Location: Santiago, Chile
We have travelled down through Northern Chile, through the Atacama, stopping off in La Serena on the way. We did not see much of the Atacama, since it was an overnight bus. (A reasonably comfortable bus too, not quite club class, but it compared well to Premium Economy.) The north of Chile used to belong to Bolivia, Antofogasta was Bolivia's exit to the world. But after Chile marched into the region in the War of the Pacific (1880s) the subsequent peace treaty left Bolivia landlocked. In that war Chile got as far as Lima in Peru, which is a long way north. As with many wars it was fought for economic reasons, with Chile stealing Bolivia's nitrate resources. Poor old Bolivia has had a tough time with all her neighbours over the years, losing land to Brazil and Peru too.
Now that we are in Chile things have really changed. Women have prams for their babies, rather than just bundling them in a shawl around their back. Life is much more western (ie rich) here and the people look far more European than they did in the other 3 countries.
But it isn`t just the infrastructure that is better here, or the fact that the traffic lights are exactly the same as those in the UK. The music is better too. And this matters, as anyone who has spent many hours on South American buses will tell you.
Bus drivers and their conductors (not so much conductors as someone just leaning out of the bus yelling place names) love to believe that all the passengers want some music. The problem is that the music in most places tends to be
a) pan pipes
b) very bad
not that a) cannot also be b).
Pan pipes is a cliché, but it is also true. An invariably it is some rehashed version of a classic Beatles track, or their all-time favourite that is a Simon & Garfunkel number. Not sure why they think that Western tourists would like to listen to Western songs being mauled by them, but there is no escaping from the ubiquitous sound of Yesterday or Imagine.
The "pop" songs are tragic, and would be comically so if we were not trapped on a bus. Try to imagine the worst Eurovision entries from Southern Europe. Even Stock, Aitken and Waterman would be ashamed to have these songs on their CVs. Even Sonya would have turned these tunes down. Often one tape will be replayed again and again for the whole of an 8 hour journey.
La Serena and Vicuña
About 7 hours north of Santiago is the Elqui valley, home to some of the world's largest telescopes. Still being a bit of a physicist at heart this was one place we couldn't skip´, and we took a tour of one of the few observatories that is open to the public at night. Mopst of the information was a little too basic for my liking but the views of star clusters etc were worth the trip. The valley is also home to the Pisco industry, Chile's national drink. (A slightly different version is also Peru's national drink, as in Pisco sour). Since it was my birthday, we had a little tour and taste. Not something I would order in a bar, but nice enough whilst at the distillery.
Santiago
A modern city, with a clean underground that reminds me a bit of those in Paris and Hong Kong. Glass skyscrapers, modern cars, and the hustle and bustle that did exist elsewhere, but it has a more Western look to it.
We've been up the coast to Valpairiso, where the congress is based. Formerly an important port, but less so nowadays. Surrounded by hills, parts are quite attractive, but it's not a place that I would recommend to anyone with limited time. But a nice relaxing break for us, and a great lunch at a French restaurant run by a bloke from Montpellier.
A Night at the Opera
We had done a bit of web research before arriving and knew that Rigoletto was on that day we arrived. The website showed the only available tickets at $130!! But we managed to get seats at the back of the amphitheatre for a lot less than that from the box office a few hours before curtain up. A sumptous interior to the opera house and a good performance of my favourite opera capped the end of a belated birthday celebration. The only slight irritation was that quite a few of the people in the cheap seats (ie where we were) seemed to think it was acceptable to behave in the same way as they would in a cinema, so there were some distractions to endure. But it didn't spoil a great evening.
Skiing in August!
Whilst the UK has been ending what we understand to have been a very wet August, with a bank holiday no doubt also filled with rain, we have been hitting the slopes!
Only about 90 min drive from Santiago are a few resorts so we did 2 day trips with Total Ski to Valle Nevado (all the hotels were full, and very expensive too). It does make it a long day since taking a tube, faffing around to get all the gear on the roof of a minibus plus the drive makes it nearly 3 hrs each way from hotel to slopes. But worth it anyway.
I had wanted to tell you about the wonderful powder snow we had, since apparently the snow in the Andes is not like that in the Alps, and is supposedly of a better quality. But it has been very warm here for the last few days, and probably before too, so it was all a bit mushy and soggy, which was a shame. But it was fine for 2 days and slightly surreal for an August Bank Holiday weekend.
Vineyards
There are a number of regions near to Santiago and we went to the Maipo Valley to Concha y Toro for a tour and taste. Sadly they don`t have a restaurant so we couldn`t stay for lunch.
As for War and Peace, of the literary type, rather than a reference to the local history, well I've finished it, and it is the sort of book that requires the kind of time that only really becomes available when not working! Definitely recommended. But I'm not sure I agree with Tolstoy's views on the inevitability of the progress of events and history.
So that's both books that we left London with finished and now we are into the realms of trying to swap books, and trying to find something that isn't airport trash. We've been lucky enough to find a copy of The Times here in Santiago, and The Economist so we have something to sustain us on forthcoming bus journeys.
We've been following some of the Olympics on the web, and in some hotels we've had CNN. Seems like we have had a good games this time. Pity poor old Paula couldn't match the performance that she put in when she raced against us two in the '03 London Marathon.
The big story that dominated the media here for days was Chile´s first ever Olympic gold medal, in the men`s doubles. This was then followed up by their second ever medal in the men`s singles, meaning a double gold for Nicolas Massu. We saw the latter part of the doubles and the atmosphere was great, though quite restrained for a country`s first ever gold. Most people had left the bar by the time the medals were presented and the anthem was played.
The other big story from here is that Pinochet`s immunity from prosecution has been overturned. Interesting time to be here in Chile.
In May 2004 Phillippa and I resigned from our jobs to set off on a year long grand tour. This will be updated sporadically and will serve as a permanent record of what should be an extremely memorable year. Of course, it also keeps us in touch with those of you back in the UK, and enables you to follow our progress.
