The first thing you notice when arriving in La Paz is the scarily busy streets filled with many markets and the constant sound of car horns. The most interesting market is the witches market which is filled with different potions, llama foetuses, jaguar skins and other more things used for different spells and sacrifices. Aswell as looking around the city we managed to fit in some activities too. Dave and some friends cycled down Death Road, which is known as the most dangerous road in the world. You begin at over 4000 meters high above La Paz then descend 3000 meters [View Full Entry]

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Last Sat there was a giant festival in all of La Paz that started at about 9am and went till about 3am. The streets were packed with people and there was a huge on-going parade. It was pretty fun to watch. It was also the day of the Bolivia vs. Venezuela soccer match. We spent the day walking through the festival and then went to the soccer game, which was pretty exciting, but Bolivia lost.. On Monday I started the H.P. climb. The first day we tried on gear and then headed to our first refuge camp, which was really really [View Full Entry]

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Why do you keep stopping? the guide asked with an irritated expression on his face and agitation in his voice. Mmm...because I can't breathe!?! I replied in turn. The monster had flicked his switch. The previous morning Christophe and I were left waiting in vain for our departure. C's guide had called in sick and the agency was desperately (in Bolivian terms) trying to find a replacement. Low and behold, an hour later Mr. Sick shows up smelling of liquor. An exchange of words followed between him and the agency owner and things seemed to be settled. C was looking kind [View Full Entry]

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Instead of going back to Argentina as planned and spending my day drinking good wine, eating good steak and enjoying life, I decided to climb Huayna Potosi in Bolivia because it looked awesome, 7 of the people I was traveling with were doing it, AND it only cost $120US for 3 days (so cheap compared to the 1/2 hour ice climbing I did in Patagonia for $50US). Although I knew it would be somewhat difficult, I had NO idea what I was getting myself into... And, let's just say that the next time I hear a pilot tell me we have [View Full Entry]

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Huayna Potosi is a mountain located in Bolivia, not far and north-west of La Paz. The idea to summit this mountain was initiated by our Dutch friend Jerome who had recently tackled it successfully. He showed Steve some photos and that was all it took - he was hooked. The summit sits at 6088 metres above sea level and although it is a mixed climb with some technical difficulty, not a lot of experience is necessary making it the ideal mountain for us to try. We did some investigating once we arrived in La Paz and found an agency which offers [View Full Entry]

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Hello again. Nice to see you. How are you doing? So, before I set off for my trip, I had a couple of goals. One of them was to become as close to fluent as possible in Spanish. Another was to climb a 6,000m mountain. The first one is coming along alright, and in the next few paragraphs you'll find out whether my attempt to achieve the other one was successful or not. Day 1 I'd always earmarked Huayna Potosi as the one I was going to make my attempt on, as standing at 6,088m, it has a reputation as being [View Full Entry]

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Hauyna Potosi Hauyana Potosi is a mountain an hour or so to the north of La Paz standing at a whopping 6,088m or near enough 20,000ft! I thought oh it would be cool to climb that then i will have beaten dad before he even gets to the top of Mont Blanc! So i me and the only willing volunteer Joe set off to climb a very big mountain and this is what went on; Day One & Two We set off from La Paz in a taxi with our guide Phillipe for two hours up dirt roads to the lodge [View Full Entry]

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Despues de 13 horas durmiendo, empezamos a realizar lo que hicimos. El 1 de octubre 2008 es un dia muy especial para nostros. Por primera vez en nuestra vida escalamos sobre mas de 6000 metros - llegamos a la cumbre del Huayna Potosi. Estamos muy orgullosos pero todavia muy, muy cansados. Pero - lo hicimos junto con el nuestro amigo Vladimir. Y lo mejor: no habia ni niebla ni neve - tuvimos una vistas estupenda! Gracias a nuestro guia Felix! So und nun der Rest in Deutsch: Nach 13 Stunden Schlaf geht es uns besser und wir koennen langsam wieder klar [View Full Entry]

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Lordag 13. sept dro vi til Refugio Huanyna Potosi paa en tre dagers tur for aa bestige Huayna Potosi. Et fjell paa 6088 moh. Foerste dag var det klatretrening paa isbre med stegjern og isoeks anfoert av lege og mountaineer Dr. Hugo Martin. Lege i regntiden og mountaineer i hoysesongen... Hovedgrunnene til at vi hadde valgt dette firma var at Senior Doctor virket svaert serioes og at det var overnatting i hytter begge nettene. Teltlivet virket ikke saa fristende der oppe i kulden. I tillegg til oss to var ogsaa Petra fra Sveits med. Doktoren (svarte kun paa tiltale naar tittel [View Full Entry]

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So after just 3 full days of acclimatisation in La Paz, it was time to take up the challenge of Huayna Potosi. Those have have been reading the blogs will remember that Chris and I summited the Volcano Cotopaxi, during our time in Ecuador, which was a height of 5897 metres, well HP offered an even stronger challenge, with a summit that tops 6088 metres. At 19'973 feet, its a shade under 20'000 feet, a distance so close that the thought of carrying a ladder to the summit with me had crossed my mind! But still, its pretty damn high so [View Full Entry]

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