Silvio in America del Sud

I have been a bit lazy during the last two weeks and have not updated my blog with any news in English. All my sincere apologies to all my English-speaking friends.
Since the unsuccesful climb of Chimborazo a few things have happened. First of all I managed to climb the mountain though it wasn't a piece of cake. The second time I attempted the climb I found myself very sick as soon I got to the Whymper Hut. Very likely the cheap rice and shrimps I had in Quito were somehow returning to life in my stomach.
After three days spent taking antibiotics and 1 gram of paracetamol each 4 hours (I am serious), I felt again in the conditions to try the climb again. On October the 22nd at 7:25 am I was standing on the top of Chimborazo. This time I was not the only person climbing the mountain and actually this made my satisfaction bigger. A local guide with his two French clients decided to interrupt the climb because the conditions of the mountain were too difficult. Imagine the satisfaction I felt when I finally got to the top; the cost in terms of physical well-being was not minor, however. The illness and the climb made me lose at least an half stone and I felt weak as ever, it was clearly the time to take a long break before planning any new climb. Also my climbing plan in Ecuador was over.
After a few days spent eating, drinking and sleeping in the enchanting colonial city of Cuenca (South of Ecuador, pictures available on www.flickr.com/photos/silviosparano73/sets) I moved in the direction of La Paz, Bolivia.
Now everyone that has a small idea of the geography of South America knows that between Ecuador and Bolivia there's a vast country called Peru. Well, I guess this fact was in a mind a small detail was I started my trip from Cuenca to La Paz. The trip was simply orrendous: five different buses over a distance of about 1,500 miles, 52 hours travelling including a stop of six hours in a smoggy, dirty bus station somewhere in Lima. It was too much, even for me.
A few hours before getting the border between Peru and Bolivia I realised I was close to Titicaca Lake, an amazing lake placed at about 4,000 meters of altitude.
There's no word that cannot explain the extreme beauty of this place. No surprise the earliest pre-colombian civilitations decided to settle here more than twenty centuries ago. The all place immerged in an amazing blue light. It is difficult to say which blue is the most amazing, the light and clear of the sky or the intense and vivid of the sea. Again I welcome you to give a look to the pictures, they speak by themselves.
But any dream comes to end and a few days after spent enjoying the beauty of Titicaca (and its excellent fish) my desire of verticality got again stronger than anything else. Right now I am in La Paz and I am planning my next expediction. Tomorrow I will move toward the Cordillera Occidental, a chain placed in a semi-desertic area in the West of the country. The objectives this time are Nevado Sajama (6,548m the highest mountain of Bolivia) and Volcan Parinacota, a beautiful vulcano that with its 6,330m marks the border with Chili. Though not difficult ascents I am going to be absolutely alone this time and the logistics of the two climbs are going to be the key factors for the success.