resist buying anything from the minimarts but we caved in here and got some snickers! A well deserved treat! This is the most exposed campsite in the park. We were there on a very sheltered day and had nothing to worry about, but if you hear horror stories about tents getting destroyed – this is the place it happens.

Day 6: Paine Grande to Francés (or Cuernos) (including Miradors Frances and Britanico ~22 km, 6-8 hours)

On day six, hike from Paine Grande to either Francés or Cuernos. On this day, you must make two choices. The first is the direction you approach Guarderia Italiano – there’s a fork about 10 minutes after leaving Paine Grande, with the right option taking you in between lakes, ponds, trees and a wetland, and the left option taking you along the base of the mountain. We took the right option (not knowing the difference) and it is much less travelled, if you’re looking for a quieter morning. We only walked past one couple, right at the end. It did feel quite exposed though – we nearly lost two pack covers on this day!

The tracks meet back up at a bridge. The next decision must be made at Guarderia Italiano, where you may leave your bags and take a steep trek up to Mirador Frances (2.6km one way) and Mirador Britanico (5.8km one way). This is the middle line in the “W”. Mirador Frances is approx half way to Mirador Britanico, and the total elevation gain is about 800m. This means that there’s a good chance the weather at the base is not the same as the weather at the Miradors. On the day we did it, we walked up to Mirador Frances but not to Mirador Britanico as we ended up in the clouds, soaking wet, without all our layers. Please consider taking your warm & waterproof clothes even if it is not cold or wet at the bottom. It’s so changeable, and especially without your full pack you might regret it!

Mirador Frances is stunning, even during bad weather. We recommend you don’t miss it. The hike is steep and involves clambering up lots of big boulders. Don’t feel like you have to rush – though we did, enjoying the thrill of walking without a full pack. Britanico is also supposedly gorgeous, although we can’t comment – see photo evidence of the ‘view’ before we turned around, about 30 minutes from the Mirador.

Once you descend back to Guarderia Italiano, you will walk 20 – 30 minutes to your campsite at Frances. The trail passes straight through the camping/refugio area so you shouldn’t miss it! The camping check-in kiosk is located up a little hill. Frances has a beautiful common area inside the minimarket where you can spend the afternoon drinking tea (free hot water!) and journaling or reading. In the evening, this area is used for the trekkers who purchased dinner, so we retreated to our campers’ shelter.

Cuernos is a few kilometers further along the trail, so if this is your campsite expect a slightly longer day (30min – 1 hour).

Day 7: Francés (or Cuernos) to Chileno (or Central) (Approx. 14 km)

On this day, you will pass through Cuernos campsite (or not, if you stayed here) and continue your trek alongside Lago Nordenskjöld. This is a pristine blue lake where you’ll have the opportunity to take some photos and take in all of nature’s beauty. As you continue your trek, you will come across a turnoff that says ‘shortcut to Chileno’. Take this shortcut if you are staying at Chileno, or if you want to see Las Torres on this day, as it means you don’t have to walk all the way to the turn off on the W section. If you are staying at Central and don’t want to ascend Las Torres, take the normal route. It was a very worthwhile shortcut, and probably cut an hour off our time.

To Chileno, the trek becomes a slog uphill, and when we did it, boy was it windy. At some points, we had to stop & brace so we didn’t get blown off the track! After about an hour more, you’ll join the main track to the towers. Soon after is ‘Paso Viento’, the windy pass. And holy f***, it gets windy. This is the most exposed section of the entire track, with the valley creating a wind tunnel especially for your hiking pleasure. It can be scary but it’s so awesome – enjoy it! But we definitely recommend using hiking poles. This is the last section before you find the Chileno campsite which is nestled in the forest and reasonably sheltered. Make sure you get an early night because tomorrow you will wake up at 3am to make your way to Base Torres lookout for one of the most beautiful sunrises you will ever see.

Day 8: Chileno (or Central) to Las Base Torres Lookout, back to Central and out of the National Park (Approx. 10 km)

Sunrise shot at Base Torres

On your final day, it’ll be an early wake-up if you want to see the sunrise. You can leave your main pack in the lodge (both Chileno and Central allow this) and only take a day pack up, which is a great relief! From Chileno, it’s on average 2 hours to Base Torres. Because you won’t have your pack, and it’s cold as hell, you’ll probably be hustling. It took us 1.5hours, which was kind of a mistake… we just had to freeze at the top for even longer (not ideal). Additionally, we asked the staff what time sunrise was and they said 5:30am. The sunrise was actually at 6:30am. Even more freezing time 🙁

PLEASE, take warm clothes with you. Sure, you will already be in some warm clothes as it’s a cold start to the morning but by the time you get to the top, you will stop moving, your body will start cooling down and you will get coldddddd. Yes, this is advice from experience. Awal ‘forgot’ one layer and got super cold at the top so we had to leave a bit earlier than we wanted to. Don’t make the same mistake we did!

The harsh dawn sunlight shining on the towers is a sight to behold. Keep warm and enjoy.

After you’ve soaked up all Base Torres has to offer, hike back down to Chileno, pick up your pack and hike all the way down to Central. From here, you will catch a shuttle back to Laguna Amarga, another 4500CLP each. DON’T STRESS, there will be enough shuttles for everyone. There is a shuttle timetable on the board at central. It aligns with the buses that will transfer you back to Puerto Natales. We caught the 2pm shuttle to Laguna Amarga, as we had booked the 3pm bus. There is an earlier bus, at 11:30am, with a 10:30am shuttle. We arrived at 10:35 – classic. However, the 11:30am bus was full anyway, so if we had taken the shuttle, we would’ve been sitting at Laguna Amarga for hours. Moral of the story? Check the schedule when you arrive, but really just take your time. We were hustling back to Central in the hopes of moving our bus ticket, but what it meant was we spent the least time on the trail and the most time in an incredibly expensive cafe with no food left to eat. Eight days on the track makes two very hungry kiwis.

So, was this trek worth it?

Heck yeah! The trekking, Glacier Grey, the lagoons, the amazing people you will meet along the way. This trek is one of our favorites and we will recommend it to everyone we know.

Yes, it is expensive and some would even describe it as a money grab. We were hesitant when we realised how much it cost but we made sure we got in early and booked the absolute cheapest option.

Keep it Short & Sweet:

Why do the 0-Trek?

Beautiful lagoons, glaciers and mountain views. Well managed tracks.

We say: it’s worth it.

How Long is it?:

120km, 8 days

What do I need?

