I drink to forget (the llama jumper......)

Famous Grouse with glacial ice and shocking jumper

......And the footwear, where the hell are my Louboutin's!

Raine x

I'm running out of superlatives

It's hard to know what can better some of the sights that I've seen so far while I've been travelling in South America but it seems that there is always something else just around the corner, maybe not to better it but something that drives a similar emotion. 

I remember seeing Machu Picchu and thinking that I would never see anything as special or as impressive, but then I saw the Salt Flats in Bolivia, Mounts Fitzroy and Torre and yesterday I saw the Perito Moreno Glacier......

A breathtaking sight to see

Just Incredible

I now know what colour ice blue is...

Kryptonite - Blue K

I really cannot imagine what else I will see before I come home but I fully expect to use the words extraordinary, spectacular, breathtaking and maybe even awesome*, a few more times.

On this trip if there's one thing that makes me sad it is that I will never be able to see these extraordinary naturally beautiful sights for the first time again. 

Raine x 
* I am less inclined to use awesome since our American cousins choose to use it to describe an 'ok' coffee,  a 'quite nice' meal or 'distinctly average' service. Please know that if I do use the word Awesome it will be to describe something that has inspired my awe!

Allow me to introduce you to Fitzroy

Mount Fitzroy is extraordinary.....

Mount Fitzroy

El Chalten is a small village of less than 1000 residents nestled in the shadow of Mounts Fitzroy and Torre, and it exists solely to enable hikers to come and complete the hikes to get a better view of these amazing mountains, and for the more experienced to climb Fitzroy and Torre which are considered to be two of the most technical climbs in the world.

Our first day was nerve racking as there was a lot of low cloud and we couldn't see the peaks from the village but we were assured that we were going to be very lucky the next day.... 

In the evening after doing our admin we went for a glass of wine and met Sarah from Montana who had just climbed Aconcagua and was in El Chalten for a a few down days before flying home. As she was planning to do the same hike as us the next day we invited her to walk with us, she was a remarkable lady, an astro physicist which made for a fascinating conversation over dinner and newly diagnosed with MS just three years ago at 26, her mantra "The only way for a diagnosis like MS to be ok is to live a better life with it than without it"; I'm glad that we met her.

It is an incredible place

Wow, we were so lucky the next day, we set off on the Tres Lagos Trek at 9:45 in brilliant sunshine and able to clearly see the sheer granite faces of Mount Fitzroy. 

El Chalten is an unusual village because you are able to set off on every trek from the village so within just a few minutes you are already on the ascent.

It's a long walk, it took us 10 hours to complete, about 5 - 6 hours to the peak with the last hour of that being a very steep climb to the most sensational view, then another 4 or so hours to get back to The Cervezeria for a celebratory Artesanal beer!

Awesome - and I don't say that often

I am in love....

If you are a keen walker and you haven't been to Patagonia you need to ask yourself why and then book your flights, it is without a doubt the most strikingly beautiful place that I have ever been to.

With love,

Raine x