[TR] Bolivia - 17,618ft Pequeno Alpamayo - 8/2/2012

[Kushrocks]

Trip: Bolivia - 17,618ft Pequeno Alpamayo -

 

Date: 8/2/2012

 

Trip Report:

17,618 Pequeno Alpamayo

 

Full Report found here:

 

http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=12285

[Le Piston]

Loved the trip report and pictures. I see the mountain roads in Bolivia are much like in Ecuador...my bus ride was scarier than the climbing! Nice work gentlemen! I've wanted to go to Bolivia for several years...thanks for the stoke.

[Alasdair]

Nice trip.

 

A few comments...

The weird animal is not a chinchilla like one of the commenters suggested. It is a viscacha, similar but not the same thing.

 

One thing to think about down here is that many locals really dont like to have their photos taken. It is a nice thing to ask first.

 

On your illimani tr you mention you should not eat anything that is not cooked. Food that is not cooked in a reasonable restaurant is totally fine. I would not do it in the markets, but there are a lot of very good restaurants in la paz.

 

Cheese is fine. You just lived in the US too long.

 

Coke tastes different because its not filled with corn syrup. They use real sugar here. Most people like it a lot more here that in the us.

 

There is a grocery store where you can get any junk food you dont need to bring anything.

 

 

[Jim]

Thanks for the report. You didn't run into Amy in Condoriri did you? Six year resident of La Paz and climber. The burro runners there have got the deal going there- drive up - ready to go!

 

Planning on getting back there next year. If you do go back I'd suggest some more remote ranges of Quimsa Cruz or the Apalomamba. I was climbing for a month and never saw an English speaker, or someone whose first language was Spanish over that period.

 

Awesome place. Nice photos - making me want to jet out now!

 

Escalar tan rapidamente como un viscacha!!

 

[Manacus]

Glad you were able to climb with Eduardo Mamani. He is a character, a legend, and an amazing climber/guide. He is also a very good person. He treated me like a friend, sent me tons of photos from my climbs, as well as a Christmas card. You may have seen my post last year from the same two peaks. Eduardo really came through for me and helped me get some great climbing done in a very limited amount of time. Your experience with Eduardo sounded very similar to mine (had to laugh about the bottle of coke). Thanks for bringing back some good memories.

 

Here's a link to:

my report on Illimani and P. Alpamayo

 

Searchable under "Bolivia" but not under the names of the peaks for some reason.

Edited August 6, 2012 by Manacus

[ivan]

looks like a man could do a whole lot worse for an international expedition