July 23-24, 2006
Day 298-299

I had to spend a few days preparing for Huayna Potosi and getting ready to leave Bolivia. Getting all my gear organized (I accumulated a lot of stuff in Bolivia that I no longer needed) was no easy task. I also signed up to go to Huayna Potosi with a guide on the 25th. I haven't been in a very cold environment since Antarctica last February, so I jettisoned most of my cold weather gear a while back. Temperatures are supposed to reach -15 C at the summit, though, so I had to roam around town looking for a cheap fleece and thermals that I'll probably only use for this trip.

July 21, 2006
Day 296

Our bus out of town left today at 3:00 AM. I'm not sure why it left so ridiculously early, especially considering that the ride was only twelve hours, which meant that we would get back to La Paz in the middle of the afternoon.

After a few hours, when we were near the border with Peru, we stopped in the middle of nowhere. It was pitch black outside at first, but when the sun started coming up, I noticed a fair amount of activity outside the bus's frosted windows. I asked around and learned that every Friday at sunrise, there was a market for all of the neighboring communities in the middle of nowhere at nearly 5000 meters. I walked around for awhile, but it was so cold, my fingers and toes quickly became numb. The most interesting thing I saw was a bunch of guys melting gold with blowtorches, and Craig bought a poncho right off a guy's back. I'm not sure if it was for a souvenir or just for warmth. The market at that time and place was the most bizarre thing I've seen in a long time.

The ride back to La Paz was long but beautiful once again. After we got into town, Craig got the drugs he needed. I wasn't able to sleep much on the bus, so I was too tired to do anything else today. I'll work on my plans for the next few weeks tomorrow.

July 20, 2006
Day 295

Yesterday we learned from the owner of a truck that he would be leaving for Queara at 4:00 AM today. The info seemed more reliable this time. We told him we'd go with him and went to bed early.

By 4:00, another problem had arisen. Craig started to feel the same symptoms of nausea and fatigue that had plagued him two weeks ago during the canoe trip. He didn't have any drugs with him to fix the problem, either. For the record, I felt like a million bucks.

Even though Craig still felt OK, it wasn't worth the risk. We were told that there were no pharmacies in Queara but there was one here in Pelechuco in the hospital. We would have to try to get the drugs needed today and leave tomorrow. It's too risky to venture into the jungle sick with the potential for getting worse. Incidentally, I walked to the truck at 4:00. Nobody was around (not a big surprise considering it's Bolivia), but on the way, I spotted the bloodshot-eyed man with his friends wasted on the 95% booze that's all too common here. I knew I shouldn't have listened to a word that guy said.

After the town woke up, we walked to the hospital only to receive more bad news. An assistant was there, but she didn't have the key to the medicine cabinet. The only people with a key were the doctor and the nurse. Normally one of them is in town, but today they were both tending to sick people in another town. We were told that there was a chance they would show up later in the day, so we waited some more.

We did take a hike down the river that leads through town and into the beautiful countryside. There were mountains and valleys everywhere, so the scenery was spectacular. I hope I get a chance to return to this area for more trekking at some point.

We went back to the hospital later in the day, but learned that the doctor and nurse wouldn't be back for two more days. I didn't have much spare time anymore, and Craig didn't want to risk getting worse in this remote community, so we decided that we'd have no choice but to cancel the trek and go back to La Paz tomorrow. It's too bad we had to miss out on the trek, but it just wasn't meant to be. Last year, Craig had to cancel the same trek due to high river waters. This year, we lost a day because the bus was to Pelechuco was full and another day because we didn't figure out when the truck left for Queara. On top of that, first I got sick with parasites, then Craig's previous parasitic illness returned, despite taking loads of antibiotics. We tried not to harp on the issue and bought a ticket out of town for the bus leaving at 3:00 AM tomorrow.

The photo album for this entry is here.

July 19, 2006
Day 294

Craig and I got up leisurely today wanting to catch the truck to Queara at 10:00. After a bit of asking around town, we learned that the truck wasn't there, but nobody seemed to know exactly where it was. We sat around the plaza, played a few games of chess, and waited for the truck to show up.

Finally, at around noon, someone told us that the truck already left for Queara before sunrise. The bloodshot-eyed man we talked to last night had lied to us. We should have known better and talked to the driver directly. The day was a waste. At least it gave me another day to rest, and I was feeling pretty good by the time I went to bed.

July 18, 2006
Day 293

Today started the same as yesterday. Another early wakeup, another expensive taxi to El Alto. We bought tea from the same lady as yesterday and waited in the freezing pre-dawn cold for the bus to show up. While waiting, I met an interesting man from Puno, Peru who said he was a nurse but occasionally made trips into La Paz to buy the ridiculously cheap second-hand clothing imported from the USA to resell at home for a profit.

