Travel, Photography, Life.
Laguna Glaciar Trek
A four-day trek to a glacial lagoon at 5000 meters.
Down to Sorata, Up to La Paz
Jul 1st
June 16, 2007
Day 568
Laguna Glaciar Trek Day 4
We got up at dawn again, had breakfast, and took down camp. The walk back to Sorata only took about two hours, and we passed many farming communities along the way. In many remote locations, kids in such villages would ask what my name is and where I’m from out of curiosity, but here they just said “regalame” (give me a gift), an annoying consequence of the well-intentioned tourists who have come here in the past without thinking of the long-term ramifications of their actions. The most common gift people give kids is candy, which is definitely harmful to someone who will never use a toothbrush. Other people give money, which just teaches the kids that they can get something for nothing. This does more harm than good for the villagers in the long run, and for me it turns an opportunity for an interesting cultural exchange into an annoyance. It makes me want to walk faster rather than slow down and meet some of the local people.
Back in Sorata, I showered, washed my clothes, and aired out my tent, which was still wet from the morning’s frost. The bad thing about camping is that if you pack your tent when it’s wet and don’t take it out for a few days, it will be covered with mold. Luckily, it didn’t take long to get everything dry because it was another warm and sunny day.
I decided to head back to La Paz tonight. On the way back I met some nice cholitas, Amerindians who still speak Aymara and dress traditionally. One of them told me that she wanted to go to the ocean someday to see whales jumping. It was sad to hear her say that because I know it will probably never happen. Bolivia doesn’t have a coastline, after all. I was exhausted by the time I got back to La Paz, so I went to bed early.
The photo album for this entry is here.
Lateral Walking
Jul 1st
June 15, 2007
Day 567
Laguna Glaciar Trek Day 3
Last night was bitterly cold, much colder than the night before. I stayed in my tent for over ten hours, but probably only slept five because I was too busy shivering most of the night. My whole tent was covered in frost in the morning.
The Israelis went back to the bottom today, so just Olando, David, and I continued with the trek. It was a very easy day with a lateral walk around a large valley was used as a mine until the minerals ran out. We passed a few caves that had been recently dynamited by the miners and some much older ruins from Pre-Colombian times. We had a long lunch at a great lookout point of the entire area and a different view of Illampu behind us.
After we rounded the valley and went over a small shoulder, we passed an isolated 4000 meter village and began our descent. A few minutes later, we found a good campsite and called it a day. The hot sun felt good this afternoon, but as soon as it passed behind the mountains at 4:00, it got really cold again. We had another small fire that didn’t give us much warmth and got ready to make our way back to Sorata tomorrow morning.
The photo album for this entry is here.
Laguna Glaciar Walk
Jul 1st
June 14, 2007
Day 566
Laguna Glaciar Trek Day 2
We got up at dawn today, ate breakfast, and got ready to walk. We would be returning to the same campsite later tonight, so there was no need to take down camp. As an additional courtesy, Alvaro’s friend came up to the campsite this morning to watch over our stuff while we were gone.
The walk was long but not very difficult. We went over a pass after about half an hour, then proceeded to walk around a valley, continuously moving up. There were several streams with ice cold glacial water, so I made sure to take a few liters with me so I wouldn’t have to drink the nasty lagoon water anymore. The trail was pretty clear until near the end, where we had to do some rock scrambling. Near the top, the perfectly clear sky afforded us an incredible view of both Lake Titicaca and the Cordillera Apolobamba, another mountain range far to the north.
When we got far above the snow line, we curved behind a hill and dropped down a bit to access Laguna Glaciar, the “Glacial Lagoon,” at 5038 meters (16,528 feet). A few people were camping at this level in preparation to climb Illampu and some of the other peaks in the area. I didn’t envy the bitter cold night’s they were bound to face. The lagoon was filled with ice coming off of Illampu’s glacier. We only had about an hour to eat lunch before heading back down.
The climb down to camp was long once again, but I felt good. I had plenty of energy left to explore some of the rocky hills and ruins near our camp. The altitude didn’t affect me at all, and afterward I felt ready to take on bigger challenges in the area.
We made a big dinner again and David searched the area again for wood for another campfire. I think he’s a pyromaniac. The fire didn’t burn too well because of the altitude, and it got really cold shortly after dark, so we all gave in and climbed into our comfy sleeping bags early.
The photo album for this entry is here.
Walking to Laguna Chilata
Jul 1st
June 13, 2007
Day 565
Laguna Glaciar Trek Day 1
We got started a little late this morning for some unexplained reason (maybe “It’s Bolivia” will suffice), but later we were able to buy all the food we needed at the market. Next we met our guide Olando and walked uphill to the edge of town where we found his mules. We loaded up everything on the animals and continued walking up toward Olando’s house in a higher village where he had to pick up some stuff. It was so pleasant only having to carry my camera and water with me.
After we passed Olando’s house we saw few local people. We had lunch in a flat area overlooking Sorata that also served as a good pasture for the mules. From there we continued walking up until we reached Laguna Chilata at 4200 meters (13,780 feet), finishing today’s ascent of 1500 meters (almost a vertical mile).
The lagoon was beautiful but not so much that I’d want to drink from it. Still, despite the lagoon’s still water and the nearby grazing cattle, we had no other option but to drink it (after boiling it of course). We cooked up a huge meal, David gathered some wood and lit a little campfire, and we went to bed early in anticipation of the big climb tomorrow.
The photo album for this entry is here.
Still Looking for Trekkers
Jun 25th
June 12, 2007
Day 564
I didn’t want to head right back to La Paz so I decided to rest a day in hopes of finding some trekking partners. It was a good thing, too, because I was feeling pretty sore after yesterday’s extra-long walk. Sorata is surrounded by beautiful scenery, but unfortunately there’s nothing for tourists to do here other than trekking.
My hotel is located near a big cross at the top of a hill. All day people kept coming up to it and looking out at the valley below. I assumed they were praying, but then I found out that three guys robbed the only Internet cafe in town and pushed their getaway car off the cliff in a thoughtless attempt to conceal it. So that explains both why they people were looking at the valley near the cross and why there was no Internet in town.
I was about to give up on the whole trekking idea at the end of the day when a couple of buses came into town and delivered three people who wanted to do a four-day trek in the area: Gil and Asaf from Israel, and David from Switzerland. None of them wanted to carry their own gear, but the price of pack animals was basically included with the price of a guide, and the thought of not carrying much for once did sound appealing. The grand total for our four-day trek including a guide, food, and two mules to carry our stuff came out to a grand total of $21 each, so I think I can handle it.
The timing was late, so we won’t be able to buy food until tomorrow morning, but everything else is all set for the trek.