Day 24: Sep 30 (Kaata Day 1)
Woke up and packed-Breakfast, health check in, group meeting about Apolobamba trek (reflections, review etc.)-We were going to a Quechuan town called Kaata and it was across the valley so we had to walk 1 hour down and 1 hour back up the valley. If a bird traveled there it would only take 20 minute but we had to go up and back down. The hike was really pretty though and we had lunch by a river.-Arrived in Kaata and got our host families. I loved my Kaata host family. I had a 20-year-old brother Edwin, Mom and Dad, 15-year-old brother, 13-year-old sister, 11-year-old sister, and an 8-year-old brother. The family was sooo cute and so shy at first. I first got into the house and the parents weren’t there. I set my bag down on the “bed” in a little adobe hut. The “kitchen,” or clay fire hole, was in the same room and I soon started to hear little squeaks. I looked around to find guinea pigs running all over the floor, kittens lying next to their mom, and skeletons of burned animals hanging from the ceilings. I was so shocked and at first grossed out. I wrote in my diary “I am sitting in my home stay room and it is far from what I expected. Guinea pigs are running around, cats are huddled in the corner guarding their kittens, and my 13 year-old-sister is cooking dinner in a tiny pot over a stone fire. Communication is limited to the fact Spanish is both our second language. My host brother is outside making a table and the rest of my family is MIA—and I can’t figure out where they are. Skeletons of some animals are hanging above the fire and poo sits near the stone. Squeals of the guinea pigs are below and all around me. The air is full of some. The bed is just wood, straw, and some blankets. I feel gross but at the same time I feel safe and welcomed. I hate cats and I hate guinea pigs but I don’t seem to mind it. The smiles of hospitality from my family over write everything else. It is an experience that is for sure.” It was so different from anything I’ve seen. I was distracted from it all though by the hospitality and kindness of my family. Soon it didn’t even bother me. Edwin, my 20-year-old brother, was the only one who could really speak Spanish—everyone else spoke only Quechuan. The rest of my family came home and poured into the room I was sitting in. We all sat around and had some homemade bread and tea. Communicating was extremely hard because we both didn’t speak Spanish very well. They talked among themselves and every once and a while I heard gringo so I knew they were talking about me. We sat in the room, radio on, animals chirping, and pan frying for a little longer before we decided to go outside. We kicked the ball around when more kids showed up at our door. We went to the “plaza” to play. Kids from ages 7-20 played in the fog under these two street lights. There were pile of rocks for the goals, poo on the field, smiles on every ones faces, and, of course, the radio blasting the same songs. I had so much fun. I especially liked this home stay because we were only there second stay, so they were so interested in me. They were all really shy but eventually started to warm up and giggle a lot. After soccer we came back into that main room and had some soup and potatoes for dinner. I ate my first bowl and was really content and then my mom filled it up again…omg so much soup! I sat there for a while until my dad picked up my backpack and showed me to another “room.” He pushed some potatoes and clothes out of the way revealing a straw platform. He set my backpack down and put sheep skin over the straw and then patted it gesturing to me to sit. At that point I realized I wouldn’t be sleeping with the animals but instead heaps of potatoes. I pretty much slept in their storage room but didn’t mind it at all. I got my sleeping bag out and fell right to sleep. I was so happy and excited for the next day of my home stay.

Day 23: Sept 29
Woke up and it was COLD!! Had scrambled eggs for breakfast then started hiking in the fog. We started the hike uphill and it was just so hard, especially doing it first thing in the morning. Finally we made it to the last pass and took our final “pass” picture. We headed down for 2 hours; the weather was only decent (foggy and misty). We walked down and out of the clouds passing waterfalls, creeks, and made our way into stone made villages. In one of the villages we stopped and had lunch and a local indigenous woman showed us some of her textiles. I bought a bracelet that says “recuerdo” or remember. After lunch we crossed a pretty creek and started to leave the tiny village. He heated debate started between some group members about development in Bolivia and US involvement. IT was foggy the rest of the hike and there wasn’t much to see. 2 hours had passed until we reached another town. We started to walk into the center and it seemed like a ghost town due to the fog. Also, no one was really out walking because it was a farming community so everyone was still on their fields. We visited the newly built hospital that was a mix of the indigenous and western practices. We talked with a Kayawalla, an indigenous doctor who uses medicinal plants, as well as western doctor. It was really cool because we got to learn more about medicinal plants (pretty sure they used dandelions for like stomach aches haha). When the tour was done we walked 20 minutes to a lodge where we spent the night. I was the cook and made some tomato soup with Molly and Sam. The Kayawalla ate dinner with us and answered some of our questions. Also, he read coca leaves for us that are similar to fortune telling but a lot cooler and “religious.” He said that our trip will go really well and there “won’t be any surprises.” Anne later did her Shatakwa and it was interesting—she is soo artistic and talented! She played songs on the guitar that she made, read slam poetry, and also sang a classical French song that was really pretty. When we were about to go to bed Chris and Sam barged into the room claiming they were about to have a water chugging contest. It was the funniest thing I had ever seen. Chris won by a long shot but Sam’s face was absolutely priceless. After that we finally got to go to bed.