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Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Saturday, August 21, 2004
Sucre, Potosi, Uyuni and the salt flats
Location: San Pedro de Atacama, Northern Chile, near the Bolivian border
After leaving La Paz we flew to Sucre. (It`s certainly nice being a little more financially solvent than the Gap Year backpackers, it does enable us to skip the odd long bs journey.) Sucre, the capital, is a quaint little white town (or the colonial centre at least is white). Nice for a couple of days relaxing, but not a huge amount to do. The only thing we did, other than relax in the warm sun for the first time in almost a couple of months, was visit some 65 million year dinosaur footprints. Originally beside a lake the techtonic movements have pushed the rocks up to an angle of about 75 degrees, with tracks appearing to stretch upwards in a gravity defying manner.
From Sucre it was Potosi next. There is a hill, "Rich Hill" behind the town that sustained the Spanish Empire for many decades. Huge amounts of silver were found, extracted and shipped off to Spain. Some say that the amount of silver taken from the mine could be used to build a bridge of solid metal from Potosi to Spain, but who knows if that is true. Potosi is the highest city of its size in the world, at about 4,100m. In its heyday, in the 16th century, it was bigger than London, Paris or Seville. Its fame was widely known, and even Don Quixote referred the its wealth, in a similar way to the expression "all the tea in China".
The mine is still a working site, with about 6,000 people in it. It is possible to ake a tour of one of the mines, so we did.
Conditions have not changed much in the last few hundred years. Carts are pushed y hand along rails, there are no mechanical drills and all the ore is shifted by shovel. To make a hole for inserting dynamite in the rock face there is a blke with a long metal stake and a hammer. It can take anwhere from 3 to 10 hours to make one hole about 60cm deep. Hard work: it`s dusty, some Arsenic exists, toxic gases, risk of collapse, 10 hour days without sunlight or food. They don`t eat in the mines since anything would just get contaminated leading to ingestionof chemicals. The only thing that keeps them going is chewing coca leaves, just as the miners did 500 years ago.
It´s a brutal reminder that a lot of the world has to endure harsh working conditions, with virtually no health and safety standards. 90% of the miners said, in a survey, that they didn´t like their job but that they had no other option. They tend to start at the age of 13 or 14, and have a life expectancy of about 50, with most ending up with silicosis, a lung disease. We spent about 3 hours inside, crawling on hands and knees, walking through tunnels with low ceilings and scrabbling up and down makeshift ladders. It is hard work, partly due to the altitude, partly due to the dust, partly due to the cramped conditions. Although I never felt claustrophic it was certainly nice to get back to fresh air.
The miners here work 10-12 hour days and are paid for what they produce. They have to pay a tax to the state and pay for all their own equipment, as they are effectively self-employed. Most take home about US$4-5 per day. As the guide (an ex-miner) said, it makes you appreciate your job.
From Potosi to Uyuni, where tours to the famous salt flats start. Day one involves a short drive to the salt flat. On the way there we stopped at a salt processing "factory", really a very simple operation involving drying the salt and bagging it. 50kg for 6Bs, (about 40 pence). Not hugely profitable work. Once at the salt plain itself, white stretches all the way to the horizon, then merges, almost seamlessly, with the slightly hazy sky. This part of South America was originally in the sea, but with the creation of the region currently to the West, a massive amount of sea water was retained in lakes. Lakes bounded by mountains with no rivers leaving them.
In the middle of the expanse of white salt are a few volcanic islands, with huge cacti up to 1,000 years old. But aside from the odd place where the horizon is broken it is just blinding white salt.
After leaving the salt flat we had a couple of days driving, in a 4x4, through fairly rugged terrain, passing mountains, volcanoes and lakes of different colours. It is very bleak here, inhospitable and very cold. The last night we had a fair bit of snow, with howling winds. There was ice on the inside of the windows. We were up early and left about 7am to drive off through the snow, not knowing whether we would be able to reach the Chilean border, where we would leave rather than return to Uyuni. At times the driving wind reduced visibility to a couple of meters, which makes it even harder to follow a vague track through rocky ground. We had heard (false) rumours that the snow was about 1m deep up at about 5,000m but this turned out not to be true. We didn´t get to see some geysers, due to the weather, but other than that it just provided us with a slghtly more exciting journey, and some incredible views (when the blizzards subsided).
Of course, as is familiar to readers now, no journey here is complete with some mechanical problem. Our engine stalled and would not restart. After a bit of tinkering, involving ripping some wires out from under the dashboard, we were off again to great relief.
And now we are in Chile. They have roads with tarmac, they even have crash barriers on corners. They have road signs. They have shops like mini-supermarkets. And they have beer that is much better than the rubbish we found in Bolivia. But this ikind of luxury costs, and prices here are higher, though as a border town they are in a position to take advantage of the tourist flows that have to pass this way.
However, despite the comparison above, Bolivia was a great country. More interesting in many ways than either Peru or Ecuador, they have retained much more original Andean culture, and have been diluted less by the modern world. That can lead to problems, but does make for a fascinating time. I´d certainly recommend Bolivia over Peru (especially if a trip to Peru just involves the standard Machu Picchu, Lima, Nazca route).
After leaving La Paz we flew to Sucre. (It`s certainly nice being a little more financially solvent than the Gap Year backpackers, it does enable us to skip the odd long bs journey.) Sucre, the capital, is a quaint little white town (or the colonial centre at least is white). Nice for a couple of days relaxing, but not a huge amount to do. The only thing we did, other than relax in the warm sun for the first time in almost a couple of months, was visit some 65 million year dinosaur footprints. Originally beside a lake the techtonic movements have pushed the rocks up to an angle of about 75 degrees, with tracks appearing to stretch upwards in a gravity defying manner.
From Sucre it was Potosi next. There is a hill, "Rich Hill" behind the town that sustained the Spanish Empire for many decades. Huge amounts of silver were found, extracted and shipped off to Spain. Some say that the amount of silver taken from the mine could be used to build a bridge of solid metal from Potosi to Spain, but who knows if that is true. Potosi is the highest city of its size in the world, at about 4,100m. In its heyday, in the 16th century, it was bigger than London, Paris or Seville. Its fame was widely known, and even Don Quixote referred the its wealth, in a similar way to the expression "all the tea in China".
The mine is still a working site, with about 6,000 people in it. It is possible to ake a tour of one of the mines, so we did.
