El Choro - Bolivia

9/26/05

El Choro is a much more popular trail then the one we did the day before (Pico Austria). It is well marked, so a guide is not required. We went from La Paz to the start of the trail by cab; it took one hour and a half to get there. The area is called La Cumbre, from where we started walking. This trail starts at 4,700 meters and it finish after 3 days at 1,300. The differences in weather, temperature, and vegetation between the start and finish are extreme. The beginning was so cloudy that we couldn’t see much.






The way down is a pre-Hispanic Inca trail and there are some villages along it. The houses are very basic and made of stones.





We were walking inside the cloud, the sky pitch white.





In some parts the trail is made of Stones that become very slippery when it rains. Also we met local farmers traveling from one village to the other with their llamas.

lamas

At the end of the day we arrived at Chalapampa at 2,825 meters. It was raining but they had a shelter where you can set the tent under. There we met Claudio and Lurdes, two kids taking care of the campsite with their five brothers and sisters. Their parents are working at La Cumbre and they only see them once in a while. The closest school is two hours of walk away, in Chucura, and they only go there twice a week.

9/27/05

The second day the vegetation was already different. Whereas the first day was only stones, the second day was very green.

The trail was also more challenging since it was going up and down and the visibility better. We could finally see far in the valley.





Again on the way there were some houses, but this time not made only of stones, but of wood and straw.



From the top we saw the river ...



... and we had to walk all the way down to cross it.



Then we climbed all the way up again to camp at Bellavista from where as the name says we could enjoy a wonderful view. The snow you see on the picture is the beginning of the walk.



9/28/05
The third and last day wasn't too different from the second, beside the fact that it was shorter, only 3 hours of walk from Bella Vista to Chairo.

We first passed the the house of a Japanese guy living in the mountain for the last 30 years. Here is his house.





Then we reached Chairo from where we took a jeep to Coroico. From Coroico we caught a bus to La Paz through the so-called “world’s most dangerous road” due the high number of fatality in car accidents. The road goes along a very high cliff with no protection and lots of curves. In many parts of the road only one truck can pass.





There is no pavement so the dust is flying around and the heavy traffic makes it worse.