Hi there I´m still in Arequipa, am leaving on Friday for Puno to see Lake Titicaca. I just finished climbing my first mountain ever, Mount Misti! It was the most strenuous experience I´ve ever had in my life. Please see above the picture (Simon, me and Matthew from left to right at the crator of Misti at 5,700M). As I was using a disposable camera, which took horrible pictures, please use your imagination a bit to enrich these pictures. Left my digital camera behind as it wud´ve been too much to carry on my lil´ back. In retrospect, I´m ecstatic that I did it, but during those intense hours of gruelling uphill ascension, I´m not sure if I felt ecstacy, perhaps only during glimpses of being in the Now moment (which I´ll shortly explain why I´m describing it as such..), there were indeed some infusion of joy. So let me start with a lil´ background of what this Mount Misti is about.

Mount Misti is a 6,000M volcano very close to Arequipa. It is Arequipa´s signature mountain, pretty much everywhere you go in Arequipa, you´ll be able to see it. It is also probably the most popular mountain to climb, first, because of its proximity, and second because its starting point is lower than the other two also popular mountains, which makes it easier for those who are not acclimatized. Misti is also the only mountain in the vicinity that does not have an Indian name (Misti simply means Mister), because of its associated bad energy. Apparently many people have died from climbing this mountain, not because of its difficulty, but because it´s very easy to get lost on the mountain. And because of this bad record, it has not been bestowed an Indian name, such as Pichu Pichu (the mountain range on its right, or Chachani, behind it..) Basically from afar, Misti looks like a big blob of dark grey thing, not so attractive, but still, a popular target for many amateur and experienced mountaineers.

So my story all started in Bolivia, when I received many signs from above that mountain climbing is gonna become my new much loved hobby. So I let the idea sit, and nothing has come to fruition since... until last Thursday, I think it was, when Ampaco, the lady in my host family, asked me to watch this American movie about mountain climbing (sorry forgot the name and the actors´names..) with her in the living room, albeit her knowing that I can´t understand any of the Spanish without subtitles. At that moment, the thought of climbing Misti popped into my head. And then I started to recall how everyone I met have been saying to me that they want to go to Misti... in retrospect, I took that as being a projection of my own desire. The thought stayed in my head and shortly after I manifested it with Carlos Zarate Tours, which is owned by the son of the 83-year-old guide from Zarate Expeditions. In reality, they´re just one big family running different agencies that charge differently. This time I chose not to be ripped off and went with the cheapest branch - USD50 for 2 day expedition, which was really actually 24 hours.

Day one - picked up at about 830am from the agency and met the other four people in my group: a French couple (Alexi and Mirei) who I barely communicated with cuz´they can´t speak English, I could tell they are extremely fit as they were wearing neon colored gear with all the proper gear, like bright orange Oakley sunglasses with bandanas and those sleek black gloves that I yearn to possess, then two other French Canadian boys from Quebec who are like me, not much prior climbing experience, just here to have fun. On the way, we got our water and snacks, then shortly after, we arrived at the starting point of the climb, 3,400M. I had in my backpack, my bulky mummy bag (suitable for -ve 20 degrees), 3 litres of water, sleeping pad, clothings, snacks and regular amenities. I was ecstatic when my guide Angel (a man) said he wud carry my tent for me after I gave him this face like, ohmigod my bag is already too much! ha! The first 60 minutes was a whiz, then the next 60 minutes, then the next... and.. ar... the terrain keeps getting steeper.. and steeper, then big bulky rocks that I couldn´t just walk up but had to climb with my hands as well. Thinking back, the first day was tough, and quite to my surprise, incredibly enlightening as well. In fact, I was so deeply gratified for those feelings of tremendous groundedness and presentness while I was getting up that mountain on the first day, that I did almost feel ecstatic despite feeling intense exhaustion at the same time. The reason I say the above is that while I was making my way up the hill, all I could think of was the present, how I am breathing, and how I am alive, on this planet, and no other thoughts penetrated, not even the thought of arriving, because arrival was too far away to bother hoping for. I don´t recall that I´ve ever felt so grounded in my life. It is like, I´m here, and it´s all that matters. At moments, I almost felt like I could understand how people with extreme handicap or those people who face death but continue to live on, live. For a short moment, my heart connected with those courageous souls, which I´ve never quite understood in the past, and it was just an amazing moment of grace. And, shortly after those feelings of enlightenment and about 5 hours of trekking, I arrived at base camp, 4,700M. Angel already set up my tent when I arrived, so great! Dinner was ready within an hour. We all watched sunset, which was to our right, really picturesque, view of Pichu Pichu was on our left, also beautiful. Right after the sun left, we crawled into our tents (I had my own) to rest, and at 1am the next day, we got up to start the second day ascension. Temperature of about 0 degrees in nighttime. My mummy bag kept me as warm as a poached egg inside.

Day 2: Had breakfast at 145am, few pieces of toast with marmalade and a hot glass of mate de coca. Great thing, no need to carry backpacks because we could leave our stuff at base camp. You should see my face when I heard our guides told us that. Started to walk at 230am. First hour was bearable, second hour was hell. My first thought of maybe-i-should-quit popped in at about 5,000M. I was just plain tired. My other inner voice quickly shot down that hideous thought. Rationally, I had no excuse to quit, because apparently only those with extreme soroche can ask the guides to take them down. One of the French Canadian boy has asthma and he was fine, so oh well... The majority of the terrain is as steep as a black ski-run, and occasionally you get these maybe 30-minute stretches of nasty double-black run with big slippery rocks that require climbing. Then came the last 2-hours of the ascension, the worst part ever. About 730am now. Sun is up but behind the mountain, so no help. Temperature now below zero, with very strong winds. I was wearing three pairs of pants (two long johns and one cover), two turtlenecks, two fleece (1 vest and a jacket) plus a gortex, AND,I was still feeling cold even when walking. Fingers in pain. Water turned into ice and my yummy chocolate bar has transformed into an inedible piece of rock. Took minimal breaks because no point - body cooled down really quicky for me (if I rest), and took more than 30 minutes to re-warm up, and also much harder to re-warm up because air was thin. French couple nowhere in sight, they´ve zoomed way ahead of us. Then came the last stretch and I got grumpy at those slippery and sharp pink rocks that made me climb them. Cussed at the rocks but was no use. Felt bad afterwards because cussing is no good to their energy nor mine, so calmed down, kept going. Done. Arrived. Me, the two other boys and Angel ended the hike at the crator at 5,700M, which is not the highest point of the mountain (the highest point is 6,000M), but we were satisfied. The ending was a bit anti-climatic, I guess cuz´we were all tired, and also because the weather was bad. I could barely see the crator, only smelled the sulfuric fumes and 5 minutes plus a photo of only mist in the background (see above) was enough. Descension to base camp only took 1.5 hours. The path is a separate one, on very fine volcanic sand where descension felt like skiing (especially with our sticks) and looked like hopping bunnies from behind. Another 1.5 hours to the bottom from base camp and I was back in Arequipa by noon on the second day!

Overall it was a memorable experience. In the future when I become more fit I will bring a better camera to the mountain, the pictures from my disposable camera are really horrible. Bummer. I´m resting and running errands today and tomorrow, and on Friday, starts my journey into the gems of Peru (Lake Titicaca, and Macchu Picchu shortly after). Bus to Puno is 6 hours and 20 Soles (USD6 bucks). Until then, later.