To do it cheap: take all your own hiking gear ($$$)

To do it fancy: stay in a combination of pre-setup tents and refugios, totally catered ($$$$$)

For everyone: Standard mountainous hiking gear – good base layers, proper hiking shoes, proper waterproof gear. All of the refugio/campgrounds have flushing toilets, showers, and toilet paper. Boiling water is available in most refugios. There are no camper cooking facilities (you will need a stove). If you don’t have enough food, snacks are available at all refugios.

When do I go?

October – April (best luck for weather Jan-Mar)

What do I need to organise?

Book Campsites/Refugios – as soon as they open, generally April-July.

Standard itinerary and Booking Information:

Day 1 | Start at Central and hike to Serron to stay the night | Managed by Las Torres

Day 2 | Hike from Serron to Dickson | Managed by Vertice

Day 3 | Hike from Dickson to Los Perros | Managed by Vertice

Day 4 | Hike from Los Perros to Grey | Managed by Vertice

Day 5 | Hike from Grey to Paine Grande | Managed by Vertice

Day 6 | Hike from Paine Grande to Frances or Cuernos | Managed by Las Torres

Day 7 | Hike from Frances or Cuernos to Chileno or Central | Managed by Las Torres

Frances or Cuernos are fairly interchangeable.

Day 8 | Hike from Chileno or Central to Las Base Torres Lookout, back to Central and out of the national park.

Chileno is much better, it’s closer to the towers & you can more easily wake up to see the sunrise. It’s also much more popular.

As above, there are 2 companies you book campsites/refugios with:

-Vertice: https://booking.vertice.travel/booking

– 4 x 11USD for camping

-Las Torres: https://lastorres.com/circuitos-y-tours/circuitos-de-trekking/

– 3 x 40USD for camping

-Third-party reservation website, Torres Hike: https://torreshike.com/en (if you don’t want to manage the bookings yourself)

Bus to Puerto Natales to Laguna Amarga (location of park entrance) – a week before
- The earlier the better. Find your time on BusBud https://www.busbud.com/en
- We paid 16USD for the ticket
Park entrance ticket – day before
- 46200CLP
- Purchase the “more than 3 days” ticket https://www.pasesparques.cl/en/parks/torres-del-paine
Upon arrival at Laguna Amarga: Shuttle to Central (Start of hike)
- 4500CLP
- These cannot be booked in advance
- There will be enough for everyone
Total cost:

Accom – 164USD

Bus – 32USD

Shuttle – (~9USD) 9000CLP

Park entrance – (~46USD) 46200CLP

Total – 251USD

If you found this post helpful and have any questions about the O-Circuit, Patagonia or any of our other blog posts, then feel free to contact us!
January 22, 2025

Patagonia Travel Costs and Itinerary: What You Need to Know

Logistically, this part of our journey was not well planned. As Worldwide Walkies, you can guess why we were in Chile in the first place – for Patagonia, and its wealth of trekking destinations. We wanted to do the whole honky – south as south goes, the big treks with big names, and anything we could fit in between. We knew it would be expensive – but just how expensive? We didn’t get to that level of detail, and we ended up with a number of shocks to our system (and the budget spreadsheet)!

You can definitely complete Patagonia on the cheap, don’t get us wrong. There are always options to cook in your hostel, to avoid the expensive tours, or to walk everywhere you conceivably can. However, there are three things which really contribute to a full ‘Patagonia Tour’ being very expensive, despite being in countries which are traditionally considered cheap.

Distances, Weather and Isolation

The Patagonia region is nearly 2 million km^2 of the world’s southernmost countries. Most of the places that offer the best hiking (and therefore receive all the tourism) are along the spine of the Andes, which are a substantial roadblock in any easy travel. The western side is peppered with fjords and mountains that are beautiful but basically uninhabitable. Most of the civilisation on the Chilean side lies along a single, dead-end road which traverses 1240km of Chilean Patagonia from Puerto Montt to Villa O’Higgins. This is the Carretera Austral. There are a few crossover points from the Carretera Austral into Argentina, but it is an extremely isolated route – and half of it isn’t even paved!

The eastern side of the Andes slowly flattens out into an arid plain that alpine grass and nothing else grows on. Roads (and ferries) do connect the southernmost point of Argentinian Patagonia to the northernmost, but the next consideration is the weather. Ruta 40 runs adjacent to the Andes and connects up the popular tourist towns of El Calafate and Bariloche, but the road is not passable in the winter, and can be questionable in the shoulder seasons. For the perspective of our kiwi readers: Stewart Island ends at about halfway down the Carretera Austral, and it’s another 900km South to Puerto Williams. That’s pretty far south.

So we have – towns that are connected by one road; roads that close in the wintertime; sub-Antarctic weather patterns all year around – which all in all, smells like true isolation. That’s part of the beauty of Patagonia – a real sense of being far, far away from anything else. Sure, there is still normal infrastructure in the towns, but just out of them, you can get a sense for how wild the countryside really is. That beauty just comes at a cost – and the costs are your groceries, which can be up to double the price that you’ll find in the northern regions of both Chile & Argentina.

National Park and Camping Fees

In Aotearoa, you pay for huts and the occasional campsite – and nothing else. Paying to enter a national park is a concept that was entirely foreign to us, although we have since heard it is common in many parts of the world. It seems like every National Park across Chile & Argentina have fees to enter, ranging from 10USD to 50USD – and it varies to pay by entry, and to pay by day. What really caught us out is that the fees in Argentina were introduced at the start of the 2024-2025 summer season and without warning – so just before we started travelling, but well after we’d done all of our research. For this very reason, we did not visit Tierra del Fuego National Park in Ushuaia.

Camping in Patagonia is also not always cheap. We paid, at maximum, 40USD per night per person in the O-Circuit in Chile – sure, this was in a campground with running water and hot showers, which was a pleasant surprise, but still a hell of a price to sleep in your own tent! In Los Glaciares in Argentina, campgrounds wanted to charge 15USD per night plus $45USD per day to enter, with the absolute bare minimum of facilities (long drop & no campers shelter). It seems crazy to us that we could be so self-sufficient and still be charged so much money!

The Cheap Countries are No Longer Cheap

Chile’s economy has been stable and strong for some time, so prices steadily increase over time as tourism and infrastructure develop. To be honest, the work of CONAF in a place like Torres del Paine felt genuine and really positive; despite the heinous amounts of tourists, we thought that the rangers were honest hard-workers who care about the diversity and conservation efforts in the park.

