Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
We are now in Bolivia and I have to say that it is our favorite country so far. It s very cheap and the people are nice and there are a lot of cool things to do.We entered Bolivia via lake Titicaca and stayed in Copacabana for 3 nights. We stayed in a hotel with cable TV for a fiver a night. Copacabana has lots of cool restaurants and cafes. The one day we took the boat, very very slow boat, out to Isla Del Sol and did a 3h hike over the islands. Beautiful place.
After that we headed by bus to La Paz, had to get off the bus and go by a wooden little boat at one point and the bus with all the load on the roof went on a wooden barge. La Paz is a great place, with great markets and bars and restaurants. We are staying at Adventure Brew Hostel, it actually brews its own beer and included in the rate is one free beer at the roof top bar each night. Great!!!
We had to check out San Pedro prison, all of you who have read "Marching Powder" know what I am talking about. And for you who haven't: San Pedro Prison is in La Paz and is not like any prison. You have to buy your own cell, pay for your food. Many prisoners set up shops inside and upgrade to luxurious apartments. Wives and kids can go in and out of the prison. The book is about an English drug trafficker who starts to do prison tours for tourists to make money, even ended up in the Lonely Planet. Anyway when we stood outside and checked it out, we got a note from one of the guards, from the only white person standing behind the bars. His name was Sebastian from Holland asking for some money. We gave him some, because we read the book and know how hard it is in there.
Mountain Biking:
- Where: The Worlds most dangerous road - the old highway La Cumbre to Coroico, gravel road, 3meters wide in some places and with a drop of a 1000meters.
- How far- 64km Downhill
- Vertical drop- 3600m
We had great Kona bikes, with very good breaks…which are needed. We started out at La Cumbre at 4700m, the first part is paved and you can go really really fast (like Phil did). After that the gravel road starts. Its narrow and there are no railings, just a huge drop. You ride through waterfalls and no need to peddle anywhere. We had cloudy and misty weather, very wet, so we got covered from top to toe in mud. After about 4 hours we arrived at the bottom (1100m) It was a great day, muddy but great. I will post photos and maybe a video.
Mountain Climbing:
- Where- Huayna Potosi
- Altitude- 6088 meters!!!! (Kilimanjaro 5895m, Mount Blanc 4804, Everest 8848)
- How- Climbing the snow covered mountain with ice ax and crampons.
We started the first day at base camp 4700 m, got all our gear and started walking to the closest glacier. We practice using the ice ax and crampons and we climbed a vertical wall as well, very hard. ( Phil flew up more or less) We camped in tents that night and it was ****** freezing. The next day we woke up and it was snowing and even colder. We started our 2h hike up the mountain mostly through loose rocks and at a very hard angle to the next camp at 5100m. We arrived midday and sat in the mountain hut all day (freezing) till dinner time at 5pm, had our lovely soup….and went to bed. We were woken up by our guide at midnight and at 1am we were ready to start the 5.5 h climb to reach the summit by sunrise. Fully dressed with many layers, crampons, ice ax and headlamps. It had stopped snowing and we could see stars in the sky. Still a lot of snow to hike through. Me and Phil were attached by rope to our guide who went first ( basically impossible to go to the toilet from now on) It is one of the hardest things I ve ever done. After a few hours and after climbing a 40 meter high wall, I almost gave up, but Phil made me go on. Its not so hard physically, but mentally and the altitude is playing with you. You are in the dark slowly slowly putting one foot in front of the other and up up up up, seems like it is never ending. I stared thinking of other things to take my mind of it, like Thai Curry and the Genesys folks enjoying their Friday lunch ( while Im stuck here….) Anyway eventually the sun started to rise and we got to this big open area where we could see the peak and the final way up there…about 1h…climbing zik zak up the mountain very very steep. And somehow we made it!!. Im telling you another 50meters and I wouldn't had made it. It was a great feeling sitting on the top and the view was great. But that was also when it hit me, there is only one way down….hike the same way. It took us 2h to get down to the camp and 1 more hour to base camp. The way down was also very hard and it was sunny and very hot!
It was a great experience and one of the high lights so far. All the best Sofia and Phil
- comments