Challa Pata is a lake north-east of La Pazin. The road up to the lake starts from Irpavi. By car it's 30-35 minutes from Irpavi and about an hour from downtown La Paz. The lake is situated at an altitude of about 4300m/14100ft .
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| Lake Challa Pata |
Our hike was targeting the Colquejahui mountain, but we turned back before the peak as the weather was getting worse. Colquejahui is 5187m/17017ft high.
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| Colquejahui |
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| A waterfall on the river descending to the lake. |
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| A local shepherd. The woman ran after us in anger with a rock in her hand as she thought we were stealing her sheep. She calmed down after we explained that we are simply enjoying the beautiful landscape and hiking in the area. On the way down we stopped by the lady and shared a sandwich with her. Next time we will have a much nicer welcome. |
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| La Paz down in the valley and the Altiplano in the background. |
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| The indigenous lady with her llamas. What a difference a sandwich can make. |
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| We took off the shoes in order to cross the river. After crossing I saw a nice soft patch on the ground and stepped on it. A rather pointy surprise I got... |
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| An abandoned house. |
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| Colquejahui in the background. |
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| The car was still there. Always a relief over here as you never know what might happen. |
