Being reminded of home

There were lots of small things on our Peñas trip that reminded me of home. I wasn’t expecting it, as Peñas is a very small town not particularly close to anywhere. All I was expecting as good rock climbing crags (which it had). It also had:

• Gum trees
• A similar colour palette to Australia’s Parliament – with gum leaf pink in the rocks and gum leaf green in the grasses
• Rock that felt similar to Pages Pinnacle

But there was also plenty to remind us that we were in Bolivia – free-for-all camping, all except one tiny shop closed, and every single person we came across giving us a greeting (‘buenos días’, ‘buenas tardes’).

We set off with Robert and an enormous amount of gear on Monday morning, losing our breath while walking a few blocks (everything was so heavy!) and squeezing onto the teleférico so we could take the bus from El Alto.

Just quickly – let me introduce Robert properly. He’s a German man who has lived in Bolivia for the last thirty years and knows all the climbs and the peaks like the back of his hand. He’s a bit over 60, but climbs as if he’s 25. He’s summitted most (all?) of the 5000m+ mountains in Bolivia, and has discovered a number of new climbing routes.

Going back to the bus, which is a story unto itself. We were the last three to get seats so we were left with those at the back – sitting higher than the rest of the bus with the ceiling half-caved-in above (that’s an exaggeration, but there was a dent). I couldn’t sit up straight – there wasn’t enough room. The thing that makes this deal so raw is that we are noticeably taller than most Bolivians, and certainly all of the ones sitting in the lower comfort seats (save maybe two cholitas with their top hats worn high). Fortunately, Dan snagged a front seat. I just hunched perilously close to the woman in front of me.

The ride wasn’t too long, and we leapt our at the Peñas school and walked just a few minutes to a clearing with rocks on one side and firs and gum trees on the other. We set up camp and, after lunch, set out for the rocks.

It’s hard to describe Peñas, but I’ll try. It sits in the shadow of these large hills (when can you call it a mountain?) covered in volcanic rock. It’s eclectically strewn across the grassy slopes, and when I first saw it, I didn’t think the angles were right for climbing. Turns out you just need to know the right spots. From the hills facing east, you see this enormous expanse of green farmland with villages here and there, ending with the magnificent Cordillera Real mountain range on the horizon.

All afternoon, we set up and tried different 5 and 6-grade routes near to our campsite. The rock was super grippy and heaps of fun to climb. Highlights include Dan’s phenomenal ascent of Torres Teresa – you can see him there in the left crook of the rock. Lowlights include Dan accidentally putting his hand on a cactus while moving between routes.

My husband, the Lord of the Flames, whipped up an amazing fire for the evening and we all had an early, and freezing cold, night.

We got up early to make the long walk to a multi-pitch climb that Robert had been spruiking since he met us. We were fortunate that the early morning clouds lifted. It was quite a climb to the beginning of the route – a 120 metre ascent over four pitches (but we did the first two together). Skip this if you already know: a ‘pitch’ is a section of climbing where a person can belay from the top of the second. Multi-pitches are generally too high to be belayed in one go from the base because ropes are generally only 60 metres.

It was our first multi-pitch, and I have no doubt that the pressure of ‘we’ll all have to go down if one of us can’t finish a pitch’ was what made me get up a route that I still maintain was beyond my ability level. Some sections were enormous fun. Others felt like you were finding foot and hand holds where they didn’t really exist.

But we made it. We topped off this challenging climb with a challenging two-hour hike back to camp over all the ridges and peaks of the hill (mountain?). We were even treated to a view of Lake Titicaca!

We parted ways with Robert to head on to Copacabana for the evening. Three minibuses and a back of the ute later and we’ve made it to this peaceful city. The back of the ute was both a highlight and a life-saver, as we’d watched too many full buses pass us.

While I’m excited for our next adventures and maybe some more climbing in Colombia, these last two days have made me ache for our own climbing gear and Kangaroo Point and the other crags within day-trip distance of Brisbane. Something to look forward to when we return!

VRPS

[Copacabana]