The major spanner in the works is Argentina. In 2022, people were travelling to Argentina and living like Kings and Queens. Argentina was renowned for its “Blue Dollar Rate” – an unofficial exchange rate (although, sanctioned by Western Union) of USD into ARG which could (at one point) double your pretty money. In 2024, inflation was 200% – the stability of the dollar compared to the chaos of the peso drove the blue dollar rate. However, the more recent political party has stabilised the inflating economy, which has resulted in the Blue Dollar Rate closing into the official rate – using Western Union still gives a better rate than the official, but only by about 10%. It also means that the cost of goods has increased dramatically, all over Argentina but felt even more strongly in Patagonia, where as above, distance and isolation further drives up the costs of goods. Talking to Argentinians living in Patagonia was rough – the wages of the local people haven’t increased with the record inflation, so the cost of living for the locals is sky-high.

Tell me everything:

What we did:

As per our previous blog posts, before descending into Patagonia we thought we would take a break and enjoy the north of Chile. This meant we’d been through Santiago de Chile, Pucon, Valdivia, visited Chiloe before flying out of Puerto Montt. If we hadn’t had the O-Circuit booked in our third week of travel, or maybe if we’d just thought a little harder, we would’ve decided to do a more efficient South > North route (or vice versa).

Our route, briefly, was as so – including the key trekking points:

Puerto Montt > Puerto Natales (plane) – Torres del Paine NP & the O-Circuit

Puerto Natales > Punta Arenas (bus)

Punta Arenas > Puerto Williams (plane) – the Dientes de Navarino

Puerto Williams > Ushuaia (ferry) – Tierra del Fuego NP & other hiking in the surrounds

Ushuaia > El Calafate (plane) – Perito Moreno Glacier in theory, but it was too expensive for us

El Calafate > El Chalten (bus, return) – Los Glaciares NP

El Chalten > Bariloche (plane) – Nahuel Huapei NP & other hiking in surrounds

Bariloche > Puerto Varas (bus) – to collect our gear!

That’s four flights, and a whole lot of doubling back and forth on ourselves. Looking at how to travel through Patagonia is confusing – there are buses, but some aren’t direct, or your sequence of stops is important to ensure you can bus from place to place. To top that off, some of the buses (looking @ El Calafate > Bariloche) can be far more expensive than flying – we booked our plane ticket 4 weeks in advance and saved around 100USD (with checked baggage!).

One thing that we do regret is flying from Punta Arenas to Puerto Williams. Apparently, the ferry is beautiful – 30 hours on a boat, but you’ll sail through the fjords of Patagonia, seeing wildlife and glaciers for the whole time. Apparently it is also very common to get all the seasons in one day 🙂 So if you’re travelling and you’ve got the time, we would definitely advise the ferry over the plane. For us, the decision was made because flight was slightly cheaper, but we definitely think that the ferry sounded worth it.

In hindsight, we have two routes we’d advise depending on whether you start in Argentina or Chile, minimising your time on the bus or the need to catch so many flights!

From Argentina:

Buenos Aires > Ushuaia (plane)

Ushuaia > Puerto Williams (ferry)

Puerto Williams > Punta Arenas (ferry)

Punta Arenas > Puerto Natales (bus)

Puerto Natales > El Calafate (bus)

El Calafate > El Chalten (bus, return)

El Calafate > Bariloche (bus)

From Chile:

Santiago > Punta Arenas (plane)

Punta Arenas > Puerto Williams (ferry)

Puerto Williams > Ushuaia (ferry)

Ushuaia > Punta Arenas (bus, which will get on a ferry!)

Punta Arenas > Puerto Natales (bus)

Puerto Natales > El Calafate (bus)

El Calafate > El Chalten (bus, return)

El Calafate > Bariloche (bus)

Argentina	Chile
Buenos Aires > Ushuaia (plane)	Santiago > Punta Arenas (plane)
Ushuaia > Puerto Williams (ferry)	Punta Arenas > Puerto Williams (ferry)
Puerto Williams > Punta Arenas (ferry)	Puerto Williams > Ushuaia (ferry)
Punta Arenas > Puerto Natales (bus)	Ushuaia > Punta Arenas (bus, which will get on a ferry!)
Puerto Natales > El Calafate (bus)	Punta Arenas > Puerto Natales (bus)
El Calafate > El Chalten (bus, return)	Puerto Natales > El Calafate (bus)
El Calafate > Bariloche (bus)	El Calafate > El Chalten (bus, return)
	El Calafate > Bariloche (bus)

And if you want to do everything at once – instead of returning to El Calafate and continuing onto Bariloche, you can cross back into Chile from El Calafate and hitch-hike or bus up the Carretera Austral! Buses are available in some sections, but we’ve heard that in particular the southern section is very quiet, so you’ll need to be happy to chill out and spend some time waiting for a mate:

El Chalten > Villa O’Higgins (bus, ferry, hike/bike – this crossing sounds awesome, albeit a little complex. There are pletny of blogs out there with detailed descriptions, and we met lots of people who did it, it sounds amazing!)

Villa O’Higgins > Puerto Montt (hitch, bus)

Puerto Montt > Puerto Varas (bus)

We believe that both Puerto Varas and Bariloche are worthwhile destinations, of the lake districts of Chile and Argentina. There’s a lot to do in the Lakes Districts of both countries – we’ll cover the details (and the details of each of the different locations) in different posts!

Also just a random aside – the Andes are renowned for being high altitude – the highest capital, the highest lake, etc. However, the Andes in Patagonia are not high altitude. The maximum point above sea level would only be around 2000m. That doesn’t mean you don’t do lots of elevation when you’re hiking – just that your starting elevation won’t be adding in an extra factor of difficulty!

January 20, 2025

Hiking Villarrica Traverse: Essential Tips for Your Chile Adventure
It is time for a good ol’ Walkie. That’s what we thought, anyway, with little consideration of two facts: 1, that neither of us had really broken in our new hiking boots, and 2, nor had we had completed a hike since Easter 2024. That’s 8 months to have forgotten what the weight of a backpack does to your perceived fitness (which was at an all time low, post Christmas feasting). Yet there we were, hyped as hell to get on a trail and explore the Chilean wilderness.

