Photoclubalpha

Here's some photos from my most recent trip up to some high mountain villages. Chullapata is at 13,760 ft. These photos are all from about that same elevation.

Then it rained, snowed, and blew. Needless to say that sleeping on a straw covered dirt floor under 3 blankets, wasn't quite sufficient.

Fantastic pictures. Reminds me of the Top Gear Bolivia special.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Gear:_Bolivia_Special


Sury

Thanks Sury.

Hope you got a chance to catch up on your sleep. Was that roughing out planned or
that was the best that was available?

Sury

Fabulous pictures. Looks incredibly rugged. Love the sky in the first one.

Thanks Andy.

Sury, we went up to have some special meetings in a small village church. We (there were 4 of us) had no idea what type of sleeping arrangements they would have. We knew there were no motels. We ended up sleeping in the church building. (unheated with stone walls) I wish I had taken a picture, but because there were several more of us sleeping in this space, I felt like it would be discourteous of me to take a photo. Perhaps the next time when I know the people a little better. It was also a mixed group and people just slept in their clothes. Did I catch up on my sleep? Yes, after two nights there in Chullapata, we went to Tuti where I had a bed and a private room.

Wow. That is dedication to the cause.

Sury

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Hi Jeff;

Such dry-looking stretch of land. Looks like little farms but hard to say... Do they grow anything within the borders of those stone walls?
And to see bluejeans on a villager... The land and the villages may be authentic but the occupants cetainly caught up with daily modern urban outfits of the cosmopolitan world.

Definitely appreciate your commitment to stay true to your experience out there. Good photos indeed.

Yildiz

Yildiz, the man in that photo is not a local, he was one of my traveling companions. However, in this photo, the other guy is a local and yes, he's wearing blue jeans. Actually, come to think of it, he might not have been a local either. He may have come from the next city over to help out also. He is, however, a Peruvian. The taller guy in the poncho is actually a US citizen, but he's lived in South America for around 65 years, being in Peru for almost 50. It's interesting to note that they had a $$$$$ sound system in the church, but had a straw covered dirt floor and no plumbing. The bathrooms were 3-walled, no roof, pit toilets with the opening facing away from the building. Almost everyone had a cell-phone. Correction, almost everyone had a smart phone. It's really quite interesting.

nice pics it looks bleak ,how long were you there ? and did you get to la Paz city or is it there a Challapata in Peru ?

the_hefay wrote:...The taller guy in the poncho is actually a US citizen, but he's lived in South America for around 65 years, being in Peru for almost 50.

Is he anyone I know?

When I went to some of the remote mountain villages w/ Bob R., we stopped in at a hot springs on the way home. It was quite interesting. Especially after Bob - who you could never tell if he was joking or not - came out and said "there's an old lady in there bathing naked. They aren't supposed to do that here, they're supposed to do that down at the lower pools."

He wasn't joking!

Dusty

Dusty, I'm not sure. When I told him your story, he thought perhaps you had worked with his dad or brother in Brazil. I think his Dad's name was Bob Rich. I can't remember his brother's name. This guy worked with your Bob R. for many years here in Peru.

gio67, I assume you're talking about La Paz, Bolivia. I did visit La Paz last year for a couple of days. I was in Challapata for two days/nights. The Challapata I visited in this particular trip is in Peru.

the_hefay wrote:Dusty, I'm not sure. When I told him your story, he thought perhaps you had worked with his dad or brother in Brazil. I think his Dad's name was Bob Rich. I can't remember his brother's name. This guy worked with your Bob R. for many years here in Peru.

Bob Rich was "the other Bob" I met when visiting Bob Riggenbach in Arequipa. I went on an overnight trip with him to mining town down in a valley where we had to travel this one lane road cut out of the mountainside with no guardrail. I could hang my head out the window on my side (and I did) and see straight down to the valley floor, several thousand feet down!

Bob Rich told me had originally worked in Brazil, but had been in Peru more many years (15?) already when I met him.

Somewhere I have a sketchy journal of my travels there that I'll have to find. I recall writing such arcane things as the names of the boats and the bus numbers I traveled on, but too little about the actual people I was with!

From the photo and description I thought it might be Phil.

Dusty

Cool photos! Thanks for posting.

Here is some info about blue jeans.

The Origin of Blue Jeans

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsoni ... -89612175/