Friday, August 14, 2009

6000 m


Ver mapa más grande
huayna potosi is 6088 meter peak about 2 hours north of la paz. i had no idea it existed until about 2 years ago when messerschmidt traveled through bolivia and posted some amazing pics from summiting. he said it wasn´t too bad, and the mountain is known as the easiest 6000 m peak in the world to summit. anyone with $100 usd can hire a guide and equipment to try it. so i had been scheming to do it for the last 9 months of this trip. lkm, however, wanted nothing to do with it. fortunately, the timing worked out that my brother had 3 days free and a decidedly mild interest in seeing the mountain, so we took a shot at it.

got off to a bad start.
From traveling in bolivia

From traveling in bolivia


huyana potosi in the background. 19,975 feet!
From traveling in bolivia

the actual peak is the one on the right in the background. our guide says some folks do ski down the near face. next trip.
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ice climbing at a glacier near base camp on day 1. very very fun.
From traveling in bolivia

From traveling in bolivia

From traveling in bolivia

From traveling in bolivia

bsmith as we got to high camp - about 5,200 m - on day 2, grumpy and tired.
From traveling in bolivia

From traveling in bolivia

talked with the guides and got a run in on their 1980 ski setup. the only catch was we had to hike up the hill. at 5,200 m, this takes a significant effort.
From traveling in bolivia


started the ascent at about 2am. full moon. no need for headlamps. better this way, so as to not see the bottomless crevasses we were stepping over.
From traveling in bolivia

not much to say about the hike up except that it sucked. after 5 hours of sucking rare air, we were approaching the summit.
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summited right at sunrise. august 6, bolivian independence day... making you proud, mom.
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also making lucha libre proud. our guide loved this. he kept wanting to take more pictures with "ray misterio jr." from the wwf. our guide was tremendous - we got to the top only because of him. he kept us at a steady slow pace for the climb and kept us within our limits. he grew up in a village at about 4,500 m, so he was born acclimated.
From traveling in bolivia

bsmith, powered by m&m´s. unfortunately, no frijoles were to be found.
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sun was up on the way back down... it was a tiring, precarious haul to get back.
From traveling in bolivia

From traveling in bolivia

on the way down, we saw the crevasses that we had crossed earlier. when you peer over the edge, you really can´t see a bottom.
From traveling in bolivia

From traveling in bolivia

got back from the trek and slept for about 18 hours. the trek was well worth it. vale la pena.


lkm and i left bolivia on august 8, a year after the ankle surgery. 9 months goes quick... too quick. we have a few days on a carribean island, and then home to california. see you all soon.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

more uyuni

there´s more to uyuni than just salt. its a giant, dessicated, ancient seabed sitting between 2 mountain ranges at 14,000 ft. its hot during the day and cold as hell at night. its a place where no one should really live.

Ver mapa más grande

there´s a few distinct features to uyuni that we toured: and island of cactus, a few lakes with thousands of pink flamengos, multi-colored mountains, thermal hot springs, huge rock structures, and lots and lots of open space and dust. in 3 days we covered a lot of ground...

train graveyard.
From traveling in bolivia

this cactus island.
From traveling in bolivia

From traveling in bolivia

From traveling in bolivia

bsmith connecting with his roots.
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the open space... lots of it.
From traveling in bolivia

From traveling in bolivia

i won the 100 meter dash at 14,000 ft against my brother, morton, and lkm. this is my sponsorship pic. pacena, the beer of mediocrity.
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daybreak.
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pink flamengos.
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From traveling in bolivia

From traveling in bolivia

some weird marmot.
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rocks.
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From traveling in bolivia

mountains, with one hit by a meteor strike.
From traveling in bolivia

From traveling in bolivia

From traveling in bolivia

geysers and hot springs.
From traveling in bolivia

From traveling in bolivia

Sunday, August 9, 2009

the flats

From traveling in bolivia

the salt flats of bolivia - salar de uyuni - are amazing. we traveled there with my brother brian, his wife beth, and kevin morton of thailand fame.

uyuni is stunning. there´s not much else to say about it, so check out the pictures on the picasa page (link on the right sidebar, mom and dad). perspective pictures are all the rage in uyuni. here´s a sampling.
From traveling in bolivia

From traveling in bolivia

i am crushing your head!
From traveling in bolivia

From traveling in bolivia

Friday, August 7, 2009

high stakes

found this arcade game in a supermarket (the hipermercado) in cochabamba. much better prizes than US claw games.
From bolivia!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

fernando

hands behind his back like he´s not even sweating it, here´s my 94 year old grandfather on the ball. he is definitely my idol.

there´s some controversy to whether or not he is 94. apparently he lied about his age to join the bolivian army around 1930. he was 15 and needed to be 16 to fight in the chaco war against paraguay. but the thing is, we´re not sure - and he´s certainly not sure now - whether or not he used his real or fake birthday after that.

bottom line: he´s 65 years older than you and can juggle better.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

soup!

From bolivia!

we had sopa de mani in a restaurant last week. this is the most delicious soup in bolivia. sopa de mani = peanut soup. it doesn´t really taste like peanuts, but it is exceptionally creamy and delicious. my aunt makes a mean sopa de mani. chunks of slow stewed beef. crushed and blended peanuts. potatoes, carrots, onions, rice, and a couple of other veggies. she made some earlier this week, but in her recipe, she omitted the chicken feet and head.
From bolivia!

From bolivia!

the dogs seemed to appreciate the chicken parts.
From bolivia!