This was in the last post, but I feel like it’s important to reiterate – CONAF are great, but not super reliable. A lot of hiking information is difficult to find – in Chile and, as we have found out, throughout all of South America. When we emailed CONAF about the state of the Villarrica Traverse, they didn’t reply for 4 days (we were halfway through the hike!) and they sent me a link to a non-official description of the track, on WikiExplora (http://www.wikiexplora.com/ENG:Villarrica_Traverse). Thankfully, there was a kind local tour guide who answered a number of our questions on Whatsapp. We also got a little bit of information from the tourist office. There were a few key points to note:
- The track only opened on the 4th of January, and we started hiking on the 7th Jan. The track was pretty clear overall, but there was reasonable treefall in all the forested sections, which sometimes made our pace very slow.
- Most of the waterways rely on snowmelt, so the water situation can be variable, and later in summer it can be tough to get enough water (specifically on the first day)
- Make sure you have a filter too – because it’s an active volcano, the waterways can have icky particulates in them.
In general, WikiExplora is your best resource for information on hiking in Chile, and some other parts of South America. AllTrails tends to be less current. Our other go-to has been WikiLoc, which is often updated with photos by locals and local guides.

Part of the inspiration for this blog came through on this very hike – there was so little information! Coming from Aotearoa, where every trail, campsite and hut is detailed, marked, rated, mapped, and maintained by the Department of Conservation – hoo-ee, this was a shock to our privileged hiking expectations. We knew it should take 5 days, and that there were volcanoes to look at. We hardly knew anything else!

Click here to take you to short and sweet that summarizes this blog post.

Tell me everything:

Getting There:

This trek started with us being so damn lucky. We woke up with our bags already packed, had a quick breakfast and were ready to go at 7am or so. Our plan was to call an Uber – we had talked to a few of the tour companies running expeditions up Volcano Villarrica, who had offered us seats in their vans (leaving at 6am!), for 10k per person. When we checked Uber the day before, we saw we could get one for just 10K CLP – and we were feeling budget-y, so we decided, confidently, that an Uber at 7am was a good idea. Open up the app and – what do we have? – no Ubers in Pucon – at all! Several minutes of panicked waiting ensued, until we got a driver – who accepted the ride from Villarrica no less. An insane spot of good luck. The lad had to drive 30 minutes along the lake just to pick us up, before taking us 25 minutes up a dusty, gravel road for his first drive of the day. Plus, he had to wait for us for 5 minutes while we paid out park entrance fees (10400CLP each) and signed in for the trail (there was someone standing at the Guarderia waving cars over, it’s hard to miss). It was a wee car (imagine a tiny Suzuki Swift), too, so we felt every bump along the way. We were so grateful (and felt a little guilty), so we also tipped the guy in cash. Eventful as it was, we had arrived at the ski lodge, and were ready to hike!

Day 1: Volcano Villarrica Ski Lodge to Estero Ñilfe. (4-7 hours)

At this time of year, the ski lodge is used by mountain bikers, testing out the downhill trails. Another previously unknown, not very fun fact – the actual trail for the Villarrica Traverse starts another 3km uphill along a very boring dirt road. The road is reserved for ski-lodge staff. There’s an option to take the ski-lift, but this was a budget-friendly day – we were not paying for none of that!

So we began to trudge, packs weighted and boots poorly fitted. And then – another stroke of good luck. Old mate from the ski lodge (who we’d asked for directions) pulled up in his ute and urged us into the car. He struck up a friendly conversation in English, obviously taking pity on the two gringos who had no idea how long this road would actually take to trek along (at least an hour). Even in the ute, it took us another 5 minutes (uphill!) to reach the start of the trek – which starts in a South Westerly direction. We left him with a flurry of thank-yous, before starting our Traverse in earnest.

Lift from good ol mate

We should preface the remainder of this walk: we had spectacular weather. It was always sunny, with enough wind to keep us cool, but not so much to be a pain in the arse. Another important note for this hike – most of the signs have conflicting distances. A reliable GPS should give you the confidence you need. We were lacking on this front. We bought a second-hand GPS in Aotearoa before we left, but never really tested it out on the trail. Within an hour of starting the trail, it stopped working. An absolute classic! But we were already on the trail, and we were committed to making this hike work out.

The first real section of the track rolls around the foothills of Volcano Villarrica. There are plenty of amazing rock formations to admire, and sections where you can see the differences in lava flows. The scenery differs between harsh rock and wildflowers, always with views down the mountain into the surrounding lakes. Eventually, after moving through some short lengua forest, we arrived at a section which drops from a lightly forested cliff into a flat sandy ravine. The track took us up and across the valley slightly, onto some more volcanic rocks, where there was a lively stream – this looked like a good place to refill. The track then rose up the other side into more forest. Within 30 minutes or so, we arrived at the Challupan Lagunas, which was marked as the first campsite on the map we were given. The lagunas are all quite stagnant and icky, so the water would definitely need filtering. Although the shelter of the trees was nice, we decided to keep going to find a better campsite.

The next ‘water’ on our map was another stagnant non-event, much to our disappointment, but the Estero Ñilfe was running rapid in the next valley along, so we stopped for the night, pretty exhausted and ready to have a rinse and relax. This was probably about an hour along from the Lagunas, and is a wonderful peaceful place, with a great view and the perfect angles to watch the sunset! If you want to go further, there are opportunities to camp further along, but stock up on reasonable quality water at Ñilfe.

Day 2: Estero Ñilfe to near the CONAF Guarderia (6-8 hours)

This day starts again with more volcanic walking – called the “Valle del Fuego”, the valley of fire. It sounds like more of the same, but the changing angles of Volcano Villarrica to your left and the valleys and lakes far to your right really are spectacular, and will keep you entertained for hours. The track eventually started winding through steeper hills with sheer drops, past summer flowers of reds and orange filled with buzzing bees. At the top of this section, you can turn off for a few minutes to the Mirador Los Volcanes, but the main track turns to the right and begins a steep downhill to the Rio Pichillancahue. This Mirador is accessible from the road, so we met a few families puffing their way up the hill on an afternoon dayhike.

Our experience of this next section was, to be frank, not fun. Descending into the Rio Pichillancahue almost made Emma cry. The track is very steep (at this point we didn’t have poles yet – rookies), and we were still carrying extra water ‘just in case’. Being heavy going downhill equates to some very sore knees.

Secondly, the bottom of this descent was marked clearly on two maps as the next campsite. But there are massive signs that clearly say “no camping”. Like, what??? So Rio Pichillancahue is a good place to restock water before continuing on.

Finally, this next section of track is pretty weird walking. Coming out of the ‘no camping’ area by the river, turn left to continue along a rutted out 4×4 track. This track winds up the hill, towards a turnoff for the Pichillancahue Glacier (we met some guys earlier who had all the gear to walk on the glacier – pretty cool stuff). Continue following the road up to the highpoint, and then back down the other side of the hill. Partway down, there’s a sign that says “Chinay Campsite”, essentially on the roadside, with average access to the water and no real grass to pitch your tent, just some dirt that has slightly less gravel. Also weird. We continued on.