Conditions have not changed much in the last few hundred years. Carts are pushed y hand along rails, there are no mechanical drills and all the ore is shifted by shovel. To make a hole for inserting dynamite in the rock face there is a blke with a long metal stake and a hammer. It can take anwhere from 3 to 10 hours to make one hole about 60cm deep. Hard work: it`s dusty, some Arsenic exists, toxic gases, risk of collapse, 10 hour days without sunlight or food. They don`t eat in the mines since anything would just get contaminated leading to ingestionof chemicals. The only thing that keeps them going is chewing coca leaves, just as the miners did 500 years ago.
It´s a brutal reminder that a lot of the world has to endure harsh working conditions, with virtually no health and safety standards. 90% of the miners said, in a survey, that they didn´t like their job but that they had no other option. They tend to start at the age of 13 or 14, and have a life expectancy of about 50, with most ending up with silicosis, a lung disease. We spent about 3 hours inside, crawling on hands and knees, walking through tunnels with low ceilings and scrabbling up and down makeshift ladders. It is hard work, partly due to the altitude, partly due to the dust, partly due to the cramped conditions. Although I never felt claustrophic it was certainly nice to get back to fresh air.
The miners here work 10-12 hour days and are paid for what they produce. They have to pay a tax to the state and pay for all their own equipment, as they are effectively self-employed. Most take home about US$4-5 per day. As the guide (an ex-miner) said, it makes you appreciate your job.
From Potosi to Uyuni, where tours to the famous salt flats start. Day one involves a short drive to the salt flat. On the way there we stopped at a salt processing "factory", really a very simple operation involving drying the salt and bagging it. 50kg for 6Bs, (about 40 pence). Not hugely profitable work. Once at the salt plain itself, white stretches all the way to the horizon, then merges, almost seamlessly, with the slightly hazy sky. This part of South America was originally in the sea, but with the creation of the region currently to the West, a massive amount of sea water was retained in lakes. Lakes bounded by mountains with no rivers leaving them.
In the middle of the expanse of white salt are a few volcanic islands, with huge cacti up to 1,000 years old. But aside from the odd place where the horizon is broken it is just blinding white salt.
After leaving the salt flat we had a couple of days driving, in a 4x4, through fairly rugged terrain, passing mountains, volcanoes and lakes of different colours. It is very bleak here, inhospitable and very cold. The last night we had a fair bit of snow, with howling winds. There was ice on the inside of the windows. We were up early and left about 7am to drive off through the snow, not knowing whether we would be able to reach the Chilean border, where we would leave rather than return to Uyuni. At times the driving wind reduced visibility to a couple of meters, which makes it even harder to follow a vague track through rocky ground. We had heard (false) rumours that the snow was about 1m deep up at about 5,000m but this turned out not to be true. We didn´t get to see some geysers, due to the weather, but other than that it just provided us with a slghtly more exciting journey, and some incredible views (when the blizzards subsided).
Of course, as is familiar to readers now, no journey here is complete with some mechanical problem. Our engine stalled and would not restart. After a bit of tinkering, involving ripping some wires out from under the dashboard, we were off again to great relief.
And now we are in Chile. They have roads with tarmac, they even have crash barriers on corners. They have road signs. They have shops like mini-supermarkets. And they have beer that is much better than the rubbish we found in Bolivia. But this ikind of luxury costs, and prices here are higher, though as a border town they are in a position to take advantage of the tourist flows that have to pass this way.
However, despite the comparison above, Bolivia was a great country. More interesting in many ways than either Peru or Ecuador, they have retained much more original Andean culture, and have been diluted less by the modern world. That can lead to problems, but does make for a fascinating time. I´d certainly recommend Bolivia over Peru (especially if a trip to Peru just involves the standard Machu Picchu, Lima, Nazca route).
Thursday, August 12, 2004
The World´s Most Dangerous Road
Location: Sucre, Bolivia
La Paz and the surrounding area including Bolivia’s most important pre-Inca site, and cycling down the most dangerous road in the world.
We’ve finally left La Paz now, having been there, on and off, for quite a while. More interesting than Quito or the small amount we saw of Lima. The setting of La Paz is impressive. The flat plain (the alto Plano at about 3,900m) drops off into a bowl shaped valley, where La Paz was founded due to the weather being slightly warmer at a slightly lower altitude (3,500m). There is another city (El Alto, Bolivia`s 3rd largest) on the plateau, though it looks like La Paz overspill rather than a separate entity.
Although most of us were probably taught that La Paz is the capital, it isn’t: Sucre is. In the past Sucre was the most important city, but after a minor revolution the government was moved to La Paz, to pacify the people in that part of the country. But the capital has always remained in Sucre, although all important functions are carried out in La Paz, which is the most important administrative city. We were in La Paz for the celebrations to mark the anniversary of the birth of the Republic of Bolivia, but all the interesting stuff, along with the president and the government had moved back to Sucre for a couple of days. So, there wasn’t much celebrating to see in La Paz.
One of the slightly unsettling things about La Paz is that all the shoeshine boys (1Bs or 7 pence) wear balaclavas, which when we first arrived was a little too much like our captors in Peru. A bit weird until you get used to it. The indigenous people are much more prominent here: old women with bowler hats perched on their heads, colourful clothes, and markets that spill over off the pavements into the streets. We stayed near to the witches´ market, which offers a numbers of interesting souvenir opportunities, such as dried llama foetuses. Sadly it probably would not last the journey home over the next 9 months. Apparently they are used for good luck in association with other items that are burnt as an offering, a tradition that dates back to pre-Inca times.
The most important pre-Inca site in Bolivia is at Tiwanaku, not far from Lake Titicaca. It may well be the last archaeological site we see, no bad thing since we have been to a fair few now. The ruins themselves are not that impressive but we received a wealth of information from a knowledgeable guide. Although some of this info did contradict with other info we have previously received, so it’s not clear what the “official” version of events is. The civilisation based at Tiwanaku was technologically advanced and had an influence that stretched from Colombia to Northern Peru and Argentina. The main ruins were taken apart by the Spanish, with stones used to build churches and houses, as far afield as northern Peru. An interesting day trip, but perhaps a book is needed when we get home to sort out the tangled web of various overlapping cultures that we have encountered so far.
