You remember the Bolivian ladies who climbed Huayna Potosi?

Well, these ladies were not satisfied with conquering one mountain above 6,000 meters. They have set out to climb eight mountains in Bolivia, each of them higher than 6,000 meters.

This week they climbed Illimani (6,439 meters).

I have been in La Paz for more than a week now, admiring the view of truly imposing Illimani every day.

But the weather has been tough, with rain, storms and a bitter cold all week. It was cold enough for me to postpone my hiking plans, and I hadn’t even planned to go all the way to the top.

Respect for the ladies (they are between 42 and 50) who had no such qualms. But once you are above the clouds, you don’t need to worry about rain anyway.

(Zur deutschen Fassung.)