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The very first day of our travel - plans changed

Just very briefly. After arriving at the Frankfurt airport weve made a gigantic effort and packed our chores in a way that it does not exceed the 20 kg limit.

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Madrid Santiago Mendoza

On Thursday morning (12 January) after hotel breakfast weve left for the airport. After ten boring hours in the airplane we landed in sun-lit Santiago, 18:20 hrs local time. We were greeted by hordes of taxi touts and 30 C heats. We went straight to the organizational business.

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Aconcagua

After a small intermezzo, when our carrier almost forgot us in Mendoza we arrived at Penitentes (2500m) where we stayed overnight.

The following day, we loaded our mule with some 60 kilos of equipment and started the trek and ascent to the intermediate camp of Confluencia (3300m). We reached the camp after some four hours and pitched our tent there. Martin acquired a fine sunstroke during the day and his "air-conditioning" cold hasn't got any better. The temperatures remain high so we sweat in our warm sleeping bags.

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Touching the water not allowed!

After few moments in the atmospheric El Caribe we submerged into nocturnal Santiago. Thirsty and starving we began to search for a meal of the poor at about 10 p.m. "Churasco a lo Pobre" consists of about a kilo of meat, French fries, eggs, onion, sausage etc. While enjoying the food we were pleased by the screaming of flamed out football fans.

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San Pedrito - the paradise of package deals

We moved a bit further north along the coast - to Antofagasta. During the transfer we were contemplating the ascents of volcanoes around San Pedro de Atacama.

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Licancabur

Licancabur is a border mountain between Chile and Bolivia. We considered its height of 5960m sufficient after our previous attempts in order to find out whether there is any sense for us trying to attack any of the six-thousands. There are many travel agencies in San Pedro that offer the ascent of Licancabur as a PACKAGE formula but prices were starting at 100 USD per person. That was why at the Cordillera agency we bought only transfer to the Bolivian border (Hito Cajon) and from there on it was only about our Spanish and luck.

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Bolivian altiplano

On Monday morning (6 February) together with other 14 people we boarded a coach and crossed once again the Chilean-Bolivian border in order to enjoy three days in the nature of the Bolivian altiplano. We've bought this, already third, PACKAGE at Colque agency. The price for three days was all-inclusive: food, accommodation, transport as well as rather reticent driver Satuko. A luxury for 70 US dollars.

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Rainy Season

The original plan was to travel those 300 km from Uyuni to Oruro by train but unfortunately the tickets were sold out already the day before. So we had to content ourselves with coach once again. At 8 p.m. we got on a bit shabby bus of the 16 de Julio Company. The journey should have lasted ten hours.

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A deadly ride

We wanted to experience some descent after all the climbing. There is no better place than La Paz. We couldnt miss the opportunity to make the descent from La Cumbre (4700m) to the jungle in an altitude of 1300m, especially when using the worlds most dangerous road for the downhill ride. Why the most dangerous? Annually, there are in average 26 vehicles that fall over the brink which is the highest number according to a study by the Inter-American Development Bank. The road is only 3,2m wide but you can easily meet a coach or a truck going in the opposite direction.

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It goes better when chewing coca

A small bush hosting an abundance of 3cm leaves and yielding 3-4 times a year occupies a very important place in life of the locals. You can buy coca on the market in huge sacks or ask for a coca tea in a restaurant. Yes, it is the coca out of which cocaine is made. Before, it was also an ingredient of the fancied Coca-Cola drink.

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Huayana Potosi - 6088m

After we had come back from the bikes we had a short sleep accompanied by the sounds of a local disco and around 8 oclock in the morning we were already waiting in front of the Alfonso Andino agency. The agency provided us with equipment we were missing. Tent and ice axes (we left ours in Santiago). They also arranged for transport, guide and food. We selected the fast, two-day option.

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La Paz and the trip to Tiwanaku

The highest city in the world, which has approximately 1 million inhabitants, serves as the administrative centre of Bolivia. But it is not the official capital - that title holds the city of Sucre. The city centre is in 3600m but the liveliest and most populated quarter called El Alto lies above 4100m (including its unique international airport).

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Titicaca

In Copacabana, the biggest Bolivian town on the shore of the Titicaca lake we met Eva and Milena again. While they were leaving the following day we were getting ready for the local main attraction - Isla del Sol. We met again Armando and Stefani by accident. After dinner together we've changed our plans. We wanted to see Cuzco and maybe Machu Picchu too.

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Chachani - 6075m

On the morning in Arequipa we started checking up various travel agencies. We wanted to learn what were the possible options and prices for ascents of the surrounding mountains. The most climbed and reportedly easiest to hike is the flawlessly symmetrical Misty volcano (5285m) standing out in the city backdrop. But it was the Chachani volcano that was complying with our 6000m aspirations. Chachani was obviously the summit of our choice. Eventually, in one of the agencies we not only beat down the price but we even persuaded them to set out the very same day. The standard departure is at 8:00h in the morning, we left at noon.

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Back to Chile

The very same day we had descended from Chachani we set out for 2500km long southbound journey to Santiago de Chile. We didnt even have time to dry our clothes off or take a breather. We had to hurry to catch the coach because we had learnt in the bus terminal that there shouldnt be any connection the following day. The south Peru declared a coach-free day.

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Terminus, please get off!

We had two days in Santiago prior to the departure. On Saturday evening, when going by underground from the Estacion Central to the Puente Cal y Canto station, we took note of an advertisement for a jazz concert that was to take place close to our El Caribe and what was important, for free. When at about 9 p.m. at the main square the chess players packed up their business and the gospel-spreading loudmouths began to appear instead, we set out to look for the jazz. We hoped that a blues would be hidden under the sticker of jazz. You might understand that we werent particularly keen on listening to those classic musicians shouting down each other and riding up and down the scales over and over again.

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