In another day trip from La Paz, a few days before our 6,000m climb, we walked up to 5,600m (though did only start at 5,300m). This provided us with great, though daunting, views of Huyana Potosi, which we would tackle 2 days later. As from the summit of HP the views here were amazing.
The most dangerous road in the world
It’s not clear if this road, a section between La Paz and Coroico, still holds this unofficial title. A few years ago there was reckoned to be one bus or truck over the edge every 2 weeks. Apparently now it is just once a month. So the death toll for a 40km stretch of road has dropped from about 600 to 300 a year. The road is carved out of the side of a very steep cliff in a large valley. The drop, which is near vertical in many places, is up to about 400m. So being too near to the edge, on what is an unpaved, dirty, dusty, rocky road is not a good idea. Generally in Bolivia they drive on the right. On this stretch of road however, all traffic is on the left. This means that the driver, rather than being in the centre of the “road” is much nearer the cliff edge, so is better able to get the tyres right up to the edge without slipping over. That’s the theory, but you can see the odd bit of wreckage over the edge and a lot of crosses all along the road. The left hand edge of the road, when going down, is the dangerous side. We started at about 4,700m and then dropped down to about 1,100m, a big vertical drop in only about 60km.
So we all had to cycle, on the left, about 1-2 metres from the drop off. Most of the time, since you have to concentrate on the bumpy road, you don’t think much about the potentially large fall to one side. Many of the corners are blind, and our Aussie guide frequently reminded us that we should cycle within our ability or, in his words, the corners may be a bit “more exciting for you”. It takes quite a few hours to get down, including a stretch at the top on tarmac, ideal for those of us who have not been on a bike very often in the last 15 years. It was a good day out, though the 4 hour trip back was rather a slow grind back up hill. Fortunately, we passed out of the “most dangerous” section before it was dark. We went with Gravity Assisted Mountain biking, who Ian had previously recommended, and who are touted as the best by all the books. We found them to be extremely professional and would also recommend them to anyone.
So that was the week of some more exciting, dangerous (in a controlled way), and active stuff. Luckily the legs were not too sore from the mountain climbing and had no effect on the cycling. The next few days are, hopefully, going to be more relaxing.
La Paz and the surrounding area including Bolivia’s most important pre-Inca site, and cycling down the most dangerous road in the world.
We’ve finally left La Paz now, having been there, on and off, for quite a while. More interesting than Quito or the small amount we saw of Lima. The setting of La Paz is impressive. The flat plain (the alto Plano at about 3,900m) drops off into a bowl shaped valley, where La Paz was founded due to the weather being slightly warmer at a slightly lower altitude (3,500m). There is another city (El Alto, Bolivia`s 3rd largest) on the plateau, though it looks like La Paz overspill rather than a separate entity.
Although most of us were probably taught that La Paz is the capital, it isn’t: Sucre is. In the past Sucre was the most important city, but after a minor revolution the government was moved to La Paz, to pacify the people in that part of the country. But the capital has always remained in Sucre, although all important functions are carried out in La Paz, which is the most important administrative city. We were in La Paz for the celebrations to mark the anniversary of the birth of the Republic of Bolivia, but all the interesting stuff, along with the president and the government had moved back to Sucre for a couple of days. So, there wasn’t much celebrating to see in La Paz.
One of the slightly unsettling things about La Paz is that all the shoeshine boys (1Bs or 7 pence) wear balaclavas, which when we first arrived was a little too much like our captors in Peru. A bit weird until you get used to it. The indigenous people are much more prominent here: old women with bowler hats perched on their heads, colourful clothes, and markets that spill over off the pavements into the streets. We stayed near to the witches´ market, which offers a numbers of interesting souvenir opportunities, such as dried llama foetuses. Sadly it probably would not last the journey home over the next 9 months. Apparently they are used for good luck in association with other items that are burnt as an offering, a tradition that dates back to pre-Inca times.
The most important pre-Inca site in Bolivia is at Tiwanaku, not far from Lake Titicaca. It may well be the last archaeological site we see, no bad thing since we have been to a fair few now. The ruins themselves are not that impressive but we received a wealth of information from a knowledgeable guide. Although some of this info did contradict with other info we have previously received, so it’s not clear what the “official” version of events is. The civilisation based at Tiwanaku was technologically advanced and had an influence that stretched from Colombia to Northern Peru and Argentina. The main ruins were taken apart by the Spanish, with stones used to build churches and houses, as far afield as northern Peru. An interesting day trip, but perhaps a book is needed when we get home to sort out the tangled web of various overlapping cultures that we have encountered so far.
In another day trip from La Paz, a few days before our 6,000m climb, we walked up to 5,600m (though did only start at 5,300m). This provided us with great, though daunting, views of Huyana Potosi, which we would tackle 2 days later. As from the summit of HP the views here were amazing.
The most dangerous road in the world
It’s not clear if this road, a section between La Paz and Coroico, still holds this unofficial title. A few years ago there was reckoned to be one bus or truck over the edge every 2 weeks. Apparently now it is just once a month. So the death toll for a 40km stretch of road has dropped from about 600 to 300 a year. The road is carved out of the side of a very steep cliff in a large valley. The drop, which is near vertical in many places, is up to about 400m. So being too near to the edge, on what is an unpaved, dirty, dusty, rocky road is not a good idea. Generally in Bolivia they drive on the right. On this stretch of road however, all traffic is on the left. This means that the driver, rather than being in the centre of the “road” is much nearer the cliff edge, so is better able to get the tyres right up to the edge without slipping over. That’s the theory, but you can see the odd bit of wreckage over the edge and a lot of crosses all along the road. The left hand edge of the road, when going down, is the dangerous side. We started at about 4,700m and then dropped down to about 1,100m, a big vertical drop in only about 60km.
So we all had to cycle, on the left, about 1-2 metres from the drop off. Most of the time, since you have to concentrate on the bumpy road, you don’t think much about the potentially large fall to one side. Many of the corners are blind, and our Aussie guide frequently reminded us that we should cycle within our ability or, in his words, the corners may be a bit “more exciting for you”. It takes quite a few hours to get down, including a stretch at the top on tarmac, ideal for those of us who have not been on a bike very often in the last 15 years. It was a good day out, though the 4 hour trip back was rather a slow grind back up hill. Fortunately, we passed out of the “most dangerous” section before it was dark. We went with Gravity Assisted Mountain biking, who Ian had previously recommended, and who are touted as the best by all the books. We found them to be extremely professional and would also recommend them to anyone.
