El día del peaton

Imagine this: Toronto or Montreal or Vancouver dedicating one day a year to a car-free day. Sounds quite unlikely, doesn't it? Well, that is exactly what La Paz does every first Sunday of September. This city of 1 million people, the world's highest de facto capital, celebrates El día de peaton (the day of pedestrians) to bring awareness to both the environment and health. It was mind blowing to experience La Paz without cars. This city bustles with cars and taxis and buses like no other city I have seen. As well, the carbon emissions are not controlled like in Canada, for instance. What you are left with is a lot of heavy spewing of exhaust. So for this city to turn around and be car-free is obviously a night and day experience.

We celebrated El día de peaton with the thousands of others who took part in the many activities set up across the city. On El Prado, one of the city´s main streets, Bolivians enjoyed more than three kilometres of fun such as skipping, art making, live street music, karaoke, not to mention getting around on various forms of transportation like stilts and inline skates and skateboards and bikes. This is not normally a city of biking so it was an unusual site. I must say that I held my breath a few times as I watched kids blasting downhill with great abandon. Good times.

These fine artists from El Alto, the city on the altiplano (the Andean plateau that sits at 4,100m) added to the festivities with their bright colours and enthusiastic music.

Ready and waiting for the budding artists.

Literally taking art to the street.

Giggling teenage boys testing out their double-dutch prowess. Hysterical.

A group of dancers put on an impromtu performance to the delight of all.

"Saxoman", as he called himself, put on a very fine, spirited performance, playing everything from traditional Bolivian music to jazz to Santana. Music truly is a universal language.

Can I be a "Saxoman" one day, too?

La Paz - acclimatization going well

We are in La Paz now. Just catching up on Sucre and trekking near Sucre posts :)

Our acclimatization plan is working very well: no headaches at all so far and no issues with nausea, food or anything either. This is splendid.

We have booked 4 day-trips for this week. First a visit to Tiwanaku, an ancient civilization perhaps more advanced than most others in its heyday, then a half-day horseback riding excurison, both of these will see us around 3,800 to 4,000m. The third and fourth day will see us getting high. First to about 4,700 on a day hike from Tuni, about 2 hours from La Paz, to Chiara Qota, a laguna we slept at 3 years ago. Then a trip up to Chacaltaya (formerly the highest commercial ski resort in the world at 5,300m before the glacier melted due to climate change) and a hike over to the base camp at Huayna Potosi.

We sleep at about 3,500 m in La Paz, but walk up to 3,700 or 3,800 m. (around 12,000 feet). While that is normal here, it is amazing when you consider how few places in Canada exist at that altitude. There are just a handful outside the St Elias Range in the Yukon. Basically, while we would include being at such altitude in our mountain resume, being in La Paz makes it seem like nothing to write home about.

We are feeling great being here. Like 3 years ago we are staying at Casa Hermanos Manchego, with the lovely Isabel our host and her staff ever caring for our well being. We have already been to our favourite restaurant down the street and enjoyed tasty Thai at Maphroa On. It´s lovely to reconnect with people and places we know a little already.
(Post by Inga)

The 12 stations of the cross in Sucre

We are not actually into such things normally, but we found ourselves taking the long way to the Mirador in Sucre ;) We ascended about 300m to3,100m and then found ourselves in a place of worship and asking favours that is well used by the local people. Quite a few were up here, making offerings and such.

Jesus statue with altar inside on top of hill near downtown Sucre.

The 12th station of the cross. Each one had a monument like this. 

Then there was the actual mirador, very close to our B&B as it turns out, and while located much lower than Jesus, it also had lovely views over the city. Also just a few steps away is an amazing Indigenous art museum focussed on weaving. It also haas some historic artefacts, musical instruments and really well done explanations and videos. This is well worth the visit as it offers three different indigenous peoples traditions in one place. In recent years, there have been efforts made to recover thr lost knowledge of complex weavings and the results are stunning artistic - and practical - work
.

