Flight
Weather causes a route change from DFW to MIA and I would have missed my flight to Bolivia if it had not been delayed out of MIA as well
The flight to LaPaz was hell... I couldn’t sleep and it was an all night flight
All of the luggage made it
Everyone had hypoxia from the altitude upon arrival in LaPaz
Be prepared for a long day when you arrive due to the flight time
American’s flight service and food was excellent -- 2 meals and 2 movies
Airports
La Paz airport -- single gate and immigrations, walk on tarmac to plane
Immigrations was fast and friendly
Miami -- good hot dogs and nice terminal area--very busy
Again immigrations/customs was friendly
Chicago -- Everyone talks about traveling though Ohare like it’s a bad omen... actually it is a nice airport and easy to travel thru
Dallas--My favorite airport with four runways and the nicest restaurants and shops for layovers
LaPaz
City of contrasts in class and geography
Van buses use kids shouting streets visited out the window
Urinating in the streets is common -- what looks like water is NOT
Water was horrible -- use of a purifying filter is a must
Vendors sold everything -- tools, food, llama fetus, clothing, etc
South area of La Paz is nicer -- lower in the valley is better
Cabs are plentiful and cheap
Streets are stone, narrow, and steep
There are few lights or signs--traffic is controlled by horns and beeps
Policia are prominent in their dark olive green uniforms
Currency is Bolivianos -- about 5 “B’s” to 1 dollar
Be in shape for walking at altitude
Prepare to have sleep apenia (gasping for air) that will lower your sleep quality considerably
Calling home with a calling card code (0800 numbers) is virtually impossible from any phone... be prepared to pay a high direct dial cost or go to a nice hotel (Plaza or Radisson) that with let you call for a small fee
Speeds are controlled by monster speed bumps
Streets are generally safe at night, especially in groups
Food & Drink
Vienna restaurant on Frederico Suazzo #1905 was great
Pronto restaurant was also wonderful
Radisson has the only true American breakfast in town
The most I ever paid for an entree was $7US
Drinks are reasonably priced -- mostly latin beers and South American wines
Watch out for the black olive with the pit in Saltinas
Cubano sandwiches are good at Mirabellas
Casa deCoridorella was a great meal with live entertainment
Hotels
El Dorado was ok, the front desk was moderately helpful but SLOW $37US
Twin beds were very small, 60 channels of cable, restaurant
Hosteria Blanquita was quaint and musty, front desk was VERY helpful, near all the street vendors and action $27US, 1 TV in lobby with 10 channels tops
Plaza Hotel and Radisson Hotel are two nicer accomodations
Shopping
Street vendors carry everything--nuts, bolts, clothes, stereos, magazines, food, witchcraft items, you name it.
Generally you find the same things in a given area
Bargaining is OK in most cases
Nefertiti Joyas is the place to buy custom gold, silver, and gems at great prices. Jose Galindo and his wife were beyond helpful.
People
Either lower class or upper class -- not many middle class folks
Hard working
Generally honest
Know how to party, as most latins do!
Some kids tended to be the only anti American folks there
Tihuanaku
Neat to visit, very mysterious
$17 per person thru Calibre for our group
Construction of structures and agriculture methods facinating
Trek In
Dinner and Russ was sick
Shepherds were hardy folks, wore sandals and ragged coats in the cold and on the rocks
The paved & dirt roads were repaired by clumps of grass
Gear was loaded on llamas and mules
The high plains and foothills were all dry grass, wet grounds from meltwater and small lakes.
There were free ranging cows and sheep everywhere
Condoriri’s summit is very much like the Matterhorn
P.Alpamayo’s summit is hidden
The hike in is fairly easy with about 500ft gain in 7+miles
Base Camp
Base camp on the shore of a lake at the base of Condoriri Amphitheater
Nice three person domes -- held two+ gear
Set up with shepherds
Toilets made of holes framed by rock were plentiful
Fresh water and lake water within 100 meters
Trekking opportunities galore
Only one or two other groups, very quiet
Climbing
Day1
2.5 miles to foot of glacier
500 up to ice shelves -- fixed rope and vertical ice practice
Ice not solid but fun to play on
Everyone did well
A few small crevasses were ominous on the snow covered ice
Dave was the only on to peak the shelf
My change to glacier gear was SLOW
Day2 -- Pequeno Alpamayo
Up at 4am leave at 5am
To foot of glacier in dark
Up glacier past shelves easy
Temps warmed and snow softened
I was number 2 on rope w/Carlos 1 and Dave 3
Erick was 1 Dean 2 Russ 3 and Felix 4 on following rope
Snow compression was minimal behind 150lb Carlos
Finally swapped positions w/Dave towards the top of the glacier
The stepping was the hardest two hours I have ever done
Russ had to stop shy of the ridge (300ft) due to persistant coughing
Erick rushed ahead solo to catch our rope and joined in front of me
Dean and Felix stayed on a rope and fell about 45 minutes behind as the climb progressed
Our rope forged on at good pace with me laughing about the good compressed snow thanks to my team
We traversed right across the ridge and up a 30 degree slope to another ridge
There we continued left on the ridge and up a small unstable snow bridge to the peak of Tarija at 17,250
The bridge was solid ice left and VERY loose snow right
Exposure was a factor for the first time -- 1000ft left and 500ft+right
There was a small, steep granular snow slope down to a rock shelf on the back side of Tarija
The views of the summit ridge of P.Alpamayo, Huanya Potosi and the Tropical basin beyond were incredible from here
The ridge of P.Alpamayo started about 250ft below us across a small saddle, so a tricky downclimb in mixed terrain was necessary
I stopped there, having reached my fear limit
Dean and Felix arrived as Carlos was about to lead Erick and Dave down
Dean was not happy about the loose snow bridge and his new found perch on the very exposed Tarija
As the summit team descended Dean set up a picket anchor and Felix belayed him down the snow bridge
We used the same anchor to allow me to ascend the small snow slope back up to the summit of Tarija
Without an anchor in either direction a mistake would likely be fatal
Oddly, Felix would not let Dean or later myself walk forward down the bridge
He instead insisted on an uncomfortable back-first descent
This incident and the language barrier worried Dean and I
We finally got down the bridge to the ridge and watched the summit team reach the top of P.Alpamayo and anchored Felix down w/pickets
On the down climb all was well as we gathered Russ after his five hour wait
As we descended further Dean lost all energy and was struggling to keep on in the loose snow
I set a count pace with him and we forged on
I was hurting too but the slower pace was prolonging my pain
We spent nearly an hour on the rock at the foot of the glacier before struggling back into base camp
The whole day took 12 hours of constant movement
I was mentally and physically exhausted due to the lack of food and water
We rested, ate, filtered and bedded early to rest for tomorrow
Day3—Unknown Peak 5330m+
An option to do Condoriri was thwarted by bad snow and tired climbers
An unknown peak overlooked our camp and lake, Condoriri’s glacier system, and Lake Titikaka in the distance
The climb was easy but my legs were drained -- again no food or appetite
We headed across a rock feld and up an endless slope of grass and llama dung to a snowy drainage
After crossing the snow we started up a long scree slope to a ridge
At the ridge we crossed over to a back bowl and up another long scree slope
At the summit ridge there was a small band of rock and then snow and then rock again on top
We rejoiced and ate lunch higher than any point in the lower 48 (17,250ft)
The views were spectacular and offered yet another perspective
The down climb was fast for me as I got a second wind after swallowing several bags of GU and the lunch
Carlos, Erick, Dave, Holly, Debbie, Felix, and a Frenchman from our camp all made it
Holly was slow on the downclimb trying to get used to the scree
The day took six hours including our lunch