So that was the week of some more exciting, dangerous (in a controlled way), and active stuff. Luckily the legs were not too sore from the mountain climbing and had no effect on the cycling. The next few days are, hopefully, going to be more relaxing.
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Huayna Potosi: 6,088 metres above sea level
Location: La Paz, Bolivia
Concerning our mountaineering adventure, where we scale a peak of over 6,000m.
There are very few places in the world with 6,000 metre mountains, but the Andes is full of them. There are also very few 6,000m mountains that are accessible to inexperienced tourist punters like us, and not just for the pros who travel with all their own kit. And most of the people we saw did have all their own kit.
We hadn’t been thinking of mountaineering, and hadn’t even been aware of the possibility of an “easy” mountain until we met a Dutch bloke when we were in the Pampas. So having done a bit of limited research into just how difficult it was, we took the plunge and booked it.
From La Paz it’s about 90 minutes to the start point, at about 4,700m. Whereas for our trek in the Cordillera Blanca in Peru we had donkeys to carry most of the stuff, leaving us to walk with little more than water and camera, here everything had to be carried by us and the guides. It was about 2 hours up to the point where we camped, at about 5,300m. Not too tough, but made slightly harder by carrying about 15kg of kit. Also the boots we had, designed to take crampons, were a cross between a walking boot and a ski boot, though nearer to a ski boot. So with fairly inflexible boots we had to walk up over very rocky terrain, and near the top it was icy and snowy, and some of you will know what it is like to walk over ice in ski boots. We were lucky with the weather since it had snowed the day before but was fine and sunny for us on both days.
Great views from our campsite, a rocky and breezy, exposed ridge. We arrived about 2pm, and there is little to do but wait until the next morning. We had to be up at 1am, so it was an opportunity to try to get a bit of sleep. But sleep is hard to come by at more than 5,000m, and the rocky ledge, what sounded like a howling gale and a poor sleeping bag didn’t help (nor did the whiff of the soap-dodging French bloke in our tent).
Then up in the middle of the night and we set off a bit after 2am. Luckily the wind had calmed down, but even without much wind hill it was still bitterly cold. The walking at night was not like the trekking we had previously done. This was proper climbing. Proper, hard-core mountaineering. Crampons on, with ice axe in hand, and roped up with our guide, we set off up the first slope that was about 45 degrees. With head lights to guide us the early part was not too tough. Having been at around 4,000m for a while now we are fairly well acclimatised to the altitude, and walking slowly means that you don’t get out of breath. But it is slow progress.
After a couple of hours we had the first tough bit. We had been warned when we booked that it was mostly easy, but that there were two slightly more difficult parts. The first was about 80 degrees for 10 metres, then 60 degrees for another 20 metres. It doesn’t sound much, but when it is icy then it takes some effort to hack up it with the ice axe.
The night sky was amazing, as it is in many places here, where there is little light pollution combined with clear skies at altitude. We also saw the moon rise, which added more light to climb by. Later on we saw a truly amazing sunrise, being at such altitude means that you can see a massive amount of the horizon ablaze with orange and red, rather than the more limited view of the sky you normally get from the ground. Difficult to appreciate the sunrise after having been walking for about 4 hours, and it was behind us which meant turning round, and stopping to gaze is not an option when you are all roped together.
As we neared the summit we could see that the last part, another one of the hard parts, really was quite steep. And quite long. It was about 200m long and 60 degrees all the way to the top. Although the sun was now up, it hadn’t yet really warmed us up, and with the coldest part of the night being just before sunrise we were pretty cold. It was cold enough for the water in our bottles, whiuch were in our rucksacks, to freeze. We had been going for about five and a half hours when we reached the bottom, so were already tired. Phillippa in particular was quite tired and this last bit was going to be the hardest by some margin. Having got about a third up the final slope we had to stop and wait for the guide to sprint (in comparison to our more steady progress) up the slop to attach a rope higher up. So we were left standing on the slope for what seemed like ages. Although it was very cold whilst climbing your body heat is enough to stay warm. But once we had stopped for about 10 minutes the cold set in. Hands went first, in particular the one holding the axe, which, as it was metal, was very cold. After going cold, then numb, they became extremely painful. Without knowing what the symptoms of frostbite are it was hard not to think that it may be setting in. So we are both banging hands together whilst wiggling toes, whilst hanging on to the side of the mountain, hoping the guide gets the rope secured as quickly as possible.
The last 200m took a very long time. But we both made it to the top. I’m particularly proud of Phillippa, since she really struggled up this last climb. But with a lot of guts and determination, a fair amount of swearing, and a few tears she conquered her tiredness and made it to the summit.
The sky, as viewed from 6,088m is a very deep blue, almost purple. I’m not sure it is possible to see sky this colour anywhere else than from mountain peaks. The summit wasn’t a classic point that we could stand on for photos, but a ridge made of snow. Being careful not to get too near the edge, which was melting and crumbling in places with holes of views down the other side, it was possible to see a great panoramic view. The rest of the mountains in one direction, Lake Titicaca in the other, with the city of El Alto just about visible in the gaps. In all it was about 7 hours, with only a few small breaks, to reach to top. A long day, but there was still a lot of walking yet to do.
But then, of course, you need to get down. Apparently more accidents happen on the descent than the ascent, which is nice to know as you set off. Going down a 60 degree slope in crampons is almost as hard as going up, but luckily doesn’t take quite as long. The views of glaciers, snow caves and crevasses on the way down were very interesting. It was possible to pick out some of the crevasses on the way up in the dark, but only in daylight can you see just how deep they are. We had to cross a few, and generally there was only a narrow “bridge” to cross over. No time to stop for photos these were parts that, understandably, had to be crossed quickly. The journey back to camp was about 3 hours, making 10 so far. We were all quite knackered and were given 20 minutes to rest before continuing on back to the 4x4. But we took more than this and the guide would just have to be late for his dinner. Almost as soon as we got back Phillippa managed to fall asleep curled up on a nice comfy slab of rock. The final part was another 90 minutes back to the jeep, back down over the boulders in uncomfortable boots, this time with blisters from the rest of the climbing.