Eventually, the track meets up with the river properly, and the water is easy to dip into. Another few hundred meters along is the CONAF Guarderia. We stopped as soon as we found the river, setting up our tent in what was essentially a parking lot (remember, some of us were very close to tears a couple of hours earlier). If you continue past Guarderia, you’ll cross the track over a small bridge, and there is a much nicer spot to camp in a grassy area with great water access. We saw another tent there the next morning.

Day 3: CONAF Guarderia to Laguna Azul (6-8 hours)

Day 3 is the toughest day, with the most elevation gain. We first checked in at the Guarderia. He checked our passes, gave us some guidance on the track, and sent us on our way. “On our way” really meant “sent us up the hill”. The day begins with 3 hours of ascent, mostly switchbacks, rising through a forest of Aracuanias. We took our time enjoying the views and taking breathers. Eventually you rise above the treeline and rise to a high point, where you can enjoy 360 degree views of your surrounds, including views of all of the volcanoes! There were a few wind-walls set up when we were here, so this does seem like a place you could camp if the wind is calm enough. We enjoyed the views here for a while, but the horseflies here were real arseholes, so we didn’t stay too long.

360 views at a highpoint

The descent from the viewpoint takes you through some scraggly, low-hanging lengua forest. There are equal opportunities to smack your head (Awal) and trip over roots (Emma), so take care. Eventually, you descend into some thicker forest, which is quite beautiful but unfortunately the high quantity of snowfall in the area means there is a lot of treefall. The track is not super well maintained, so expect this section to be slow-going, with a lot of rerouting and clambering over branches to keep you entertained. After a dip, where another track meets up from the road end, you’ll start climbing again. Tricked! The first three hours up didn’t actually take you to the highpoint on the track, but now you will climb up to it. Another 30-60 minutes will take you through to the edge of the forest, and then you will see the track disappearing off into the distance, on a saddle next to volcano Quetrillipan.

When we completed this section, there was plenty of snow melt. The scenery is rugged and stunning. The mounds of snow are melting into rivers into water, and plenty of them make waterfalls that fill the valley. The section is mostly rock and scree, so expect some scrambling amongst the snow walking. During the last 400m of ascent, take regular breaks to look back across the valley. Once you near the top, check your GPS again to ensure you’re heading in the correct direction, slightly to the left. The track then curves down and to the right, eventually giving you a gorgeous view of your campsite. If you’ve got snow in the right places, this is an excellent opportunity to enjoy some sledding on your ass – it’s way more efficient and wayyyyyy more fun!

From the top, it should only be about 30 minutes or so descending into Laguna Azul. Enjoy the views of the laguna and the valleys stretching out from the foot of the mountain as you walk. Once at the base, pick your camping spot amongst the small grouping of trees or pick one right on the beachfront. Take a well deserved swim and relax in the best camping spot on the track!

Note that this campsite can be accessed from the road, so it may be busy on weekends, and unfortunately there was quite a bit of rubbish there when we visited 🙁

You can actually summit the Quetrupillán volcano if you so wish, either for a magically sunrise or just for bragging rights. Instead of going all the way to Laguna Azul, pick a camping spot of your pleasure to prepare for your ascent the next morning. The peak sits at 2370m.

Day 4 – Laguna Azul to Laguna Avutardas (5-6 hours)

This day will let you traverse some very cool trail through scree and sand valleys. There is really no shelter for most of this day, so ensure you have lots of water.

The track initially almost doubles back on itself – you may have been able to see it coming into Laguna Azul the day before. Pick your way through the volcanic rock field until you reach the well marked trail – and don’t rip any of your clothes in the process! Your first viewpoint will be Laguna Blanca, a milky white lagoon made so by the chemicals in the water. There’s a track that goes to the lakeside, but there’s a small rise you can run up, just as you come over the hill and first view the laguna. We’d recommend doing that, it’s a pretty good viewpoint!

Whichever method you decide to take, the track winds for some hours into real mountain valleys. It’s very dry and barren here. At some point, the track technically crosses the border from Chile to Argentina and back again, although it’s not marked! The track in general is a bit sparsely marked here, and with large sections of snow it can be difficult to see any marked path. Keep an eye on your GPS.

Eventually, the scree and the sand will stop, and you’ll have a view of your next couple of hours of descent – first into a valley of scrubby alpine grasses and lengua, and further afield into a humid forest. This is a great place to take lunch, and appreciate the sound of snowmelt and views of the trees and rugged rock formations that make up this next valley.

Because of the snowmelt, the initial section can be quite boggy. Take care where you put your feet, and generally prepare to get a little wet. As the track crosses this wetland and begins to descend into forest, the same applies – the track basically follows a big slip down into the valley, and the soil is full of clay. The red colour is a lovely contrast in photos, but for walking makes a big slippery mess. As you descend, you’ll be able to see your next camping destination – Laguna Avutardas. Check your GPS regularly as you descend – there was one grassy clearing where we missed the track direction, and ended up confused for 15 minutes or so.

The Laguna Avutardas Camping area is a little back from the beach, although it’s possible to camp on the beach if you want to be close to the water. The lake is shallow, but certainly swimmable – a lovely end to another day on the trail.

Day 5: Laguna Avutardas to the highway at Mirador Parque Villarrica (3-5 hours)

The final day is short on paper, but as with all the forested trails you’ve been on in this hike, will be filled with treefall. There’s a lot of rerouting and clambering on this day, so the track time can be very variable. We found sections quite boggy too, so we had some careful stepping. It’s not hard – there’s not too much descent – but it is slow going for the first couple of hours.

The track will eventually transform from trail to a dusty 4WD track, which you will follow for another 30-60 minutes before arriving at a suspicious, unmarked gate. Open it and finish the track! We didn’t, and assumed that it was part of the ‘do not pass fence’. Instead, we turned right and hiked uphill (a very, very steep hill) for about 15 minutes before the trail disappeared. The trail was, in fact, made by cows. It was several minutes more of map checking, scrambling and swearing before we eventually descended again, opened that damn gate and completed the Villarrica Traverse. Now all we had to do was figure out how to get back to Pucon.

