Travel stories from bolivia

Travel stories from bolivia

Hi everybody,

I´m finally catching up with my english group mails. The reason: well today is the national holday in chile and there is pretty much nothing else to do in town today. Already saw the president, so i guess that´ll be the highlight of the day ;-)

Once i got to bolivia, we first spent a night on isla del sol, the birthplace of thge inca empire according to legend (excuse my for eny typing mistakes, but for the first time in my life i`ve encountered a computer that is slower than i am and insists on showing me the words minutes after i typed them). Not much to see in terms of inca remains, but it`s a little paradise with beautiful bays and a gripping sunset. A room with a viezw of the beach and lake tititcaca for 10 bolivianos (1.2 USD). You gotta love the place....

To la paz then, a few hours by bus, interrupted by a little boat ride. The bus on one boat, the passengers on another, slightly more seaworthy craft. That reminds me: the bolivians have pretty much lost every war they ever fought. So their navy retreated to Lake titicaca of all places. Which forces the peruvians of having a navy on the lake as well. South america needs a sense of humour...

La paz has two parts: the gigantic sprawling city of El Alto, the part of the city on the Altiplano, and La Paz itself in a giant pit. An impressive sight every time you descend from 4000 meter to the bottom at 3700.

Rested for a few days and tasted la paz nightlife, then flew to Sucre for a week of spanish courses. Just so i could come home and say the trip was very useful, and to be able to talk about something else than the weather with the locals for a change. Sucre is the best preserved spanish city in bolivia and generally a nice place to be. Next to spanish classes i went mountainbiking around the city and went to see fossil dinosaur tracks, preserver in a limestone wall. Pretty impressive to put your hand inside a T-rex track and imagine how big a fluffy animal it must have been...

Back in la paz it was time to face up to and celebrate my 30th birthday. In style i might say, in excellent company (thanks guys) and quite extensive (countdown the night before included). On my birthday we visited the graveyard. Yes, i see how that might sound freaky, but it was the only thing we felt up to and it does have a filosophical twang to it. Back to the nightlife of la paz after that...

Then: The road of Death (enter drum rolls and ominous music). The most dangerous road inthe world according to some sources. It is a fact that a little steering error immediatly put you a few hunderd meters deeper and that the road actually isn´t wide enough for two vehicles to pass eachother, which doesn´t stop people from trying. Of course, the gringo´s had the great idea of doinbg the whoile thing on mountain bikes. Excellent fun as well: your descend 3300 vertical meters over a distance of 60 km! Serious braking and some real adrenaline moments!

The warmth of Rurrenabaque feels good after months in relative cold. Three days of pampas: alligators, birds, river dolphins, fishing for peranhas, looking for anacondas eating termites, spotting capibaras (guinea pig the size of a small pony) and even saw a curare tree (meanest looking tree i´ve ever seen). Worth it although the guide wasn´t really a talkative guy. Flew back to la paz, again in a small 12 seat aircraft, fun !


Said my goodbyes to sharon and charmaine, my two love travel companions, the first having a little more time so travelling slower, the latter having less time so travelling faster. Immediatly found replacement in two other grils from my dorm who want to wlk to illampuy circuit just like i do. Sometimes things are ridiculously easy ;-) We want to leave on wednesday, but in the morning things are very quiet... too quiet. Transport strike! Weird to be able to walk in the middle of the main street of la paz, and not see any minibusses around. We´re stuck for two days before we can finally get a bus at 5 am. In the mean time we do manage to go to a performance of the 9th of Van Beethoven by the Bolivian National Orchestra. Quite good although i feel very underdressed in my fleece and trekking trousers ;-)

It takes no time at all to arrange the trek and the next day we leave for 8 days of hard walking. Day 1 we climb from 2700 meters to 4000 meters. Nice start. In the next few days we manage to climb a couple of passes (all inbetween 4500 and 4700 meters). We have some rain, which normally NEVER happens according to our guide (yeah, what`s new). The best day is a climb to a 5000 meter pass, followed by a descent into a valley with beautiful lakes. Then back up to 5000 meters across hilss that look like a lunar landscape (The dusty hills). Nearby is the infamous San Francisco lake, known for its regular armed robberies on hikers. Our guide lead us into a alternative valley over the dusty hills and takes 20 minutes to study the valley to see if there are no lama shepherds (robbing people is a hobby for them) around. Down then, to set up the tent again. By the way, a 2 person tent for 3 people is not really something you want to do (we were kinda surprised on the first night). YOu have to turn in a very coordinated way, but granted it was pretty warm at night despite the freezing temperatures.

The next day, we had to get up at 3:30h in the morning, to sneak by the lake in the moonlight. the rest of the day we walk in a dense fog. An omen because the next day is the heaviest day. We climb over difficult terrain (boulders and some rock climbing), again ascending from 3900m to 5000 meter, to a beautiful gaciar lake (i know, i´ve been there before). But: the whole time there´s this dense fog, about 50 meters of visibility max. no glaciar and almost no lake in sight. Then we drop down to 4000 meter again in hail and rain. 8,5 hours of walking just because we like to suffer. The next day we descend to Sorata and that`s the end of the trek. Of course, that day we have beautiful weather ;-)

Right, that´s everything up to the trek... not much left (spending my last 2 days in santiago now) so the next mail you get will be from exotic belgium, in harsh conditions surrounded by my favorite food and in my couch. Bet you i´ll wish i can be back in a hammock in San Pedro again, or even in that uncomfortable tent, sleepless for yet another night ;-)

Keep in touch, let me know how you´re doing!!

Greetings,
nico