Neither of us had any problems with the altitude, of course it slows you down, but we didn’t have headaches or other symptoms. But alot of people probably did. There were many people at the campsite, but probably only 20-30% of them managed to get to the top. We could see, from the summit, people turning back when they saw the last 200m ice face loom into view. So that makes it even more rewarding that we are in the minority who succeeded.
So there it is, our most extreme adventure yet (of those we have voluntarily undertaken!). A 6,000m peak scaled. And we are both pretty chuffed. There is nothing higher in Europe, it’s about 200m higher than Kilimanjaro and about 100m less than Mt McKinley. But, unlike Kilimanjaro, this is real mountaineering, rather than just a walk uphill at altitude!
Concerning our mountaineering adventure, where we scale a peak of over 6,000m.
There are very few places in the world with 6,000 metre mountains, but the Andes is full of them. There are also very few 6,000m mountains that are accessible to inexperienced tourist punters like us, and not just for the pros who travel with all their own kit. And most of the people we saw did have all their own kit.
We hadn’t been thinking of mountaineering, and hadn’t even been aware of the possibility of an “easy” mountain until we met a Dutch bloke when we were in the Pampas. So having done a bit of limited research into just how difficult it was, we took the plunge and booked it.
From La Paz it’s about 90 minutes to the start point, at about 4,700m. Whereas for our trek in the Cordillera Blanca in Peru we had donkeys to carry most of the stuff, leaving us to walk with little more than water and camera, here everything had to be carried by us and the guides. It was about 2 hours up to the point where we camped, at about 5,300m. Not too tough, but made slightly harder by carrying about 15kg of kit. Also the boots we had, designed to take crampons, were a cross between a walking boot and a ski boot, though nearer to a ski boot. So with fairly inflexible boots we had to walk up over very rocky terrain, and near the top it was icy and snowy, and some of you will know what it is like to walk over ice in ski boots. We were lucky with the weather since it had snowed the day before but was fine and sunny for us on both days.
Great views from our campsite, a rocky and breezy, exposed ridge. We arrived about 2pm, and there is little to do but wait until the next morning. We had to be up at 1am, so it was an opportunity to try to get a bit of sleep. But sleep is hard to come by at more than 5,000m, and the rocky ledge, what sounded like a howling gale and a poor sleeping bag didn’t help (nor did the whiff of the soap-dodging French bloke in our tent).
Then up in the middle of the night and we set off a bit after 2am. Luckily the wind had calmed down, but even without much wind hill it was still bitterly cold. The walking at night was not like the trekking we had previously done. This was proper climbing. Proper, hard-core mountaineering. Crampons on, with ice axe in hand, and roped up with our guide, we set off up the first slope that was about 45 degrees. With head lights to guide us the early part was not too tough. Having been at around 4,000m for a while now we are fairly well acclimatised to the altitude, and walking slowly means that you don’t get out of breath. But it is slow progress.
After a couple of hours we had the first tough bit. We had been warned when we booked that it was mostly easy, but that there were two slightly more difficult parts. The first was about 80 degrees for 10 metres, then 60 degrees for another 20 metres. It doesn’t sound much, but when it is icy then it takes some effort to hack up it with the ice axe.
The night sky was amazing, as it is in many places here, where there is little light pollution combined with clear skies at altitude. We also saw the moon rise, which added more light to climb by. Later on we saw a truly amazing sunrise, being at such altitude means that you can see a massive amount of the horizon ablaze with orange and red, rather than the more limited view of the sky you normally get from the ground. Difficult to appreciate the sunrise after having been walking for about 4 hours, and it was behind us which meant turning round, and stopping to gaze is not an option when you are all roped together.
As we neared the summit we could see that the last part, another one of the hard parts, really was quite steep. And quite long. It was about 200m long and 60 degrees all the way to the top. Although the sun was now up, it hadn’t yet really warmed us up, and with the coldest part of the night being just before sunrise we were pretty cold. It was cold enough for the water in our bottles, whiuch were in our rucksacks, to freeze. We had been going for about five and a half hours when we reached the bottom, so were already tired. Phillippa in particular was quite tired and this last bit was going to be the hardest by some margin. Having got about a third up the final slope we had to stop and wait for the guide to sprint (in comparison to our more steady progress) up the slop to attach a rope higher up. So we were left standing on the slope for what seemed like ages. Although it was very cold whilst climbing your body heat is enough to stay warm. But once we had stopped for about 10 minutes the cold set in. Hands went first, in particular the one holding the axe, which, as it was metal, was very cold. After going cold, then numb, they became extremely painful. Without knowing what the symptoms of frostbite are it was hard not to think that it may be setting in. So we are both banging hands together whilst wiggling toes, whilst hanging on to the side of the mountain, hoping the guide gets the rope secured as quickly as possible.
The last 200m took a very long time. But we both made it to the top. I’m particularly proud of Phillippa, since she really struggled up this last climb. But with a lot of guts and determination, a fair amount of swearing, and a few tears she conquered her tiredness and made it to the summit.
The sky, as viewed from 6,088m is a very deep blue, almost purple. I’m not sure it is possible to see sky this colour anywhere else than from mountain peaks. The summit wasn’t a classic point that we could stand on for photos, but a ridge made of snow. Being careful not to get too near the edge, which was melting and crumbling in places with holes of views down the other side, it was possible to see a great panoramic view. The rest of the mountains in one direction, Lake Titicaca in the other, with the city of El Alto just about visible in the gaps. In all it was about 7 hours, with only a few small breaks, to reach to top. A long day, but there was still a lot of walking yet to do.
But then, of course, you need to get down. Apparently more accidents happen on the descent than the ascent, which is nice to know as you set off. Going down a 60 degree slope in crampons is almost as hard as going up, but luckily doesn’t take quite as long. The views of glaciers, snow caves and crevasses on the way down were very interesting. It was possible to pick out some of the crevasses on the way up in the dark, but only in daylight can you see just how deep they are. We had to cross a few, and generally there was only a narrow “bridge” to cross over. No time to stop for photos these were parts that, understandably, had to be crossed quickly. The journey back to camp was about 3 hours, making 10 so far. We were all quite knackered and were given 20 minutes to rest before continuing on back to the 4x4. But we took more than this and the guide would just have to be late for his dinner. Almost as soon as we got back Phillippa managed to fall asleep curled up on a nice comfy slab of rock. The final part was another 90 minutes back to the jeep, back down over the boulders in uncomfortable boots, this time with blisters from the rest of the climbing.
