Background

In September last year, I went into the Himalayas and it rekindled a younger day passion for the mountains. It struck my soul deep and since then I was back to the Himalayas one more time and shortly after I went to the Andes with the ambition to climb my second 6000er ever in my life - Parinacota in the Bolivia/Chile border and I approached it from Bolivia.

This trip report was originally planned to include a Cusco to La Paz flight by Peruvian and then a La Paz to Uyuni flight by Amaszonas. However, I lost all the pics due to iphone issues and I was then left with my Santiago-Mendoza-Santiago flights to showcase here. The good thing is that these latter flights are the more spectacular ones. And within a short span of 40 minutes (123 miles) one journeys over the narrow but lofty spans of the Andes. In the Himalayas, we usually traverse along its sides, but the Andean peaks around Santiago are traversed directly over by almost all flights heading east of Santiago. Since Mendoza is just a short 180km away, the traverse is done at the minimum altitude and wow it was a spectacular journey where one feels almost like the flight is scrapping the tops of the great mountain range.

I will also be peppering this report with my travel pics of the surreal landscapes of the Bolivian Altiplano. It is like on a different planet altogether.

Flight: LA434
Type: A320-200
Reg: CC_BEG
Cabin: Economy
Seat: 13A
Load: 80%

The flight was a regular A320 flight in economy and as such I don't have much to show in terms of onboard product. There was not even a meal service on the short hop. Good that It did not because my eyes (and camera lens) were almost all the way transfixed at the window looking out to the majesty outside.

Latam flight 434 was a regular all-economy flight in standard 3-3 configuration. And I had an emergency exit row. The plane is newish and there are no IFE screens.



We pushed back in time.



And these are some plane spotting pics around SCL. Most of them don't come to Asia. Iberia and KLM on their afternoon departures to Europe.



Taking off .... The mountains were veiled in the background behind the haze.



I didn't expect that Santiago is almost perpetually covered by a thin layer of fog / smog



As we flew higher, the city disappeared beneath the haze, and the mountains appeared crystal clear in the distance. We were heading due south and the mountains were on the left hand side.



And then we veered left (eastwards)



And the following pics were taken over the next 20 minutes. We were cruising at 7500m and these white peaks were up to 6500m. The geography below was clearly visible from cruising altitude - every road (although there weren't many at at all), every rivers, lakes, and villages. We were almost literally scraping the top of the Andes.







The Andes then abruptly drops to the flat winelands of Mendoza, Argentina.



And then we were cruising parallel to the mountains for a few minutes. This was in autumn and ⅓ of the mountains were already covered in snow. From this side, it looks similar to the Himalayas with its teethlike jagged tops.





And then we began our descent to Mendoza airport.





And it's Skyteam territory here. A little bit of OneWorld, and no Star



Thus ended the shortest flight I ever flew on (123 miles), but also one of the most spectacular.

On the return flight towards Santiago, I didn't take any pics. But I ran a time lapse of the journey. The 20 minute crossing is condensed to mere minutes and it's interesting to watch. Unfortunately the resolution is Low as the original video in the iphone is lost and I only have the Facebook version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wADyhhVj834&feature=youtu.be

The purpose of my South American trip was to climb a 6,350 m (23,00ft) giant which is the 2nd tallest mountain in Bolivia. It is located in Sajama National Park and this lonely corner of Bolivia is a land of unspeakable beauty, and for me - a heaven on earth. The cone on the left is the one I set out to conquer.




I am always enchanted by solitude and especially amidst the majesty of the loftiest of the lofty. It is somewhat a spiritual experience for me.







My base was the little village of Sajama, an unknown outpost little visited by tourists. Bolivian tourist circuit is mainly in the La Paz - Oruro - Uyuni corridor. For miles and miles around, there is simply nothingness - pure solitude.



The day of the climb (or night as I set out at 2am) was the toughest day of my life. 7 hours later, I was at 6,250m and I was struggling for air. Hypoxia kicked in and I was falling asleep while I was walking. And I barely managed with 2-3 steps before I had to stop to rest and my eyes struggled to keep open due to drowsiness. The guide advised that it would take me about 3 hours at my pace to cover the final 100 m .... that stunned me and I decided to abort the Mission. I was immediately crushed and I felt Low.