Inga enjoying the views from El Mirador, and about to have a well-earned lunch, too.

If you ever make it to Sucre: go here!

We also made it to the Case de la Libertad at Plaza 25 de mayo. It has a few rooms with artefacts of importance to Bolivia´s history, paintings of important generals and such.

Jan posing in la Casa de la Libertad in Sucre. She is standing beside the actual Declaration of Independence on display here. Simon Bolivar is in the centre on the wall with other major liberation figures beside him. Also Jan paid to be an official photographer, hence that tag she´s got on. I thought it amazing they´d allow photography inside these places and with these unique artefacts.

The stain glass above the senate room is gorgeous.

And finally one of the many churches in town.

Warm Jalq'a designed accommodations

The lovely pink connecting section of the habitacion featured coloured  glass to add light and tecture.

On our trek with Condor Trekkers, we slept both nights in lodging that was designed according to Jalq'a traditions. The Jalq'a people are indigenous people of Bolivia who still live according to their cultural traditions. The tourist lodging was constructed by the villagers and is run by the community, with all proceeds going to the community.

At the end of our second day of trekking, we arrived at our home for the night.

Each of  the cabañas had three sections: the entrance and kitchen (from the right); a connecting hall where the bathroom was, a common area, and a sleeping area with two bedrooms.

Soft coloured light from inside our warm abode.

Our knowledgeable and kind guide, Johnny, cooked up delicious vegetarian meals in the kitchen. How did he know that a bowl of warm oatmeal for breakfast was one of my favourites : )

Simple. Beautiful. Functional.

The craftsmanship -- not to speak of the work collecting the stones -- was truly inspiring. Although we did not
have to light a fire to stay warm (layers of clothing was all we needed), just the presence of this masterpiece
in the common area warmed us.

The dinosaur theme was joyfully caried through the appliqués. At night, I dreamed of times long passed.

This view, looking up from the area outside our casa, shows the adobe used to create walls, houses and fences. The sun was resplendent every day.

Dinosaur tracks and awesome landscape (Part 3)

Donkeys are part of the landscape. They, like all animals, roam freely.

Jan sitting at the edge of Maragua Crater having a well earned sip of water after ascending from 3,100 to 3,300 in just a few minutes first thing in the morning. OK, so I found that harder than she did :)

Dinosaur tracks. These are for real.

But Tyrannosaurus Rex made for huge tracks. The story is the tracks fossilized due to a vulcano eruption or some such.

Me with much smaller dino tracks. The people think that when other parts of the landscape are revealed with big rains, many more tracks will be found.

Lunch break at a beautiful spot overlooking the valley toward Maragua and sporting this sculpted hangout for Jan.

Potolo, our destination for night 2. While at 3,100m it has more water than other places along this track and farming was active already as a result.

Day two of the Condor Treking Excursion brought some impressive moments with Dinosaurs. The landscape moved from the copper reds to the silver greys and greens and much in between. These mountains are rich in minerals, but they apparently are not dense enough to warrant mining. There  are other areas nearby, for instance, Potosi and its silver mines. Most of this trek is above treeline, but it is more a matter of how arid various areas are.

The days start early out here - yes, breakfast at 6:30 am - and the rewards are amazing. We have about 12 hours of day light so all activity outdoors takes place in that window. Johnny, our guide, while a bit reserved, was fun to spend 3 days with, converse about life, natural features, rocks, tracks and his plans for a 1 year work exchange to Germany. He is flying to Hamburg in mid-September. (I promised him he would be received well, enjoy German hospitality and make real friends.)

The vistas of the Cordillera de los Frailes: Inka Trail to Waterfall (Part 2)

The Inca Trail connects over more than 1,000 kilometres. How did they get the stones so flat without the tools we have today? Inga benefits from the labour of others -- and is clearly super pleased about it.

The soft and subtle colours of the Cordillera de los Frailes envelop and welcome us.

