June 12, 2007
Day 622
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.