Day 22: Sept 28
Woke up and had oatmeal. Emily didn’t feel well the night before and puked a couple times so when we started to hike I helped set a slow pace. I knew how it felt feeling sick hiking a mountain. We passed some mining towns on trek up to the pass. We also heard more ice cracking on the glaciers, which was cool. We got to the top and had to traverse down for two hours. The traverse was really cool and reminded me of a ski run at Snowbird (a ski resort). It was rocky and zigzagged down. Some people said it reminded them of Mordor, from Lord Of The Rings because it was foggy out, rocks were sliding, and it was just very eerie. After two hours of the misty, foggy hike down we had lunch. After lunch we hiked back up the other side of the valley for 2 hours. We made it to our campsite and there was poo literally EVERYWHERE. We had to move poo out of the way in order to find a spot for our tents. Again, we played cards until dinner. Dinner that night was veggies and wheat. Chris, John, Sophia and I made popcorn after dinner and played more cards. I didn’t sleep so well that night because it was pretty cold and rainy.

Day 21: 9/27 (Apolobamba Day 3)
I had a really good breakfast this morning thanks to Emily and Molly who love cooking. I had home fries, oatmeal with banana, and scrambled eggs. We packed up and had our group meeting. Today I my job was the lover that meant I had to make sure everyone was in high spirits and if not, I gave them a hug. We started hiking and the terrain was very steep—so hard to do in the morning! The weather was really nice in the morning also; sun was out and a good temperature. As we kept walking the sun turned into clouds and it slowly started to snow. Luckily, it wasn’t that cold. We went through bofidal, a type of terrain that somewhat resembles a marsh, and it was gorgeous. It was all green with some flowers and puddles full of water. The snow and fog cleared up literally right as we go to a huge glacier and it’s lake in front of it. The water was a spectacular aqua color and the snow capped mountain sat right behind it. It was the perfect place to have lunch! We sat down for lunch right next to the lake and had our typical Salome, peanut butter, avocado, tuna, mustard and crackers. We took a group picture then headed up the 16,000 ft pass that was the highest one we went up. I felt great! After Tunari, which was 17,000ft, I was so scared I was going to get sick again at that elevation. Instead, I cruised right up it and did so well! I was so happy. It was funny though because it didn’t snow while we were eating lunch but right when we started hiking again the snow picked up. It was steep climb and once we reached the top the snow stopped. The view was really pretty; you could see both sides. There were a lot of snow capped mountains and Bofidals. We chilled at the top for a while and had some snacks then headed back down. Unfortunately, Sophia wasn’t feeling that well so I walked slowly with her down. We got to the campsite after about 1 hour downhill. The site was pretty with the glaciers right next to us (you could hear the ice cracking). It was really cold at this point so Chris and I quickly set up a tent for Sophia to get in because she still felt crummy. I also help set up this other tent that was the biggest pain in the butt. You had to make sure the rain cover didn’t hit the inner net layer because then it was useless and rain would pour in. We couldn’t get them to not hit and the tent got really wet…I ended up having to sleep in it and dry it out. So annoying. We played cards (a huge game of kemps=really fun), and drank hot chocolate until dinner. Dinner was spaghetti carbanara and it was really good; dessert was pudding. After dinner we played the Dream Game again. We played for a while until I found out that I was making up the dream the whole time---it was all a trick! It was really funny though. We also had the best popcorn that Maro and I made.