This is me at the highest ground I ever set foot on - 100 m higher than the previous peak I conquered in India. It's so high it feels like you are on an airplane. But cold and I can't describe how exhausted I was. The altitude gain I undertook that day was 1,200 m (300-floor building, 4x higher than Empire State). It was too fast and I didn't acclimatise enough. I should have spent another few days climbing 5000ers before the summit attempt.




Going down took 5 hours. And I was literally dragging my feet. I couldn't lift them anymore out of extreme exhaustion. And I really didn't take more than the single pic at the top. That was my only pic out of this climb. I was depressingly exhausted I didn't feel like taking out my camera at all, and the iphone was dead at that altitude. It only functioned again when I was back to base.

I clicked a pic of the ‘depressing’ martian landscape at the base of the mountain. I felt abandoned in this godforsaken place. It was a really tough day – physically and mentally.



I slept through the whole afternoon and night until the next day and I was shivering in pain and mentally I was depressed. I told myself, I would not attempt another one.

But ... 4 days later, I was already planning where next. It might be Pik Lenin (7,000m) in Kyrgyzstan for 2019 and I will give myself more time to prepare.

The next few days were spent recuperating. There were hot springs everywhere. I went to one and I was the only one. I thought this was heaven.



And watched only by cuddly Alpacas.





My adventure continued southwards from northern Bolivia towards Chile and here too the landscape is spectacularly otherworldly. I was then in relative comfort with nightly stays in proper rooms and 4WD - no walking!

First it was to Uyuni, the world's largest salt flat that can fit 20 Singapore islands. How small my country is.





It’s an incredible place with islands of giant cacti rising from the lake with no water.





And then it was a few days in the wilderness with no roads and every few hours we came across bizarre altiplano lakes of multicoloured lakes which are visually stunning but toxic (some are arsenic). And its beaches are borax. Are we no longer on earth?





The most spectacular is the red lagoon close to the Chilean border. No description can do justice to this place.





Along the way, we are just one tiny speck of dust in the grander scheme of things

Tracks and railways lead to infinity



Rocks were sculpted by wind for millenia!



And it might be a year before I can get a hitch? :5eek:



Crossing into Chile, the road suddenly appears and starting right at the physical border, not an inch more or less, the highway started from dust to full high quality paved road. We were then leaving Bolivia behind and we went down and down and down towards San Pedro Atacama in Chile.



Chile is also a beautiful country but I spent more time in Bolivia this time and I would go back to Chile for a longer exploration in future. Patagonia will be in the itinerary next time.

PS: I also went to Peru and Argentina but I thought this report might get too long if I show everything. Please PM me if you want to know more about the Latam region. Previously I have also explored Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, and Panama. I have the trip reports buried somewhere here as well.

Thus ends this trip report. Thank you for reading.

Flight report is definitely second on this trip report. The pictures of the country are stunning/amazing/breathtaking .... thanks for sharing !

Great report , one of the most beautiful I have seen it lately.
I am sure that the writer had greatest of the times overthere....

Absolutely amazing geography and scenery...just stunning. Thanks for sharing!

Wow beautiful. Am I correct you need a Yellow Fever shot for Bolivia? Had no idea the flight to Mendoza only takes 20 minutes. I think the bus trip takes 8 hours.

Thank you all for the compliments. It's an incredible region.

lychemsa wrote:

Wow beautiful. Am I correct you need a Yellow Fever shot for Bolivia? Had no idea the flight to Mendoza only takes 20 minutes. I think the bus trip takes 8 hours.

Yes we need yellow fever shot but I didn't get checked at any of the borders I passed - Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Brazil.
In fact I never get checked for it in any Latam countries I have been. The only time I got checked was in Bangalore when the officer saw a Brazil chop. Bangalore officers tend to be irritatingly questioning. Other cities never asked me anything.

The flight was scheduled as an hour gate to gate. The actual flying time was longer than 20 minutes as the flight had to gain altitude along the mountain and then land along the mountain. 20 minutes was only above the Andes which is about 100 miles wide at most.

Absolutely loved the photos! Bucketlist material for sure. Thanks for posting.