Getting Out

This trek also ended with us being very lucky. Having taken our little detour, we were pretty over it! There’s a carpark where the track finishes, and a little cafe. It was a Sunday, so there were several people arriving to begin their day hikes – but not many people going in the other direction, as the road only comes in from Argentina. We sought advice from the staff at the Villarrica Traverse Cafe, who were super helpful and kind, offering us water and WiFi. Unfortunately, the advice was that 1) the bus from Puesco Bajo doesn’t run on a Sunday 2) the track running next to the road was closed, so we were definitely going to have to trek to Puesco Bajo via the road. Thankfully, the track finishes at a high point, so the trek to Puesco Bajo is all downhill. If you want to chill or can’t get a hitch, there are hostels in Puesco Bajo, or there’s a CONAF campsite (according to our map – which was wrong in all other regards, so take this with a grain of salt).

We were lucky enough to grab a hitch with a couple of Argentinians within about 20 minutes. They’d come across the border for their Sunday shopping (which really shows you how crazy the economy is in Argentina!). There were actually a couple of girls who were already in their car, hitching, and they kindly jumped out for us. We rode with them all the way back to Pucon, which is about an hour’s drive. We’re sure they were very friendly people, but our Spanish was still terrible at this point, and the Argentinian accent really is something different! So it was a bit of a quiet ride.

The GPS Drama

So, we’ve got an ETrex25 Garmin. It must be about 15 years old. On the track, it suddenly wouldn’t turn on anymore. Stressssss. Since then, we guess because we were stress-pressing it so much, the power button has collapsed in – the silicone is too old, and it cracked and crinkled until it couldn’t take anymore. This means that this lovely, rugged model is no longer waterproof. Whoops. Also the only way to turn it on is with a Q-Tip. Difficult with gloves! Anyway, it turns out that the issue was the SD card. If the SD card isn’t sitting absolutely correctly in its slot (and it doesn’t love to sit straight), the misconnection causes the Garmin to freeze. Because it doesn’t sit very well, it’s really easy to mess up the connection when changing the batteries!

We’re not sure if there’s anyone who’s had the same issues, but this is a good lesson to always have a backup GPS – or maybe to test your gear properly first…

Keep it Short & Sweet:
- Trail type: One way
- Distance: 73km
- Elevation:
- Time: 4-6 days
- Day 1: Volcano Villarrica Ski Lodge to Estero Ñilfe.
- Day 2: Estero Ñilfe to near the CONAF Guarderia
- Day 3: CONAF Guarderia to Laguna Azul (the best campsite on the trail!)
- Day 4: Laguna Azul to Laguna Avutardas (attempt Volcan Quetrupillán summit on this day)
- Day 5: Laguna Avutardas to the highway at Mirador Parque Villarrica
- Important checks:
  - State of the waterways
  - GPS
  - Amount of snow/is the track open
  - Entry fee: 10800CLP
  - Camping fee: free
  - Facilities: None (complete camping kit, cooking kit and pooping kit are essential)
  - Getting there: 10000CLP pp with a tour company ascending Volcano Villarrica (6am start); call an uber from town (~10000CLP); hitch hike (free)
  - Getting back to Pucon: Hitch hike (free) or catch the bus from Puesco Bajo (it does not run on Sundays, and is ~7km from the end of the trail)
January 8, 2025
A New Start in 2025! Planning for a Year of Travel
Hola hola! Blog post number 1!

This is Worldwide Walkies, the travel & trekking blog for Awal and Emma’s big 2025 adventure. Since the 1st Jan 2025, we’ve been in South America, walking and eating, learning and exploring, and generally trying out a life that’s a bit different for us. This is our little corner of the internet where we’ll be keeping a diary of our journey – sharing the experiences of the sunny days, but also the ones that are full of mud, rain and gale force winds. We’ll describe towns that capture our hearts and the ones that we couldn’t wait to get out of. We’ll note down our favourite itineraries, and the ones that, simply put, went to shit!

Maybe you’re here because you’re our mums (hi ma <3), but maybe you’re here because you’re keen to explore some of what South America has to offer – maybe you’re here because you also love to walk internationally and think we could offer a bit of guidance – or maybe you’re here to live vicariously (this was us! years in the making!). Whatever the case – thanks for stopping by. So let’s set the scene…

Click here to take yourself to ‘Short and Sweet’ at the end of the page that summarizes this blog post.

Tell me everything:

Why (and why not) South America?

We were inspired to return to this massive continent after a mini-adventure in 2022, where we spent 5 weeks tripping through Ecuador and Peru (and a tiny bit of Chile). As it turns out, five weeks was only enough for a taster of South America. We fell hard for the landscapes, the food (read: potatoes and corn), and the breadth of culture. We knew we’d be back, with a few key things to either hit or revisit.

The key attraction should be pretty clear: walkies, walkies, walkies. The Andes provide the ultimate stomping ground for trekking, through mountains and valleys, alpine forest and desert, through snow into blistering sun. From the southernmost tip of the continent up through to the transition into Central America, the Andes create a dramatic landscape that has plenty to offer those who love to walk. Patagonia is the obvious example of South American hiking, but mountain range carries stunning opportunities right through to the north of Argentina, and across Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.

The alternative landscape is the jungle – although, the hot, humid landscape doesn’t sound quite as appealling for multiday treks, the Amazon offers opportunities to experience nature in unique and exciting ways through tours and – the biodiversity is a huge draw card for the region, and the natural experience is a stark contrast to the high altitudes of the Andes. The most popular places for tours are Brazil and Peru, but we’ve researched some opportunities across Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia.

Backpacking for a year requires a certain price band – either taken from your belly & activity count, or taken from the currency of the countries you pick. South America can be a reasonably cheap place to travel, specifically through the northern countries. Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela offer awesome bang for your buck, although the latter two tend to have issues with safety, and it’s important to remember than any place super touristic will change the money you spend. Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina have more productive economies which have led to higher prices (to us, comparable to Aotearoa in many ways). They are especially high in the far reaches of Patagonia – so it’s important to keep the variation in mind when budgeting.

We’ve felt that South American cultures are truly genuine and unique, and in some cases untouched. From pre-Incan through to post-colonial South America, the history is fascinating and inspiring, horrible and bloody, and in some places, still strongly represented. The indigenous people of South America retain a strong presence in many countries, through villages, markets and traditional dress. There are opportunities to discover these cultures for yourself by taking a responsible tour, or simply being present in the moment and willing to have a new conversation. Every country has a different story to be heard, a dance to be learned, or a belief system to understand.

Part of that culture is, as always, food. We love to eat, and we’ll always find something that inspires us – but we know that South America is probably not the place for every foodie. With the exception of Lima in Peru taking on a more international influence, the traditional foods are rooted in their many types of potatoes and corn, with fewer fresh vegetables and deeper flavours. Homely meals are the core of South American cuisine, and they don’t have the breadth that you may find elsewhere.

