It Doesn't Have to Be Fun to Be Fun

Huayna Potosi from Campamento Argentino

Uhhhh.... stomach churning.....should not have eaten that chicken last night.... hurts so bad......lungs burning.... can't breathe..... ahhhh.... head pounding..... need to sit down..... need some food.... so tired..... need some sleep.....


So did you have a good time?!?

Hmmmmm... yes. I had a wonderful time stumbling up and down the mountain feeling just about as awful as one can feel and still be standing. I've been home for a week now, and I'm just starting to recover from the 14 pounds I lost, and the round of antibiotics I needed to get my GI tract back to normal. There's an old saying in mountaineering - It doesn't have to be fun to be fun. This trip was definitely fun.

That's me sitting on the right, feeling just a little bit better on the way down.

Just before leaving for Bolivia this article came across my Google Reader.
http://www.highlineonline.ca/media/winter_2009/guidebook/dance_monkey.html
It was written by Andrew Wexler, a guy who's spent the last ten years guiding climbs in South America, and while he writes about several countries, the main part of the article is about the idiosyncrasies of leading groups in Bolivia. He writes about the dance one needs to perform to navigate the landscape of roadblocks, political chaos, missing bagage and food poisoning all while ensuring the safety the paying clients. Andrew Wexler had ten years of stories to draw upon for his article, but I contend, with the following, that one does not need ten years of experience to have their share anecdotes about performing the "dance" in South America.

First, the bagage - this was actually a relatively minor incident, but when we arrived in La Paz the bag with all of my personal equipment (backpack, tent, sleeping bag, etc.) was missing. I spoke with the airline agent, provided the address where I was staying in Cochabamba, and went on my way. I've lost bags on South American flights before, and they eventually turned up - a week later. I called the next day to find out that my bag had added a side trip to Sao Paolo, but was now on its way to La Paz and eventually Cochabamba. It would be delivered the following day. Needless to say, it didn't show up, so I followed the trail of misinformation from the guest house host, the guest house guard, and the kiosco owner across the street who would hold the bag for me while I was up in the mountains. When I asked if the bag arrived, he directed me to Guillermo's house next door where I would need to go to call the airport because they definitely don't deliver luggage. As I said, this was a relatively minor inconvience. To get the back, I just had to send my passport to the airport with my friend Jose Luis, who knew a guy that could take care of these kinds of things. I had my stuff a few hours later.

The story that takes the cake from this trip though, is the mysterious illness that my friend Ryan developed after a few days in Cochabamba. He came down with what could have been strep throat as well as other strange symptoms. He consulted a doctor, and we went to the pharmacy to pick up some antibiotics for him. The great thing about South America is that you don't need a prescription at the pharmacy, so in addition to some amoxicillin we got a bonus of an injectable penicillin cocktail all for around $10 bucks. The guy at the pharmacy thought it was amusing to talk to me in Quechua even when I told him that I didn't understand.

We headed back to the guest house and Jose Luis, who got his injection training from his wife, stuck Ryan in the cheek with the penicillin shot. Ryan stayed at the guest house for another day to try to recover before heading into the mountains, and everyone else drove up to Tunari to acclimatize by sleeping at elevation for a night. There was a little mix up with the second penicillin shot, so when we met up the next Ryan had to get a shot in the other cheek in the back bathroom of a Bolivian gas station. He was a good sport about the whole thing. He just gave me this look before Jose Luis stuck him again that was filled with questions like, "Am I really about to get a shot of penicillin, from an unknown laboratory, for an unconfirmed disease, in a dirty, disgusting gas station bathroom, from an untrained person, without any kind of sterilization beforehand. Yes, Ryan. Yes, you are. Welcome to Bolivia. To his credit, Ryan just rolled with it, and seemed fairly unphased by the whole experience. Perhaps it was just a little too surreal to really hit home. His only request to Jose Luis beforehand was to not touch anything in the bathroom or put anything down anywhere.









The gas station bathroom
Jose Luis preparing the shot

Our last day in the mountains was spent at Huayna Potosi. We got a late start getting over there from the Condoriri Group, so we stopped for dinner in El Alto to save time instead of cooking late that night. I was so hungry that I scarfed down two servings of fried chicken. Unfortunately, the restuarant was just a little bit suspect, and Alex and I paid for it later. We got to the refugio late that night, packed our gear and got to bed as fast as possible. We wanted to start climbing at 1 am, but I was the first to bed at 11. We would start a little later to at least get a little sleep. We were up at 3 am and hiking by 4:30. By sunrise around 6 or 6:30, I decided my stomach had had enough, and luckily we were at the rock camp refugio. There was a "bathroom" there, and a very nice guy who gave me some paper. Feeling only slightly better I roped up to get on the glacier. The only problem was that every weaker and weaker step brought more pain - more stomach churning, more head pounding. It was slow going.

The summit was out of the question for us as we were 3 hours behind schedule and moving slowly. I'm glad we made it as far as we did. I'm glad I got to see Campamento Argentino, and I'm glad we didn't go any farther. Ryan told me on the way down that I didn't look so good - if he only knew.....

Uhhhh.... stomach churning.....should not have eaten that chicken last night.... hurts so bad......lungs burning.... can't breathe..... ahhhh.... head pounding..... need to sit down..... need some food.... so tired..... need some sleep.....

Welcome to Bolivia!

PS - To be fair, it was an absolutely amazing trip, and this blog perhaps is biased toward the slightly more challenging aspects of the experience. For a little more balanced view, check out my pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/jaybennett83/Bolivia#