I'm hoping that Julia will be proud of me for getting up for the sunrise. After a quick breakfast we left the camp just before 7 am to complete the final 16 kilometres.
It was cloudier on the third day and really warm. It made for interesting pictures as the sun was rising and the way the rays of light hit the mountains.
We crossed another stream and the guide played with some vines while I had a break.
Finally we found a bridge that hadn't been destroyed by heavy rain. After the bridge is one of the best preserved parts of the path. It's steps leading up quite steeply and it reminded me of Tomb Raider. Being exhausted and carrying a heavy pack was starting to really drain me, but I wondered how Lara Croft effortlessly ran, jumped and rolled across similar terrain. Then I remembered it's a computer game and not real.
There are tons of waterfalls like this and I can only imagine how big they are during rainy season when this is pretty much impassable.
After reaching the top of the hill we came to another small settlement and shop. I was upset to see the trees had been chopped away but then it afforded this view. You see that mountain in the distance? Yeah, I hiked from there. Well, further actually. At this point Sara, who had been hiking with us, left and went ahead while my guide chatted to a friend. We had arranged to meet at the end of the trail but I didn't see her again. I suspect it's because I was so slow doing the final kilometres.
We passed one final settlement which looked like a fun place to camp. It had a lot of buildings and some donkeys.
I found the final stretch really hard. We stopped again for lunch with about two kilometres to go and I barely made that. I then had to walk the final two kilometres and literally took one step at a time. My guide offered to separate bags as his was now lighter, but I had brought everything and was determined to carry it. I honestly don't know how I made it through the pain, which I'm sure was worse than Torres del Paine, but we covered more ground each day here so that probably didn't help.
When we did reach the end I had transport prearranged. Apparently it is expensive so you can hike 12 km to the next village, but there was no way I would have made that. I climbed into the taxi and finally relaxed. We were driven to an interchange where I finally had water. I forgot to talk about this, but I was given some boiled water for the third day. I thought the guide would buy another bottle, but with him only speaking Spanish I must have misunderstood, so being dehydrated didn't help. If I'd realised I would have brought more, but it's odd they only provided water for the third day, so watch out for this if you do go on a tour.
I'm hoping that Julia will be proud of me for getting up for the sunrise.
At this point we parted ways as I went to Coroico and I was really happy with my experience for the last few days. I think it's one of the most beautiful things I've done and like I said, I'd do it again over Death Road and I've heard from others it's the best thing they have done in Bolivia.