My ticket said that the bus left at 6:00. It pulled in at about 7:00, just as dawn was breaking. There was a mad rush to jump aboard, and we weren't sure if we'd get seats, despite the fact that our tickets said we would. Craig took our backpacks and waited for them to be hoisted onto the roof while I forced my way through the calamity to board the bus. A member of the Bolivian army was in my seat, but he politely gave it up and sat in the isle.

By the time the bus finally left at 8:00, it was starting to get warmer, but worries of frostbite soon turned to worries of my stomach problems. I was felling a little better, but was still too weak to carry a 20 KG backpack through the mountains and into the jungle for a week. I figured I'd just wait it out and see how I felt. If I wasn't feeling better tomorrow, I could always hire a donkey to carry my stuff.

I slept on and off throughout the bus ride, but what I did see was beautiful. Outside La Paz, the great peaks of the Cordillera real like Illimani at 6462 meters (21,201 feet) became clearly visible. Next, we rode across the Altiplano past Lake Titicaca, where I became reacquainted with the Isla del Sol, which I walked across early last November when I first entered Bolivia. Finally, we went past the Cordillera Apolobamba, where we will be hiking. Craig vividly recalled his journey over the peaks and through the valleys where he trekked with his donkey for three months last year. At the end of the trip, we went over a pass at about 4900 meters (16,000 feet), one of the highest points reachable by bus in Bolivia. It was freezing, but the surrounding snow-capped peaks and glaciers were stunning.

When we reached Pelechuco, we went to a guesthouse and tried to organize a guide and a ride to Queara, where our trek will begin. A seedy character with bloodshot eyes claiming to be a guide met with us and asked how much we would normally pay a guide. We told him that we didn't know; the guides themselves should determine their own asking price. We didn't want to pay a guide for transportation to Queara, so we asked if there were any guides there. He said there were several, so we agreed that it would be better for us if we waited till Queara to find a guide. He also told us that a truck would leave for Queara tomorrow at 10:00, which was great news for us. Too bad we trusted him.

July 17, 2006
Day 292

We were told that a bus would leave for Pelechuco from El Alto at 6:00 this morning, but we couldn't buy tickets in advance. It was not a good situation to be in, but we didn't have a choice if we wanted to leave for the trek from Pelechuco to Apolo today. We had to leave the hotel at 5:30 to make it to El Alto by 6:00, and doing so meant that no buses would be running so we would have to take an expensive taxi.

El Alto is a city built on one of the plateaus outside of La Paz. As the name implies, it's very high at nearly 4000 meters (13,000 feet) above sea level. It has recently earned the distinction of being the fastest-growing city in South America, as Bolivia's large native population migrates there to look for work. Because of this, El Alto is even more run-down, impoverished, and dangerous than La Paz, which is already a dodgy place.

Luckily the taxi took us to the place from which the buses leave without any issues, and thus began the waiting game. Craig and I got some coffee and a fried egg sandwich (the standard Bolivian breakfast) and started watching for the Pelechuco-bound bus to show up on the chaotic street. Just before dawn, temperatures hit -6 Celsius (21 Farenheit), so waiting was far from a pleasant experience.

The bus finally showed up at 7:30, but as the masses converged and stormed aboard, it became apparent that the bus was already sold out. Craig tried to grab an empty seat and was informed that all the tickets had been sold yesterday. It wasn't clear who sold them, but it definitely wasn't the lady at the office we went to.

There was nothing we could do other than take a bus back to La Paz and wait until tomorrow. We went back to the same office and bought tickets, so at least we know we'll get to go tomorrow. The tickets were only $4 each for a 12-hour ride, but in a country like Bolivia, sometimes it doesn't matter how much money you have. You're going to have to waste a day here and there.

Back at the hotel, I felt too weak to move. The illness had been building up for a few days, but now that I was lethargic and began belching acid, I was pretty sure I had Giardia. One good thing about Bolivia is that pharmacies are everywhere and they'll sell you just about any drug you can think of without a prescription. Ten minutes and $1 later, I had a week's worth of metronidazol, the anitparasitic that would kill the single-celled bastards spawning within me. I spent the rest of the day sleeping, so I guess missing the bus was a blessing in disguise.

July 15-16, 2006
Day 290-291

I spent this weekend recovering from my blisters and my fallen toenail from last week's trek. Before I begin my long trip to Ecuador, Craig and I will do one last trek. It will start in Pelechuco, a full day's journey from La Paz, and end in Apolo, a remote jungle community. The 8-day trek will start in the mountains and continue through Madidi National Park, the most biodiverse national park in the world, deep in the Amazon basin. Not many people do this trek, so we will have to get a guide to show us the way and bring our machetes to hack away at the large amounts of vegetation covering the trail. The trek has seven river crossings, many of which don't have bridges, so we'll have to wade across them. Craig tried to do the trek last year, but the rivers were higher and none of the guides were willing to take him. It should be more manageable this year, though. This trek will be a great last challenge to end my trip.