How does a year of travel begin?

It took a hot minute to get our things in order but eventually – savings, friends, family, frisbee (totally Emma’s fault) – all aligned and gave us the opportunity to quit our jobs and exchange a cosy Aotearea life for something a bit more unknown.

The experience that we gained on our first trip to South America made the decision easier. We had a reasonable estimate on budget (three months in, and it’s going about as well as planned!), we’d already done a fair bit of research (a massive and overwhelming task for the size of the continent), and we were already confident that we would absolutely love the cultures and experiences.

As mentioned – South American countries have a wide range of budget types. For example, a ‘shoestring budget’ – the cheapest hostels, home-cooked meals, free activities, limited tours – will look very different when you cross from Chile into Bolivia. For example, we hardly ate out in Chile (less than 10 meals over nearly 7 weeks), but in Bolivia it is almost cheaper to eat out. This does mean that South America has something to offer every budget type, and every length of trip. Besides home cooking, we think there are two key factors to travelling cheaply – travel slowly and hike a lot. Travelling slowly almost always ends up being more economical – less time paying for transport, more time to spread activities over multiple days, more chances to visit a region in its off-season. Hiking is truly a great shoestring budget activity – if you’ve invested in your own gear, you’ll only be paying for transport (or just hitch!) park entry, and possibly campsites.

We budgeted a year of travel based on our monthly spend in NZ, with a cross-check from the spend of our last trip, which ends up being about 1000NZD a week (500NZD each), which at the time of budgeting was about 600USD (300USD each). Now it’s more like 550USD, but that’s an economics gripe for Awal to tell another time! We then budgeted a bit extra – if you know you’ll be going to places like Patagonia, the Amazon and the Galapagos, you know those will be bigger chunks out of the budget. We’ll post more details on cost breakdown per country as we go along.

Planning for a year is a weird sensation. We are both very structured people, so we knew we should take this year-long opportunity to be more open-ended. However, the purely care-free, ‘let the adventure find you’ outlook generally leads to a massive problem – spending a disproportionate amount of time stuck in your hostel room, rushing to complete that research on your phone! There’s a balance to be struck to provide freedom and flexibility. For us, that meant a key question – “what matters most?” – well, clearly it’s Walkies. That gave us a framework – knowing that there are certain multiday hikes that we want to hit provides us the countries we wanted to visit. Having a general idea of what your key spots are helps that structure. Maybe it’s the most beautiful locations for photos; are you a birder or after a particular animal sighting – are there certain dishes you’d love to eat – maybe you want to learn the choice slang from every dialect of Spanish across South America – do you want to explore the best nightlife? Any of these could give you a starting point to plan your trip; maybe you aren’t sure, but picking one to begin can really help focus your planning!

While planning out a whole year is weird, packing for a whole year is even stranger. This is something that we do not have nailed down!! Packing up your whole life into a bag each is hard, but what’s harder is carrying the weight of something you don’t use often enough. Time on the trail will tell you what’s essential and what’s not – our best advice for now is that you will overpack. As our priority was hiking, we have big packs full of all of our own gear – tent, sleeping mat, bags, liners, and a full set of hiking clothes. To be fair, everything else is excess – but it’s nice to look cute in a city, and it’s hard to start a blog without a laptop! We’ll make another post one day (if we ever figure out a system that actually works…)

Where do you start?

From New Zealand, “where do I start” has an easy answer – the only place you can fly direct is Santiago de Chile (although – we flew via Melbourne as it was somehow considerably cheaper). So at 8am on the 1st January 2025, we left NZ and at 11am we arrived in Santiago!

Now Santiago… honestly – not the greatest place to start a journey. Since our visit in 2022, Santiago has seen some tough times, with regular protests and changes to population demographics, many neighborhoods have become quite dangerous, even in the day, and there’s a definite uncomfortable feeling in 2025 that we didn’t sense in 2022. It’s a shame, because we knew it as a cool city – with museums and cheap food, tidy cafes and funky suburbs, cool traditional mercados and a metro to boot! Not to mention the walkies – at the foot of the Andes, it’s got some awesome treks nearby. It was almost a culture shock to return and find it in its current state.

Thankfully, we didn’t have much time planned in Santiago – just enough to ride the teleférico and purchase some new clothes (not something we love doing, but LATAM lost our bags for 4 days…). Unfortunately even getting out of Santiago was a dodgy affair – the Bus Terminal for southern buses (Terminal Sur) is in a renowned bad neighborhood, with poor security around the terminal. Get out of your taxi and get in the terminal ASAP was the advice we read, and it worked out fine. It is not advised to walk to this terminal, especially in the evening!

Where next: From Santiago down into Patagonia, we would advise two main routes: you can either go down through Chile and back up through Argentina, or travel right to the bottom and make your way back up, crossing the borders as you need (or vice versa). We’ll put a bit more detail in another post, but either is manageable and gives you opportunities to get plenty of walking in! From Patagonia – just don’t forget that it is a huge continent. Fitting everything in is a tough ask. Chile is long, Argentina is long and wide – so hitting the key spots in both would take a long time, on a lot of buses. We nearly spent three months just across the two countries, and didn’t see any of central Argentina.

From either Argentina or Chile, you can cross over into Bolivia, then through to Peru then Ecuador and Colombia pretty smoothly. This route works both ways – starting in Colombia and working your way down, although in that case you’re working from cheapest to most expensive countries – so keep that in mind on your budgeting!

The elephant in the room: we’ve missed a big contender. We are not travelling through Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela or Brazil. The former two are cited to be quite similar to Argentina, in culture and price. Venezuela is not a very safe place to travel, so it’s off the list! As for Brazil – we would love to, but it is just so massive. We’ve heard it is a cheap place to travel, but is intimidating in its enormity (and neither of us speak a word of Portuguese!). We decided to not bite off more than we could chew – and one Brazilian chap that we met confirmed our suspicions by saying we’d need at least two months in Brazil. However, we did do some research: all the potential routes mentioned above are in the maps below.

Peep where we took this screenshot. See the two starting locations for Patagonia ($$$$), vs. starting in Colombia ($). The following maps are annotated by starting in BA or Santiago, but run in a single direction, so starting in Colombia & going in reverse works too!

Starting with Patagonia, then moving up through either northern Argentina or Chile to move into Bolivia. This misses east Argentina, and all of Brazil (Portuguese is scary!)

Starting with Patagonia, then moving up through Argentina into Brazil. Hitting the top of Chile and Argentina becomes a bit tough.