The waterfall seems to come out of nowhere to greet the dry land.

Inspired by the land, Jan reflects the strength of the waterfall.

How close can Jan get without crawling in to every drop of water?

Condor Trekkers serves vegetarian food. Yum. After a wonderful morning hike, the assortment of fresh food delights the palate.

Trekking in the Cordillera de los Frailes: Part 1

5 am in Sucre - deserted streets. Just us heading to our pick up

 at Condor Trekking.

Breakfast at 3,600+ metres. Brand new Church built for the community at start of the Inka Trail.

Gorgeous Jan a few minutes down the Inka Trail. Check out those stones. Most from centuries ago, the local community now maintains it for tourism.

Moon over moon landscape: Bolivian Andes are impressive everywhere.

Water break along the trail toward Maragua. Lucille and Antoine (in back right) were part of our group fro day 2 and 3 as well.

Jan makes friends easily everywhere :)

Waiting for the local bus: Antoine, Lucille, Johnny (our guide who is about to go spend a year in Germany), and Jan.

Here are a few first impressions from our 3-day trek in the Cordillera de los Frailes, including that 1/2 day on the local bus back to Sucre today.

We went by car up to about 3,600m only to hike downhill on the Inka Trail for a few kilometres. We picked up a path along a river and then up into Maragua ´Crater´, a small village where we spent the first night. The hike went by a gorgeous waterfall around 2,800 m where we had lunch and then we got to hike uphill to get back up to about 3,100 m. That sure made for some heavy breathing on my part. But of course, that´s what I need to acclimatize to altitude gradually. Sleeping in Maragua - and then in Potolo for our second night - at about 3,100m also is part of that. Sleeping was actuallyt remarkably easy after long days hiking.

Condor Trekkers´ guides, David and Johnny, were great. Knowledgeable, kind, fine cooks and fun to be around. We will post pics from Jan´s camera shortly. With mine now officially out of battery, we took shots mostly with hers.

First impressions of Sucre

Casa Verde is easy to spot on the street of white washed buildings.

Sucre is a colonial town, with a much, much longer history reaching well before the Inca empire.

Plaza 25 de mayo is a popular city square surrounded by impressive architecture.

34 hours in Transit to Sucre, Bolivia

Good Monday morning!
Jan and I have arrived at Casa Verde in Sucre.
 
Our flights went off almost without a hitch. The Ottawa to Toronto, Toronto to Panama City and Panama City to Bogota, Colombia legs were uneventful and pleasant. We flew with Copa Airlines and Avianca (Colombian airline) and were pleased with modern planes and great service. The Bogota to La Paz flight left on time (just after 11pm) and was about to land in La Paz on time (3:45am). I noticed the plane was circling a couple of times and then the announcement that due to a major snow storm (yes, it is winter in the southern hemisphere) the El Alto airport did not allow anyone to land or take of. The storm was expected to last another  2 hours, so we would be diverted to Santa Cruz, an hour away by plane. Santa Cruz is in the jungle, at about 300 m above sea level, so perhaps not surprising it is Bolivia´s largest airport. Once we arrived, we waited for information about the next steps. Would the storm let up? Would we disembark and clear customs? Or perhaps we´d be able to get off the plane and just wait in the international waiting hall for updates?

The Avianca crew kept information flowing and everyone took the situation in stride. We were a bit concerned about flying on to Sucre and whether we´d make that flight if it was to leave. Well, at about 6:30 am we boarded the Avianca flight which was to leave to La Paz shortly. We taxied to the runway and the captain announced that it had started snowing again and that we would have to wait until El Alto gave permission. Most people - and certainly we - were sleeping. Nothing else to do really and we were working on a full day of travel already. There were a couple more on again, off again moments and by about 8:30am we took off to El Alto at 4,000m. Seeing the Cordillera Real with its glaciers and 5,000 and 6,000 m summits and the Altiplano clad in snow was beautiful. The landing was quite smooth.