Neither of us had any problems with the altitude, of course it slows you down, but we didn’t have headaches or other symptoms. But alot of people probably did. There were many people at the campsite, but probably only 20-30% of them managed to get to the top. We could see, from the summit, people turning back when they saw the last 200m ice face loom into view. So that makes it even more rewarding that we are in the minority who succeeded.
So there it is, our most extreme adventure yet (of those we have voluntarily undertaken!). A 6,000m peak scaled. And we are both pretty chuffed. There is nothing higher in Europe, it’s about 200m higher than Kilimanjaro and about 100m less than Mt McKinley. But, unlike Kilimanjaro, this is real mountaineering, rather than just a walk uphill at altitude!
Thursday, August 05, 2004
The Bare Necessities
Another interesting bus journey, the second instalment of our Jungle Book story, and a trip to the Pampas in search of anacondas and pink dolphins.
Our few days around Lake Titicaca were wonderful. Our first evening in Copacobana we saw a fantastic sunset followed by a great view of the night sky, including the Milky Way.
We took a very slow boat over to the Isla del Sol, and then walked for a few hours along the ridge that is the backbone of the island. Views of the lake on both sides and the mountains beyond La Paz in the distance. We were lucky to have clear, bright blue skies all day, with little cloud on the mountains. After a night on the island we found a bloke to take us across the water to the end of the mainland peninsula. From there it was another scenic 4 hour walk back to Copacobana.
The bus trip to La Paz was interesting. We should have known that the buses were very disorganised when we bought a ticket from our hotel and there were no seat numbers. Lo and behold it was heavily overbooked, with about 20 people more than the bus could take. But there is another bus! Fine. But it was a crappy local bus, not a larger coach. We all piled in anyway, apart from an Israeli family who ranted and refused to get on.
The bus engine sounded a bit dodgy, and that is from someone who knows little about engines. We joked about how we would probably break down. About 40 minutes from La Paz we did break down. At about 4,000m it was a very scenic spot with mountains, and it was not raining so it could have been far worse. None of the passing traffic would stop, nearly all the buses were full anyway. But after about 30 minutes a bus did stop and we grabbed the bags and ran down the road to ensure we were among those who could get on. Only after a while did we realise that our driver was a 14 year old boy. Just before the suburbs of La Paz, where there was a police check point, he pulled up to let his Dad (we presume) get in to carry on driving.
The original reason for booking the bus we did was that it would take us directly to a hotel in the centre. Thus avoiding the bus station which we had heard a few horror stories about. But this second bus just dropped us at the bus station. Great. So after a taxi to the centre we wander around looking for a hotel. Because it is almost dark we end up at the one place we swore we would not stay at: the place we would have gone to had the bus company not overbooked. But circumstances, and nightfall, mean that we don’t want to wander around with all our stuff anymore. It wasn’t even that great a hotel.
The following day we jetted off in a little Cessna to Rurrenabaque the jumping off point for the jungle and the pampas.
The jungle
We had previously been to the jungle in Ecuador (see Fri 18 June), and this is part two of our Jungle Book adventure. Bolivia has some regions with the highest bio-diversity in the whole of South America and has the advantage of being cheaper than Brazil or Peru (eg Manu Biosphere).
We went to Chalalan Lodge, an eco-lodge in the Madidi National Park, although most places use this tag as it is the latest trend in tourism. But Chalalan truly is an eco-lodge.
It was conceived, designed, built and is now fully staffed by people from one small community further upstream. Previously they were engaged in illegal logging, but now have a much more sustainable source of income. In the last 10 years the money from the lodge has provided drinking water to every house, a school, a doctor etc.
Chalalan is about 4 hours up the Beni river and Tuichi river. It is now the dry season so the rivers are low. This meant that at times it was too shallow to run the outboard motor and the crew had to punt against the current. At one point they had to leap out to push.
When we were there the weather was very poor, it rained heavily for about 18 hours day for 2 of the 3 days. It was also very cold, and we were wearing almost as many clothes as we did on our Andean trek. This meant that much of the wildlife was being sensible and taking cover. We also took cover, but only after a 4 hour walk in torrential rain that meant we got soaked. My boots, which had never yet failed me, ended up quite soggy and took 2 evenings by the camp oven to dry out. Although the animals were not visible there was still a wealth of information on the plants from the guide: which were used as medicinal plants, which for producing hair cream, which for building houses etc.
We saw a large number of bird species, including a "pre-historic" bird that has a stomach closely related to that of a cow and has chicks that are born with claws. There are 4cm long ants that can put you in bed for 24 hours with a fever and great pain, and a spider that can do the same. We saw a large stoat-like creature, 2 varieties. On a night paddle round the lake beside the lodge we saw a number of caimans (like alligators). The ones we saw in Ecuador were only about 1m long, and we thought that this was about as big as they get. But apparently they can grow to about 6-7m, but are only dangerous above about 4m. As we slowly approached a pair of red eyes, light by our torches, it suddenly took fright, its tail having been caught by the back of the boat. With a thrash of the tail that rocked the boat it was gone. All very Crocodile Dundee. We didn’t see any man eating wild pigs (peccaries) though, or a jaguar (which are only spotted about 5 times a year).
For those of you with access to back issues of National Geographic there are some interesting articles on the Madidi Park, including details of the man eating pigs and other jungle hazards.
Then back to Rurrenabaque for a night of cocktails, before heading off to the pampas.
The Pampas
It was a bumpy and very dusty 3 hour trip in a 4x4 to the Yacuna river. I had thought that maybe the pampas, an area of wet grassland and swamp, was the result of deforestation over previous years. But it is entirely natural.