A Few Extra Thoughts and Considerations

Even though Santiago didn’t work out the way we hoped, there were a few things that didn’t surprise us (thanks to a combination of previous experiences and research) that are pretty key elements of travelling to South America. Some of the points below might give you an insight into some of our decision making as our trip goes on.
- Travel time – the continent is huge, the Andes are hard to cross (if you’re going over the mountains, your bus will not be on time!).
- Spanish – there is very little English spoken, even in some touristic areas! Get practicing early, talk to yourself if you don’t have a buddy, and consume lots of audio content for listening practice!
- Spanish – the Chilean accent and vocabulary are crazy, so if you start there prepare to say ¿que? a lot. The variations in accent across countries can also throw you – the Argentinian ‘sh’ noise for a normal ‘j’ or ‘y’ was confusing as hell for us.
- Brazil – it is enormous, and they speak Portuguese, not Spanish! We think we’ll return one day, but for now it was too complicated to include – so don’t expect any Brazil advice, sorry (for now)!
- Danger – safety is not assured anywhere in the world, but we’ve always felt pretty safe in places in our travels. However South American countries tend to see more unrest than, for example, South East Asia. Be sensible, read reviews and message your accommodation in new towns, and always trust your gut. If it doesn’t feel safe to you, it’s probably not!
- Age group – we’re in our late 20s, and so are most of the people that we meet. The higher price and higher danger probably contribute to this, but it is not the same very youthful age group as South East Asia.
- Seasons – Chile and Argentina are sub tropical and so align with Southern Hemisphere seasons – Dec – Mar Summer, Jun – Aug winter. This is super important to consider if you want to visit regions of Patagonia, because it is very far south – even if you’re there in summer, you can get snow, and the shoulder seasons can be rough. The dry regions of Central South America follow the wet-dry seasons (and it’s always hot and humid in the Amazon!).
  - Bolivia & Peru dry season: April – October
  - Ecuador dry season: June – September
  - Colombia dry season: December – March, July – August
So… is it living up to expectations?

Yes yes, and yes again. Not every day is amazing, or goes the way we plan, but we’re making sure to soak up every moment. It’s taken us nearly three months to get around to working on this blog, but that just means that every post is a chance to reflect and do a little more processing, to take a moment to go ‘oh wow, that really happened’. We hope you’ll enjoying these ‘ah-ha’ moments with us. Catch you on the next one!

Keep it Short & Sweet:

Why (or why not) South America?
- The Andes – walkies, walkies walkies.
- The Amazon – jungle walkies & biodiversity
- The Prices – cheap-ish, but caters for many budget types.
- The Culture – a hospitable melting pot of Pre-Incan to post-colonial mindsets.
- The Food – gems to be found, but few and far between..
What does a year of travel look like?
- Budgeting – it doesn’t have to be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be cheap. Think locations, seasons, activities.
- Planning – can you pick a focus to help guide your travels?
- Packing – you will overdo it! Part of the process is detaching (so maybe don’t bring your favourite handmade sweater).
Where do you begin?
- Santiago de Chile – but get out of there, fast!
- For Patagonia – border hopping or down through Chile, up through Argentina.
- For the continent – Patagonia first, Colombia last (cheap to expensive); or vice versa if you can plan that well!
Extra Considerations:
- Time – the continent is huge, the Andes are hard to cross.
- Learn some Spanish – very little English is spoken!
- Danger – it’s not unsafe, but it’s not the most stable place in the world.
- Age group – more late 20s, rather than early.
- Seasons vary across every country.
If you found this post helpful and have any questions about this or any of our other blog posts, then feel free to contact us!
January 1, 2025

Tag: Trekking

Keeping itshort and sweet

Description

Climate

Distance

Elevation

Costs

Track

Facilities

Notes

Getting there

Day 0

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

getting out

Tell me everything

Keep it Short & Sweet:

Tell me everything:

Tell me Everything

Day 1: Tilcara to Yuto Pampa (7-9hrs)

Day 2: Yuto Pampa to Molulo (5-7 hrs)

Day 3 :Mololu to San Lucas (6-8 hrs)

Day 4: San Lucas to Pena Alta (2.5-4hrs)

Keep it Short and Sweet:

Tell me everything:

Skipping Petito Moreno

Bus Prices: Calafate to Chalten

Camping at Laguna Sucia

Camping by Lago Electrico

Cerro Fitz Roy

Over and Out

Keep it Short and Sweet

Normal Routes

So… Our Recommendation

Tell me everything:

Hiring a Harness:

Starting Off:

Day 1: El Chalten to Laguna Toro; 16km; 4 hours

Day 2: Laguna Toro to Paso del Viento Camp; 16km; 5 – 7 hours

Day 3: Paso Del Viento Camp to Bahia de los Tempanos; 14km; 5-7 hours

Day 4: Bahia de los Tempanos to El Chalten; 16km; 5-7 hours

Keep it Short and Sweet

Tell me everything:

Getting There:

Accommodation

The Hike

Day 1: Puerto Williams – Laguna Del Salto; 11km, 6-7 hours

Day 2: Laguna Del Salto- Laguna Escondida; 9km, 5-6 hours

Day 3: Laguna Escondida- Laguna Martillo; 7km, 5-6 hours

Day 4: Laguna Martillo- Laguna Los Guanacos; 10km, 6-7 hours

Day 5: Laguna Los Guanacos- Puerto Williams; 3km, 3 hours

Keep it Short & Sweet:

Tell me everything:

Why the O-Circuit?

How do I plan this hike?

Now the fun part, TREKKING!

Day 1: Central to Serrón (Approx. 13 km, 4-6 hours)

Day 2: Serrón to Dickson (Approx. 18 km, 5-7)

Day 3: Dickson to Los Perros (Approx. 12 km, 2-4 hours)

Day 4: Los Perros to Grey (Approx. 18 km, 6-12 hours)

Day 5: Grey to Paine Grande (Approx. 11 km, 2-4 hours)

Day 6: Paine Grande to Francés (or Cuernos) (including Miradors Frances and Britanico ~22 km, 6-8 hours)

Day 7: Francés (or Cuernos) to Chileno (or Central) (Approx. 14 km)

Day 8: Chileno (or Central) to Las Base Torres Lookout, back to Central and out of the National Park (Approx. 10 km)

So, was this trek worth it?

Keep it Short & Sweet:

Why do the 0-Trek?

How Long is it?:

What do I need?

When do I go?

Standard itinerary and Booking Information:

Distances, Weather and Isolation

National Park and Camping Fees

The Cheap Countries are No Longer Cheap

Tell me everything:

What we did:

Keeping it
short and sweet