40,000 miles with no leg room and 200 nights with no bed springs later.....

Firstly. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read and write here while I've been away. Its meant a lot. I hope you've enjoyed reading as much as I've enjoyed writing, about just a few of the things that have happened along the way.

Normally with conclusion comes meaning.But not in this case. The cliche stands that, the more of the world you see and experience, the more you realize what, and that, you haven't. It would seem that it is bigger, and smaller, than i every imagined. From the leeches, to the beaches. The poverty and wealth, justice and injustice, the real, and the very fabrication of it. Its been an adventure, and a complete saturation of the senses, albeit some more pleasant than others. But when you start to consider 9 hour bus trips as just down the road, its time to get a little perspective. Tune the piano, I'm coming home.


It is good to have an end to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters in the end.
--Ursula K. LeGuin

I would love to enchant you with tales of voodoo and Inca weirdness but the truth is i haven't been up to a great deal over the last few days. With all my transport sorted as far as the Windmill Pub in Ormskirk (thanks Dad, as i mentioned i don't think there are too many llamas offering lifts outside Manchester arrivals) i can now relax, wind down, and possibly visit a ruin or two before taking a mind boggling series of flights back. Back to some cafe to drink yet more coffee.

The Cusco Cut – A lesson in international haircuts.

Unlike a large number of people I’ve seen. I try to keep myself relatively smart whilst on the road. It is for this reason that you haven’t seen me sporting insect infested dreadlocks, ethnic tattoos and lead based face piercing. If your like me, and like to return from a trip looking vaguely the same as when you left, you will at some point need to see a barber. Here are a few personal experiences on what it might be best to expect.



Generally speaking you will have to wake the barber vigorously. Where the rest of town goes for their trim is a mystery, but you can guarantee its not the place you’ve found, and probably for a very good reason. So sit down, and accept the fact that you are probably his first customer since he bought his new pair of kitchen scissors with the orange handles.

Now is a good time to weigh up your surrounding, and decide just how much you would like to be banjaxed. Those displaying an arsenal of tools that look more suited to the days when barbers performed amputations are best avoided. Shed the cape and aim for the door pointing at your watch and making foreign noises. Instead try and find a guy with a solitary pair of cut throats, he’s generally a safer bet, despite his frail and shaking hands.

Depending on your location, and hence the size of the language barrier, now comes the tricky bit. Describing what you want. On the whole the most effective method by far is, using a faded and dated copy of the local paper, to point at a series of disgraced politicians and indistinguishable celebrities to aid your plight to the perfect trim. Now sit back, relax, and its probably best to close your eyes.

Try not to be alarmed by the fact that he’s liberally spraying water in the direction of two sparking wires powering clippers he shaves his llama with at the weekend. Or by the stray dog that has just wandered in off the street, and is yapping at your feet not exactly adding to your customer satisfaction. Within a time window of one minute to sixty minutes it will all be over, except for that is in Laos.

Compulsory to the conclusion of every haircut in Laos is a quick shoulder massage. Pleasant. And then without the slightest warning, a full 120 degree neck crank. The decibels of the “crunch” always being directly proportionate to the size of his smile.



Well, its still raining outside and so I am taking the opportunity to set up an online shop. Think of it as the real “Amazon”. If you spot anything you would like in the photo below, drop me a mail and I’ll see what I can do.

After a quick stop in the lake side town of Copacabana, i decided to bus it straight through to Cusco. It means missing a bit of south Peru (Colca Canyon etc) but I've had enough of unpleasantly fragrant buses, and roads in various states of disrepair.

And so it seems that this is where i will stay untill i head over to Lima and fly home. There is plenty to do in the historic Inca town of Cusco, even wandering its montage of Inca/Spanish architecture is a pleasure. Obviously this is also the base for the famous Machu Picchu (pronounced in a myriad of incorrect ways) and also the ruined fort of Sacsayhuaman (definitely pronounced "sexy woman").

I'm hungry, so more later.

A full day of rest, a full day of feeling ill and a full breakfast later, im ready to leave La Paz, and Bolivia. Im going to head for a small town on the border of Peru called Copacabana which sits at the edge of Lake Titicaca, but still on the Bolivian side. From there it should be relatively easy to make my way up to Cusco in Peru.

Before i go, here are a few silly photos from the last few weeks on ¨Being bold in Bolivia¨

Viva la Revolution - Frederic and I tackle the nations blockades



Railway Sleepers - Don't worry its not used any more....i think.