Most of the trips we did here were on the river. The wildlife is much more prolific than in the jungle, or at least much easier to spot. Lots of caimans, mostly around 4-5 foot, but the odd six-footer. A vast number of species of birds, including rheas, lots of different herons, egrets, vultures etc. On 2 occasions we saw pink dolphins, (really grey with a pinkish tinge). Luckily for us there was just our boat with a few people on board, we had heard tales of 4 boat loads of tourists all swimming with dolphins.
We also went searching for anacondas, but sadly didn’t find any (though we did see an anaconda cobra). The weather was much better in the pampas. Before going to the jungle we were looking forward to a few days of sun and heat, having been cold for most of the last 2 months. The jungle disappointed in this respect, but the pampas was a success.
Then back to Rurrenabaque for a few more cocktails to celebrate one month to the day since our release! And on to La Paz.
Our few days around Lake Titicaca were wonderful. Our first evening in Copacobana we saw a fantastic sunset followed by a great view of the night sky, including the Milky Way.
We took a very slow boat over to the Isla del Sol, and then walked for a few hours along the ridge that is the backbone of the island. Views of the lake on both sides and the mountains beyond La Paz in the distance. We were lucky to have clear, bright blue skies all day, with little cloud on the mountains. After a night on the island we found a bloke to take us across the water to the end of the mainland peninsula. From there it was another scenic 4 hour walk back to Copacobana.
The bus trip to La Paz was interesting. We should have known that the buses were very disorganised when we bought a ticket from our hotel and there were no seat numbers. Lo and behold it was heavily overbooked, with about 20 people more than the bus could take. But there is another bus! Fine. But it was a crappy local bus, not a larger coach. We all piled in anyway, apart from an Israeli family who ranted and refused to get on.
The bus engine sounded a bit dodgy, and that is from someone who knows little about engines. We joked about how we would probably break down. About 40 minutes from La Paz we did break down. At about 4,000m it was a very scenic spot with mountains, and it was not raining so it could have been far worse. None of the passing traffic would stop, nearly all the buses were full anyway. But after about 30 minutes a bus did stop and we grabbed the bags and ran down the road to ensure we were among those who could get on. Only after a while did we realise that our driver was a 14 year old boy. Just before the suburbs of La Paz, where there was a police check point, he pulled up to let his Dad (we presume) get in to carry on driving.
The original reason for booking the bus we did was that it would take us directly to a hotel in the centre. Thus avoiding the bus station which we had heard a few horror stories about. But this second bus just dropped us at the bus station. Great. So after a taxi to the centre we wander around looking for a hotel. Because it is almost dark we end up at the one place we swore we would not stay at: the place we would have gone to had the bus company not overbooked. But circumstances, and nightfall, mean that we don’t want to wander around with all our stuff anymore. It wasn’t even that great a hotel.
The following day we jetted off in a little Cessna to Rurrenabaque the jumping off point for the jungle and the pampas.
The jungle
We had previously been to the jungle in Ecuador (see Fri 18 June), and this is part two of our Jungle Book adventure. Bolivia has some regions with the highest bio-diversity in the whole of South America and has the advantage of being cheaper than Brazil or Peru (eg Manu Biosphere).
We went to Chalalan Lodge, an eco-lodge in the Madidi National Park, although most places use this tag as it is the latest trend in tourism. But Chalalan truly is an eco-lodge.
It was conceived, designed, built and is now fully staffed by people from one small community further upstream. Previously they were engaged in illegal logging, but now have a much more sustainable source of income. In the last 10 years the money from the lodge has provided drinking water to every house, a school, a doctor etc.
Chalalan is about 4 hours up the Beni river and Tuichi river. It is now the dry season so the rivers are low. This meant that at times it was too shallow to run the outboard motor and the crew had to punt against the current. At one point they had to leap out to push.
When we were there the weather was very poor, it rained heavily for about 18 hours day for 2 of the 3 days. It was also very cold, and we were wearing almost as many clothes as we did on our Andean trek. This meant that much of the wildlife was being sensible and taking cover. We also took cover, but only after a 4 hour walk in torrential rain that meant we got soaked. My boots, which had never yet failed me, ended up quite soggy and took 2 evenings by the camp oven to dry out. Although the animals were not visible there was still a wealth of information on the plants from the guide: which were used as medicinal plants, which for producing hair cream, which for building houses etc.
We saw a large number of bird species, including a "pre-historic" bird that has a stomach closely related to that of a cow and has chicks that are born with claws. There are 4cm long ants that can put you in bed for 24 hours with a fever and great pain, and a spider that can do the same. We saw a large stoat-like creature, 2 varieties. On a night paddle round the lake beside the lodge we saw a number of caimans (like alligators). The ones we saw in Ecuador were only about 1m long, and we thought that this was about as big as they get. But apparently they can grow to about 6-7m, but are only dangerous above about 4m. As we slowly approached a pair of red eyes, light by our torches, it suddenly took fright, its tail having been caught by the back of the boat. With a thrash of the tail that rocked the boat it was gone. All very Crocodile Dundee. We didn’t see any man eating wild pigs (peccaries) though, or a jaguar (which are only spotted about 5 times a year).
For those of you with access to back issues of National Geographic there are some interesting articles on the Madidi Park, including details of the man eating pigs and other jungle hazards.
Then back to Rurrenabaque for a night of cocktails, before heading off to the pampas.
The Pampas
It was a bumpy and very dusty 3 hour trip in a 4x4 to the Yacuna river. I had thought that maybe the pampas, an area of wet grassland and swamp, was the result of deforestation over previous years. But it is entirely natural.
Most of the trips we did here were on the river. The wildlife is much more prolific than in the jungle, or at least much easier to spot. Lots of caimans, mostly around 4-5 foot, but the odd six-footer. A vast number of species of birds, including rheas, lots of different herons, egrets, vultures etc. On 2 occasions we saw pink dolphins, (really grey with a pinkish tinge). Luckily for us there was just our boat with a few people on board, we had heard tales of 4 boat loads of tourists all swimming with dolphins.
We also went searching for anacondas, but sadly didn’t find any (though we did see an anaconda cobra). The weather was much better in the pampas. Before going to the jungle we were looking forward to a few days of sun and heat, having been cold for most of the last 2 months. The jungle disappointed in this respect, but the pampas was a success.
Then back to Rurrenabaque for a few more cocktails to celebrate one month to the day since our release! And on to La Paz.
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