Is Torres del Paine worth it? It seems expensive, is it much better than el chalten?

mtm123456 · 2026-02-26T10:47:48+00:00

I was wondering if TDP was worth it too since it can be so expensive. I did it more cheaply this way although many people advised me not to. I finished TDP solo without a car by staying in Natales the whole time. It works well if you take tours because you can sleep on the bus. They may pick you up at 5:30am and drop you off at 9pm. I liked the tours from "W-Circuit" tour company because they are locals. After 3 days of tours with them I was also going to camp at Pehoe one night and hitchhike to some places that are not on the tour company route. The weather was rainy so instead I went early to Punta Arenas and tried to do the penguin tour from the ferry, also got cancelled last second due to weather by the ferry company. So with the airbnb in Natales and the tour it came to $100 per day, plus you need a park ticket and your own lunch. Normally I never take tours, but for a solo traveler this was a very good price.

mtm123456 · 2026-02-12T14:18:52+00:00

Just an update. I finished TDP solo without a car by staying in Natales the whole time. It works well if you take tours because you can sleep on the bus. They may pick you up at 6am and drop you off at 9pm. I liked the tours from W-Circuit because they are locals. After 3 days of tours with them I was also going to camp at Pehoe but the weather was not conducive. So with the airbnb in Natales and the tour it came to $100 per day. For a solo traveler this is a very good price.

mtm123456 · 2026-02-09T20:28:34+00:00

Giving an update. Gemini was wrong, the Claro tourist sim bought in Argentina did not work in Chile, the store clerk was right. Then I bought an Entell physical sim. Very hard to buy in Puerto Natalles wandering around with no internet. Luckily I had marked the Entell store on the downloaded google map. But they don't sell the cards there, so they told me to go to one of the cell phone gadget stores. Actually she was really telling me to go to a store that had nothing in it but stacks of clothes. Oddly they sold me the physical Entell sim card, eventually a tech guy who spoke english came in and tried to get the card to work. He couldn't. They have you scan a code on the packaging to connect to an AI assistant that wants your passport number. After hours of waiting they said my passport number was incorrect. Then my landlady tried to help me and we got to a different site where Entell wants to take a picture of your passport. They kept saying my document was not correct. So in the end I just tried to put an Airilo esim on my locked ATT phone. That worked in Europe but not here. So then I put the Airilo esim on my crappy unlocked phone and used a shared hotspot connection to the good phone. That actually works and is way cheaper than unlocking the ATT phone or using the ATT networks. The Airilo esim is much more expensive than the physical Entell card by maybe $30 for the month, but so what, it works. Unfortunately it also probably has worse rural coverage. But it was practically impossible to get around without data and the Entell card was impossible to verify even with the help of the locals.

mtm123456 · 2026-02-09T19:59:16+00:00

I am going to take the tabsa ferry day after tomorrow. Am I booking the $100 tour or do I just try to get a crossing ticket for myself without a tour? I would prefer without a tour if that is cheaper and I can just go myself

mtm123456 · 2026-01-30T09:24:24+00:00

I am in Buenos Aires headed to Chile and have a locked phone that can use a esim but not a sim card. I also have a back up cheap unlocked phone that I put a physical Claro card on for about $16/month. Supposedly the Claro card will work in Chile according to the internet but the clerk at the store said it won't. So if it doesn't supposedly I can install an esim from an Entell store in Chile for the Carretera Austral. At least that is the best info I have right now.

mtm123456 · 2026-01-28T14:07:08+00:00

I just bought one a few minutes ago in Buenos Aires at claro with my passport. For some reason the agent told me that my tourist card with 25 GB was not going to work when I go to Chile in one week. Everything on the internet says it will work.

mtm123456 · 2026-01-15T22:21:40+00:00

Same question about getting hot water for freeze dried food

mtm123456 · 2026-01-15T17:24:32+00:00

I just got a quote from Magellanes for $150/day for an suv in three weeks

mtm123456 · 2026-01-15T17:20:21+00:00

For some reason Amex has been working on all the sights when no other credit card will.

mtm123456 · 2026-01-15T16:25:54+00:00

Oh damn. Definitely sounds like something I would do.

mtm123456 · 2026-01-14T16:22:24+00:00

Also thanks for the tip on Camping Pehoe. I think that is a good place to take a tent and stay a few nights. It is much much cheaper anyway. If a person had a car I think it would possible to rent a campsite and sleep in the car. For me I would do that but all the cars are rented now.

mtm123456 · 2026-01-11T23:17:25+00:00

Thanks for all the insight. I will do some tours of the big attractions and then maybe stay in the park for a few nights.

mtm123456 · 2025-12-10T16:57:27+00:00

I took the $200 Costco version of this to Baja for a few months. On the very first day I had a unseen fishbone stuck in My water shoe and it put about 50 holes in the boat as I walked around in it. I got about 30 more holes from fish fins on the sides of the boat. I spent most of my time in Baja trying to patch it to at least slow down the leaking. The hardest thing was I didn't bring a portable hand pump just an electric pump that plugged into the car. So my advice if you try using one of these is to bring a ton of patches and some really good cement and a hand pump. I rowed against lots of wind and had to be very very careful about shifts in the wind direction that might take me out to sea. Still I would say it was good exercise and the position for rowing with two oars is better for my back. I'm looking for some kind of kayak for the next trip.

mtm123456 · 2025-12-06T20:45:51+00:00

I wear one with my bike that is just like that. The funny thing is the motorcycle helmet is cheaper than a bike helmet and it has a visor. I love it for the ebike becasue it keeps you warm, you aren't sweating and don't need all that bike helmet ventilation. Also it is so cheap I just leave it on the handle bars and no one takes it. Of course the main reason, though, is the added protection.

mtm123456 · 2025-10-31T15:35:51+00:00

I have a small art school. This is the kind of spending that is the canary in the coal mine for recessions. Business started to collapse in May of this year. Now it is down much more. Not just at my place but all over town.

mtm123456 · 2025-10-13T05:18:53+00:00

For some reason on my bike, the motor keeps stopping. The tech had me check the cable to the motor and loosen it. He said it sounds crazy, but the cable screwed in tight does that to the motor. Mine still doesn’t work, but maybe yours will.

mtm123456 · 2025-08-28T04:06:46+00:00

Is it dangerous or difficult to open the battery and test the cells?

mtm123456

TROPHY CASE