We cleared immigration and customs and were so happy to see Eduardo waiting for us (he will be our mountain guide in 2 weeks when we head into the Cordillera Real)! We had asked him  to meet us at the airport so we could hand off our mountaineering equipment to him for safekeeping until we need it. With the storm he had kept track of our flight and waited for us even though we arrived 6 hours late.

Then, moving slowly at 4,000m trying to avoid the altitude headache (we succeeded), we needed to work out our flight situation to get to Sucre. Our initial flight had left and only one other company had seats on their delayed flight (yeah, for the ripples of flight delays when strorms hit). We boarded at 1:20 pm and got to Sucre by 2:20. A 10 km cab ride and we got to Casa Verde. A beautiful B & B in the downtown area of town that Jan researched online. We unpacked, napped for 3 hours and then went out for dinner. We walked to the Plaza 25 de Mayo, the central square, and found many options settling on a trattoria with a cool vibe called Tentaciones. I had the best Chicken Parmesan, Jan enjoyed her pasta, the Campos de Soltanas Riesling (a vineyard in the Ssouth of Bolivia) was tasty and not sweet and the cappucinos were lovely.

It feels great to be in Bolivia again. And we are pleased to start in Sucre, at 2,200 m and not in La Paz at 3,600m, as this gives us a chance to manage our acclimatization process step by step and not just battle the symptoms of living high. We will head to La Paz at the end of the week.

Today, we will meet with Condor Trekking, deal with some electronics issues I have - didn´t find my camera´s battery charger when I was packing - see if I can get any refunds on the other flight we had booked, find some dinosaur tracks, and generally enjoy our first full day in Sucre.

Our transit stats: 34 hours (net flying time about 14 hours), 7 airports, 4 countries, 4 airlines, 1 snow storm, 2 happy travellers.

Bolivia in 2 days

On Saturday we are flying to La Paz. We were thrilled to find a flight on points. Turns out there's no fuel surcharge going to Bolivia, so we just paid the taxes - an awesome deal.The routing is a bit longer than it absolutely has to be: we're going from Ottawa-Toronto-Panama City-Bogota-La Paz then on to Sucre on a local carrier.

Our house sitters are all set up, so we know all will be well at home while we embark on this 5 week mountaineering expedition. Lots of anticipation, wondering whether we are ready. I inadvertently hurt my foot in May in the Adirondacks, basically pretty painful tendinitis in my foot. With lots of physio and stretching, and hot yoga, it has improved tremendously. All that to say, we couldn't follow our plans for backcountry hiking. However, I started joining Jan at  hot yoga and since early June I have logged 52 classes :) That has got to help, right!?

We will post updates and photos here as we go and when we have internet access. The basic itinerary is
week 1 - Sucre and area - with a 3 day, 2 night hike up to 3,800 m
week 2 - La Paz and day trips to the Altiplano and Cordillera Real
week 3 - Mountaineering with Bolivian Mountain Guides in Cordillera Real - training week
week 4 - Mountaineering with Bolivian Mountain Guides in Cordillera Real (Chearoco, Chachacomani, Illimani) - summit week
week 5 - Madidi National Park (the jungle)

The itinerary is designed for acclimatization. We will gradually sleep higher and higher as we progress through the first 3 weeks. At the same time we will be active hiking and trekking or day tripping much higher still. In fact, in week 2 we hope to spend a day trip driving all the way  to 5,400 metres, just to help the body get used to the lower air pressure and stimulate adaptation to the altitude over time.

We'll see how the mountaineering works out. We have our sights on a couple of 5,000+m peaks and several over 6,000 m. Summits are never a given and we have a lot of respect for the mountains. We are both eager to be in these mountains again and gain all manner of new experiences and deepen our skills along the way, too.

This is the highest spot we've ever walked to:
Huayna Potosi, 6,088m (19,975 feet)
November 19, 2010