Chacaltaya and the Valle de la Luna!
Trip Start
Nov 25, 2004
1
120
169
Trip End
Jan 26, 2005
We decided to head out into the mountains around La Paz this morning and also to see the Valle de la Luna on the way! I was getting abit worried when the bus was an hour late but it finally arrived and off we went! We drove through the richer areas of downtown La Paz and what a contrast to the rundown buildings in El Alto. La Paz is abit different from most cities as the rich people live in town and the poor people live in the suburbs! The opposite of everywhere else! (Bit of Trivia from Shirley there!) The Valle de la Luna was a bit mad really...lots of bizarre rock formations eroded by the rain into what look like huge termite mounds! Then came the bit we were looking forward to...the drive up to Chacaltaya which is actually the closest ski area to the Equator! When we went, there was no snow but at a height of 5422m, it's the highest that we've ever been and the views were absolutely awesome along with the drive up there and its hairpin bends! You can see the snowcapped summit of Huayni Potosi and we put our first footprints in the snow! Yippppeeee! They reckon in 10/15 years that the glaciar will have disappeared so it could be another unique experience for the Smedleys...hope not though as the views are out of this world! Paul erected a Team Smedders rock on top as well! Awwwww! It was the coldest I've been yet though...you know when you're mouth won't work properly because you're so cold and my nozzle was freezing! Hee Hee! Soon warmed up again as we headed down into La Paz and stopped to take some awesome photos from El Alto of the city! Think they could be some of my faves...can you tell we liked it! Hee Hee!
