Yesterday I went on the world’s most painful hike. And I don’t mean we hiked a long ways in the heat, etc; I mean I’m covered in head to toe with bloody scratches and tiny holes where thick thorns were sticking into me. And believe it or not, this hike wasn’t even my idea. Normally I’m the numskull who goes too far, gets lost or stranded, or generally endangers my life in some way or another, but this time I had no part in the planning process. It all started when the volunteer who I replaced came back to Charagua to visit. The other night we were talking about all there is to do here (which is nothing), when she told us about how she had always wanted to hike up this nearby mountain. I of course have been dying to do that since the day I got here, so I jumped up and down screaming that I want to do it and that we should go soon (ok, so maybe I did have a bit to do with it). Anyway, we planned to leave my house at 7am yesterday morning to begin our trip. Ben and Lucho (her hilarious Bolivian boyfriend who lives here) came too, although neither of them wanted anything to do with that mountain. I guess they felt forced into or something. Must be all the machismo around here. Anyway, the four of us head out as planned, although Lucho INSISTS on getting a taxi for at least part of the way there (as far as I can tell, all Bolivians think gringos are crazy because we love to walk. They only walk if there’s absolutely no other option. Lucho is no exception!) We went from car to car asking people if they would drive us a tiny ways, but when they saw where we were pointing they all said we were nuts and wouldn’t take us. Finally Lucho asked a friend to drive us, and so we were set. After about a half hour drive (not that far, but he went suuuuuuper slow, through the streams, etc.), we get out and begin the real walk. The first part was flat and beautiful. We walked along the stream at the bottom of a beautiful, tall canyon and just enjoyed the morning. After an hour or so, we got to a place called Aguas Calientes, and it really did have hot water springs!! It was amazing! There were tiny pools of bubbling water, clear as day and boiling hot. Apparently long ago someone built a pool around it lined with rocks, but I guess the rains washed it out and no one rebuilt it. Seriously, I’m thinking about rebuilding it so I can go soak in a hot tub every once in a while! He he. So at the hot springs Lucho basically told us that we need to either find a way up the closest mountain or keep following the path we were on, wide and flat and beautiful, to a nearby town. Ben and I were more than happy to keep walking on the path, but Erin had it set in her mind to climb one of those mountains. At that point I was dubious to the whole mountain thing. It’s almost completely vertical and covered with thick thick spiny trees!!! I don’t think any description can do it justice. When I say thickly covered, I mean, you literally can’t see a person standing 10 ft. away. But, I just figured I’d let them decide, so I just kind of went off into my own land, looking at the scenery, etc. As I was squatting down, looking at the bubbling hot springs, I was suddenly aware of Erin and Lucho having giant argument, ending in Erin stomping away back the way we came. Thinking that was the end of our hike, I happily started walking back, too. I figured, we had a nice walk, it’s a beautiful day, and I got to see a new part of Charagua. All is good. Ben and I hung back to let Lucho and Erin work things out, and when we caught up with them, they were sitting on some rocks by the stream getting ready to eat lunch. Oh this is nice, I thought. A little lunch before we walk back home. Boy oh boy, was I wrong. It turns out Erin had decided to climb up, and was just walking back looking for the best place to start. Like I said, there’s really no place to start. It’s just uphill and thorns everywhere you look. Ben and Lucho were not into climbing this thing, but I said I’d do it with her (mostly because I thought there was no way in hell we’d actually do it, once she realized how bad it was). However, I guess the machismo thing made the boys go, too, so it was all four of us slowly climbing our way up this mountain. I had to wear my sunglasses even though we were in the shade because the thorny trees (there’s no other way to describe them. They are trees, with monster thorns all over the trunks and branches so that when you try to grab them so you don’t fall off the mountain, you end up stabbing yourself.) kept nearly poking my eyes out. Immediately I knew this was NOT FUN! It was not a hike at all, I wasn’t even using my legs most of the time, just hauling myself an inch or two higher with my arms, trying not the grab onto thorns. A couple times I literally almost fell off the mountain. If I ever do that again, I’m bringing rope!! It was a slow, painful process that I thought would never end. I would have turned back, but the thought of going back down scared me even more than the thought of going up higher. And this wasn’t a straight shot, either. Sometimes we’d find that the way we were going led to a face of sheer rock, so we’d have to back down a bit, then go up at a different point. It was awful! Finally after about two hours we got to what we thought was the top, but turned out to be a ridge, with the real top way off in the distance. It was the first time any of us could actually stand without hurling ourselves backwards off the mountain. At that point absolutely nothing could have got me to go any further. No threats, no bribes, no prizes could make me shimmy myself through mini daggers on the edge of a cliff anymore. Luckily Erin felt the same way, so we all decided just to go back down the way we came up, although we were all dreading it!! Once again, we descend into the pricklies, but this time on our butts. In lots of areas where there were only cacti or prickly trees we would just have to slide down on our butts until we could get footing in something. The mountain itself is really soft, no hard rocks to get a grip on, just crumbly dirt and thorns. Several times we came upon cliffs, and would have to go back up and find a new way down. It actually took us longer getting to the bottom than to the top!! When we did eventually get down, we were all too happy and too tired to say a word. We all just looked at each other like “I am never doing that again,” and started our journey back. By the time we got home it was about 5pm. I just took a shower, ate a large bowl of cereal, read a chapter in my book, and was in bed by 8pm. I was soooo exhausted! And not just from the physical effort, but just being constantly afraid that I was going to fall off that mountain. My adrenaline was pumping pretty hard that whole time. I guess there were biting bugs out there, too. I{m also covered in bug bites, including a nice big fat one on my face, but at the time I didn{t notice it at all. So there{s a plus.

So that’s my hiking story. The cool thing was that on the way up we saw a gigantic tarantula just sitting there, right where Erin was about to put her hand!! And I also found this HUGE snail shell that’s the size of my hand. Even though I was scared stiff, I somehow was able to maneuver myself so that I could open my backpack and put the shell in it, like a little souvenir of this hellish climb. Plus, the walk to and from the mountain was absolutely gorgeous!! I’m definitely going back there someday. Plus I want to spend more time at the hot springs.

In other news, Peace Corps is canceling the next two groups of volunteers who were supposed to come into the country, which is a major bummer and kind of disconcerting. There’s also going to be a vote in August (I’m not quite sure of the date yet) to see if Bolivia wants to kick out their president or not. So instead of having our meeting next week in Cochabamba like planned, it’s been rescheduled for August, when we’re going to be grouped together in some unknown location to be safe during the voting. So, things are pretty shaky here or so it seems. But on the bright side that gives me more time to work on my paper!