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Published: November 27th 2008
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Here is the 7th post. First of all, Max joined us in La Paz on November, 17th: los Mineros are now a complete team and here is the first part of our Bolivian trip.
We heard from people that they could not read our previous entries. So, here is the link to see all of them :
La Paz, La Paz Department:
This city is the highest capital in the world, 3800m (12467 feet) above the sea level. In order to get a good idea of the city you have to picture it: 1.7 millions people living at 3800m surrounded by high mountains (Illimani : 6362m, Illampu 6362m, Huayna Potosi:6088m and few others...). The landscape seems unreal and the streets are all steep. With the lack of oxygen and urban pollution at this altitude, it can be painful, at least suffocating after a few steps.
Therefore it was a bit difficult to enjoy this city. We still managed to visit the museums of the Coca (really handmade), of Contemporean arts and taste some of its great restaurants. It was however a good place to organise the below trips.
Max´s first day will be unforgettable. Landing alone at 6am, he went to the ATM (distributeur de billets), got his cash and left... without his credit card. It took him 2 days to get it back as fortunately the card was kept by the machine. The second event was him joining us in El Carretero, our hostel in La Paz. This hostel is inhabitated by only "cool people", meaning people who have decided to escape the life of the western world (with what money, we still wonder...). These people, to appear really cool, have long beards, dirty hair, wear ponchos and Bolivian hats. They also sometimes play an Andean flute to collect 1 or 2 Bolivianos (20 euro cents) and beg money to Bolivians. You got the point, we don´t like them. Anyway, El Carretero was our house during 10 days and Jose, an employee, was very helpful and welcoming. We told him to apply to a job in a Casque d´Or.
Copacabana, Isla del Sol, Lake Titicaca, La Paz Department:
We then decided to go to Copacabana, on the Lake Titicaca for a 2-day trek by ourselves. Colours were amazing in this region as the lake is surrounded by snow mountains, tourists were
very few and cars were simply absent. We spent 2 days on the Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun) at 3800m (12467 feet) and slept there for a night. We really enjoyed the hike as everytime we looked around, the views were heartbreaking.
At this altitude, we had to experience something we will not forget: swimming in the lake Titicaca! To tell you the truth, we did not stay long in the water, but we did it.
On the way back and because it is now a habit after all our treks, we celebrated our achievement in a bar . A bit drunk we were (the altitude did not help once again); we managed to be kicked out (in a nice way though) because Tim could not keep his balance and made some decorative objects fall from the shelves.
Back to La Paz the next day with a strong headache, we finally came to a big decision: climbing the Huayna Potosi standing at 6088m (19974 feet). We were doubtful about reaching it but it was the kind of challenge we have to face in this trip.
3-day trek: Huayna Potosi 6088m (19974 feet), La Paz Department:
Day 1
We met the crew: Julio the head guide, Maraico, a guide and David, the cook. We got a lift to the base camp located at 4700m (15419 feet). We then went for a short hike to the glacier where we could practice with ice axes, crampons, etc... Very good experience as it was the first one for all of us.
Second headache for Max (but not due to the alcohol this time) as he was not yet well acclimatized to this altitude. The night in the tent started at 6pm: the weather was too cold. The 3 of us also experienced the happiness of sleeping altogether in the same tent...
Day 2
Woken up at 7.30am, we went for a 2h hike to the high camp (5200m / 17060 feet). Our heavy backpacks (carrying our ice equipment) made the hike more difficult than it looks. Breaks are precious at this altitude if you want to breathe and get to your final destination. Arrived at 11am suffocating, we had a quick lunch and went for a 3h nap in the refuge before our dinner at 4pm. Useless to say we could not sleep at this time of the
Close to the top
Almost made it, enjoying the sunrise day. Our hearts were beating quickly and headaches started to appear. It was not easier to sleep after 6pm as one Belgian mate kept on breathing loudly and moving in his sleeping bag.
Day 3
Started at 12pm (minuit) after a very short night and storms + lights. We thought the guides would cancel the ascent as the wind was very strong. But it stopped as soon as Julio "woke us up". Max and Jems had strong headaches at 1am, time for the departure. Diamox (medicine agains altitude sickness) was not working; aspirins either. It was night time so imagine the amazing experience we went through: sky partly full of stars and partly stormy, with lights suddenly enlightning our path to the summit. Unique !
Unique also was the effort to walk up with steep uphills made more diffcult by our painful ice shoes and crampons and our weak headlights. Every step was a considerable effort. For safety reasons, there were 2 teams: Julio + Jems + Tim & Maraico + Max. We were indeed roped up (encordes) to our respective guides. Halfway, it started snowing and a steep uphill obliged us to stop every 10 steps. We were
Huayna Potosi summit (6088m/19974 feet)
We made it ! Still supporting Santos´ liberation then at 5700m (18700 feet).
At 5800m (19028 feet), Max was having unbearable headaches and stomachaches. It was over and safer for him to give up. Anyway, after only 7 days at this high altitude, the guides were surprised he could reach this altitude. Jems and Tim had therefore no choice as only one guide was left. Reaching the summit or giving up together. 2h and lots of breaks later, we finally made it to the top at 6am (after 5h of insane hiking). The success was immense, only shadowed by the cloudy weather. Unbelievable for you, it is still for us! Alcohol and cigarettes did not prevent us from this great achievement!
The descent was painful as we were not only exhausted but also affected by altitude sickness. At 8am we were back at the high camp, feeling dizzy.
The trek was still not over as we had to walk down to the base camp (1h with heavy backpacks and shaking legs).
Impossible does not belong to the Mineros language! (Impossible n´est pas Mineur!)
Day 3 marks also the entry of Max in the lost/stolen items contest. As we would have done in Marseille, his cellphone fell from
his pocket in a cab. Like the machine, we all think the driver kept it. Provisional ranking is thereby: Tim 1st (Ipod + cellphone), Max 2nd (cellphone), Jems 3rd (knife + mosquito repellent + light).
This time we could not enjoy our drinking habit after the trek. It took us 2 days to recover. So we are now ready for a big one tonight in Sucre where we arrived this morning.
Next article will be about the cultural capital of Bolivia (Sucre), the Miners´ capital of Bolivia (Potosi) and the saltlakes of Uyuni (largest and highest in the world).
If you realise how many efforts we made to climb up a 6000m high peak, you will easily comment this article. Thanks in advance.
Los Mineros
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Adrien
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J'ai envie de dire Wow!
Vraiment hyper impressionnant !!! La je dis big up mais surtout qu'est ce que je vous envie. J'imagines que le tout a deja correctement due etre arrose, c'est bien merite!!!