Dabble with dynamite - Shopping in Potosi.



¨I said....I can hear a truck coming¨ - Biking outside La Paz

Into Thin Air

Huyana Potosi sits one hour out from La Paz and its glacial 6088m peak is one of the highest in the Cordillera Real. The altitude of the summit is not only higher than that of Everest base camp, but also some 200m higher than Everest Camp 1. Climbing Huayana Potosi was the most physically challenging thing i have ever done.

Day 1 - Base Camp

After arriving at base camp we unloaded all the equipment, food tents etc and headed off to a nearby glacier to practice our ice climbing and crampon technique. The 10m vertical wall of ice was nothing in comparison to the so called Little Fella and Big Fella that we would encounter once on the mountain, but gave us a little more time to get used to the altitude, temperature and equipment. Its pretty tough doing anything once you get over 3500m and so after a few hours we headed back to camp to rest and sleep.

Day 2 - To High Camp

In the morning the weather looked good (unlike Day 1) and a porter had joined us to help carry some of the extra equipment and food up to high camp. The walk up to the 4800m camp largely consisted of walking on very steep loose rocky ground, all the way to the snow line. It wasn't enjoyable, and due to the altitude, each step up the mountain felt like you were sprinting a hundred. We finally made it and set up our tents, with great views over the lower peaks of Huyana Potosi. After a quick bite to eat we went off to bed at 5.30pm, breakfast was to be at 11.30pm that evening.

At 9pm i woke with my first symptom of hypoxia, a very severe headache. Other symptoms include dizziness, confusion, loss of appetite, nausea and impaired judgement. Different people are affected in different ways and at different altitudes. 800mg of Ibuprofen and 250mg of Acetazolamide (a body regulator often used for altitude problems) later and i finally got back to sleep.

Day 3 - The Accent

We wake up. Early starts are needed due to the deteriation of the snow which can create dangerous conditions on the mountain. Its 11.30pm, its freezing cold, pitch black and the stars look incredible. A clear sky is good news for the climb ahead. From here on it will be head torches to the summit. We drink coffee, eat chocolate and do a quick kit check before throwing on the crampons and heading off. My walking partner is Frederic, a French Canadian chap that i have known for over a week, our guide is Pedro, he gives us the nod and we set off into the dark.

Around 2am we arrive at a place known as Camp Argentina. There is nothing there but it was a location used on a past accent by the Argentineans (hence the name). I remember feeling very sick at this point, but thankfully it passed quite quickly. At this point due to the steep snowy drops the three off us roped ourselves together so that if one slipped the others could break and save the fall. All this and its pitch black and bitterly cold. We were making good time and continued on to Little Fella. Little Fella is a steep wall of snow and ice at an increment of between 70 and 80 degrees. With ropes, pics and much effort we climbed its 30m face and continued. From this point on it was pure hard work, negotiating crevices and steep climbs.

At 4.30am we reached the foot of Big Fella. Big Fella is the final Climb to the summit and the final test. It consists of a 200-250m wall of ice at an angle of 70 degrees. We had made fantastic time and would be at the summit for sunrise for sure. Climbing Big Fella was hell. At this altitude its almost impossible to get your breath doing anything physical. First you run out off oxygen, then adrenaline, then all your energy, determination is the only source of movement.

The Summit

At 5.35am on Wednesday morning we arrived at the summit with nothing left to give. The sun would be rising over the next 30mins, all we could do was keep warm, watch and feel proud of what we had achieved. It was perfect. Far above the clouds at 6088m the three of us balanced on the knife edge peak, watching in awe as the sun began to throw beams of gold across the peaks of the Cordillera Real.


Here are a few photos, but due to the cold my camera kept packing up. I have also added a link to a video clip at the end of me biking on The Worlds Most Dangerous Road.

At the summit at 5.35am



Sunrise



On the decent



More on the decent



High Camp, and yes, that was the best place we could find to pitch a tent.



Frederic and I have a victory handshake at the summit.



Worlds most dabgerous road video clip HERE

Today was good but a little terrifying, the worlds most dangerous road really deserves its name but makes for a good days mountain biking. Only fell of once and have managed to escape with a few cuts and bruises, good job i was going real slow at the time. Which is more than i can say for another gentleman in our group that managed to knock his front teeth out.Ouchh.

Basically im shattered and am going to take full advantage of a rest day tomorrow before the walk starts on Monday.

Very tired so im off to bed. Will upload some photos and maybe some video clips (whoo technology) on Thursday.