We soon began our hour and a half drive to chacciltaiya, we drove out of la Paz and across fields and hills until we got to the foot of the mountain. Chacciltaiya, was the worlds highest ski resort, but had to close due to global warming. We began to climb the mountain on the narrow rocky tracks, Edwin was a top driver! Once we reached as far as the car could climb at 5400m above sea level, we all climbed out to trek to the second peak.
The trek took around 30mins, we felt extremely unfit with the shortness of breath due to altitude :/ however the views along the way were definitely worth it and the sense of achievement as we reached the top at 5530m above sea level, the highest both of us had ever been!
We sat for around 15 mins and gathered our thoughts before venturing over the next peak. Yet more incredible views of orangey-red mountains surrounded by puffy white clouds with sploges of green and blue below.
Once we'd had our full of the brilliant scenery we strolled back down to the van whilst chatting to our new Canadian friend Sal. We bumped our way back down the mountain and through the city centre to the moon valley beyond.
The moon valley was not a lunar landscape but certainly looked like something from another planet.
Sediment had been eroded by wind and rain to form unusual shapes which filled a valley. We strolled around these interesting features for around 45 mins before returning to the van to take on la pax' traffic and make our way back to the centre.
After packing and showering we popped out for some street food just a few paces down the road. A very smiley woman served us burgers with onion and pepper and one complimentary chip each, all for just 50p. Delicious.
We're now packed and ready to say our final farewell to Bolivia tomorrow and continue our adventure into Puno, Peru.
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