start date	activity	country	place	from - to	days	km	km/ day	comment
29.06.2013	desert cart	Bolivia		Sabaya - Sajama	4.5	141	31
04.07.2013	high altitude climbing		Sajama NP	Sajama village - Sajama summit - return	2	39	19	27 hours from 4250m up to 6542m and return
06.07.2013	desert cart	Bolivia, Peru		Sajama - Copacabana	9	291	32
15.07.2013	resting	Bolivia		Copacabana	2	0	0	meeting Ewelina
Total					17.5	471	27

It's hard to catch the breath. Every few minutes I'm waking up and taking a deep breath, making up for the deficit of oxygen. Freezing. Tent struggling with the wind. I have three pairs of pants and four layers of jackets on me. I'm all inside the sleeping bag, on the outside does not extend any part of the body.

        The alarm on the watch is not necessary, I don't sleep anyway, I'm too excited. About 1:30 am I wake Mario up - time to go.
    A piece of energy bar, a handful of nuts, a sip of water. We jump into plastic boots, balaclava, beanie, two pairs of gloves. Backpack on the back, torch light under the feet. Let's move. Guide adds with a smile:
    - "Vamos a la playa" (Let's go to the beach)

Mario speeds up at front, I'm trying to keep up with him. Yesterday we hiked together very fast, but now my lungs refuse to cooperate. Taking off bakaclava from my face, because it restricts my breathing. Everything starts to annoying me - I put on warmer gloves, change the length of the walking poles, headtorch is constantly falling down. I walk slowly, but it does not look colorful. I'm starting to wonder whether I have done right to convert my guide in two day trip, not as most of people in three. And more that I refused to use the help of porters. But even with the three-day escapades nearly half of the trips don't reach the summit. Too late to think, I have to climb a further, one meter above another, keep the mouth shut and climb.

We come to the ice limit at right time, I do not need to ask for a break. We put on crampons, harness, ice axe replace the poles, we tie with a rope.
    Fortunately, there is a moonless night. Fortunately, as I don't see anything and I don't , I realize what I'm doing. I have no idea how steep is here.
     Eventually I caught the rhythm, step by step. We are tied with a rope, so I can't stay behind. The third hour of climbing has improved my breathing. It may have helped that I chew coca leaves? In any case, it's better.

         Suddenly my crampon fall. Fixed. Moments later a second one. This is not the place for such issues, so when the crampon fall for the third time, I knew that Mario can order a retreat. If I slip down, I could pull him after me. Fortunately guide gave us one last chance - ripped the string from his backpack, cut it in half and used for additional crampons support - it worked!     

    Dawn is breaking the night. Unfortunately, there are clouds on neighboring peaks, the view isn't great. I turn back, look in the direction of where we came from. Damn, really steep. It does not matter now, at least for the time climbing up. I'm tired, but keep our rhythm. A little more effort, it's not far away. Just a little more push. Already 7:30 am.

We are on the top! Bolivia's highest peak - Sajama, 6542 meters above sea level. Quick photo session as -12 ° C does not allow for more, and, we start to descend. And it is more difficult then ascent - not with endurance, but it's easier to make a mistake while working on fatigue and lack of concentration.

           Hands are tired from belaying by ice axe. Crampons ripped off my pant sleeve. Water froze in my backpack. I see now what descent is waiting for us - the 65% slope. Fatigue, and here you have to be focused.
      No rush. Ice axe deep into the snow. One foot firmly on the ice. The second one the same. Again ice axe. And so on, slowly, surely. It was not bad.
When we got to the stony ridge, we congratulated each other and literally ran down to the tent (5280m). We packed our camp and rushed to the village of Sajama (4250m). A total of 27 hours from departure to return to the village. I know that the mountains are not place for racing, but two days costs a lot less than three, less time to feel cold, and besides, I need some sport aspect.

             Since we came back at afternoon, I had half a day of resting, so next day I could move on.
I felt sorry for those who have struggled with the mountain the next day. Snow, clouds and wind. And I ran away to Pampa, far from snowy white-out. Pampa relaxes me, I love walking on the azimuth, read a topographic map and decide which way now? Sometimes listening to the locals, sometimes not (surprisingly they poorly know the own area). The more that most of the villages I passed was completely abounded, and for three days no single car passed me. Shop with a very basic supplies was able to spot only in the larger villages, at about every 30 km. Place to eat at about every 100 km. And it had its charm.
      
      The crosscountry hikes also had its advantages. Shorter, but sometimes at great cost:
- The road turns into a path, and this means that one wheel has to jump on the grass. Spoke broke.
     - Fences with spark wire. To cross it, I need to look for loose wires and squeeze between - attention for cloths and tires.
    - Stone gates. Sometimes too narrow for my cart. Three options:
     1 throw out the rocks, but need to fix it back later (sometimes stones too heavy) 2 unload the trolley and carry luggage separate, at the end an empty cart 3 detour around the obstacle (not my style)

I begun to freeze in a tent. At morning frost was everywhere, numbed fingers and toes. So I decided asking locals to accommodate me for a night. It turned out that the locals were very hospitable, helpful, often they feed me and talk a lot. Thanks to them I got to know the true face of this part of the country where help and a smile is not converted into money.

Prices in Australian dollar AUD

Country	Days	Food	(how many) paid accom.	Permits Entry fees	Guide hire	Equipment purchase, hire	Equipment or other freight fees	*Transport	Other	Total
Bolivia, Peru	17.5	$187	(8) $44	$4	$130	$25	$0	$0	$39	$429

Sajama NP entry fee - $4
Mountain guide for Sajama $65/day - $130
Equipment hire (crampons, harness, ice axe) - $3.5/day/item - $21

 

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