Climbing a Volcano in Bolivia: Part 1

This pair of volcanoes are called the Payachatas. They are in the Oruro distict of Bolivia and lie on the border with Chile. The one on the right is called Parinacota and is 6348m above sea level. The one on the left is called Pomerape and is 6282m above sea level. Robert is a keen mountaineer and has wanted to climb these two for quite a while.
Unlike Vesuvius, climbing volcanoes in Bolivia doesn't involve a bus trip almost to the crater's edge and a nice pizza when you get back to your hotel. We had to be totally self catering. The area where these volcanoes are located is very arid. According to Robert's climbing guidebook, you could camp at the col between the two volcanoes and melt snow (a col is low point between two peaks (i.e. a pass). So, Robert's plan was to buy a portable gas stove and a gas tank and take this with us to base camp (hiring porters as gas tanks are very heavy indeed). We did our shopping in La Paz. In the market areas, people hire themselves out as porters, so we hired this chap to take our tank to our hotel. These people work for pennies. I think that this guy charged about 25 bolivianos. This is less than what it costs me to send a post card to Canada. Robert gave him 50.

Even though we were in the middle of the dry season in La Paz, over night it snowed! The temperature is regularly below freezing at night, but usually there is no precipitation at this time of year. This is the Milton Hotel where we normally stay in La Paz. The owner, Senor Milton, likes me very much and so always gives me a discount. The head receptionist also likes me very much and so organised a taxi to take us to the village of Sajama. The driver charged us 100 US dollars (this is a 3.5 hour trip to get there and he had to get back to La Paz). The tall guy next to Robert is one of his old friends Nick. Nick and Robert were going to do the actual climbing and I was going to manage base camp.
In the distance, you can see a tall volcano. This is Sajama (6542m) which Robert has already climbed (with a Bolivian friend). To the left, you can make out the Payachatas. These volcanoes lie on the edge of the Bolivian altiplano, which is a high (4100m) and mostly arid plain. You an see one of the best roads in Bolivia. This leads to the Chilean border and was paid for by the Chilenos as it links up with another paved road which leads to La Paz and then to Peru.
This is a closer view of Sajama. It is the tallest mountain in Bolivia. This side is very steep, Robert climbed it from the other side. The Sajama expedition happened before I had a digital camera, so that story will have to wait until I digitalize my slides.
We arrived in the village of Sajama. The volcanoes are in Sajama National Park. If you want to enter the park, you have to check in with the Ranger Station and pay your entry fee.
This is the rather charming interior of the Ranger Station. I like the condor hanging from the ceiling and the shelf of stuff animals. These are meant to educate you on the animals you can find in the park.
The community has organised itself to spread the wealth that comes in with tourists. There is no hotel, but people have VERY basic lodgings called alojamientos. You get some beds, a table and chairs and a light bulb. You have to get water from a tap outside and there is an outside toilet (which you flush by pouring a bucket of water into the bowl). I lived in a place like this for over a year in Ecuador. Whenever I encounter outside toilets, I remember the one that Mamoo's parents had in their old house.

Needless to say, these places do not have heating, so down duvet jackets are the garmet of choice, as are alpaca hats. You are not given a choice of where to stay (they are all pretty much the same anyway). Villages run a rota and take get tourists in turn. So, here we are above, unpacking our taxi outside of our alojamiento.
Here is Robert and Nick in Sajama village in front of their objectives. Now, some of you may have spotted a problem with Robert's original plan of camping at the col and melting the snow that was there. The snow line is now considerably higher than when Robert's guide book was written. A chat with the Rangers confirmed that the col was as dry as a bone, as was the normal base camp. I talked with a number of people and they all recommended hiring a land rover driver to take us to the new base camp, which is near the base of the mountains (about 4700m, if I remember correctly). We could hire empty water containers to take all the water we would need. We organised this with the Ranger station, who said that they could also organise getting empty water containers refilled. I think we took about 100L with us.
This is us off loading our stuff at basecamp. The driver was a lovely chap. He used to guide people up the volcanoes in the area, but had to stop after getting injured while off loading a landrover. So, the person on top of the landrover is his wife.
So here we are at base camp. The next post will tell you a bit about life at base camp.