Toro Toro: Part Two – The Lost World

This blog post is brought to you by Gatorade.

Following a thrilling first day in the National Park we once again headed to the tourist centre just after 7am to find a group. Our aim for today was to do the caverns and ideally the Ciudad de Itas (City of rocks) too as they were close to each other and both half day activities. Immediately we found a chap named Ignacio from our hostel who wanted to do the same activities as us, result. As groups were a maximum of 6 we were halfway there… but the area is quiet, some groups have already formed and others want to do different activities. A group of 4 Brits wants to do the same as us but we’d feel awful abandoning Ignacio so we stay as a 3. Eventually, near 8am a couple of Bolivians turn up and join us, we’re relieved to have a group of 5 as it will save us some serious dollar.

AM: Rockin’ and Rollin’

We stock up on supplies for the day (we’re told the lunch spot is fully booked) so we buy sweets, nuts and of course, Gatorade. Alex and I climb into the back of a large Toyota jeep and off we go. The journey to the city of rocks is around an hour of driving uphill on a bumpy, dusty and rocky road. It is anything but comfortable as Alex and I bounce and roll around sat above the back wheels. Halfway up there is some rest bite as we stop to take in a fantastic view of the sprawling and unusual landscape.

Another half an hour of bumping around like being in a minecart on a bouncy castle and we reach the summit around 3200m above sea level. We pull ourselves together and enter the city of rocks.

Our guide is the same chap as yesterday, a young whippersnapper called Albi. We try to keep pace with him as he navigates up, down and sometimes between giant rocks. There are incredible views of the surrounding vista, unlike anything we have seen before, it feels once again like we are on another planet.

We pass by a set of humongous rocks resembling a tortuga (tortoise) and enter a giant cavern resembling a Gothic cathedral.

Next we find some rock paintings estimated to be 3000 years old and enter another vast cave where locals used to stay for shelter.

Outside the cave, two rather large bulls give us curious looks before passing us by… eventually they come trotting back towards us, giving everyone in the group a slightly raised heart rate. I find a safe hiding spot in a crack between the rocks!

We make our way back to the jeep, convinced that Albi is choosing a more challenging route across the rocks but it keeps it fun. We tumble back down the road to another system of caverns and caves. It feels very Indiana Jones as we cascade down into a giant, silent arena of rocks.

We exit to find a small sandy beach that has formed and Albi advises we can leave our bags here as we’ll return soon. We oblige and continue on to the edge of a cliff where we stop for a while to catch our breath and take in the views. The surface of the rocks is like nothing else up here, and in parts reminiscent of lizard skin. This sparks Alex’s imagination of Godzilla-esque creatures coming alive and roaming the lands.

Back to the jeep once more as we say goodbye to the fascinating city of rocks, that again, no photo can seem to capture fully.

PM: Journey to the centre of the Earth

We descend back down the mountain and pull over where Albi says we’ll stop for lunch as it’s approaching 2pm. Bare in mind we had breakfast before 7am and have been on the go all morning. We trek down a well laid stone path and cross a rickety bridge spanning a bone-dry riverbed. Albi bounces past us without any further instruction so we continue uphill in the fierce afternoon sun. We start to flag and are getting desperate for some shade and sustenance. Finally we catch-up with Albi who is resting at a shelter with a local cholita selling various wares. We refuel with the nuts and sweets we brought with us to keep us going, and enjoy some well deserved rest, both slightly apprehensive of what awaits us in the cavern ahead. Alex is nervous about the abseiling aspect and I’m not sure how I’ll cope with the claustrophobic narrow spaces we’ll inevitably need to crawl through.

Time to face our fears. We dump our day bag into a locker and are given helmets with headlamps attached. We walk a short distance to the entrance, a huge cylindrical porch probably 30m wide and burrowing down into the dark earth. Looking back to take in the last of the natural light before we enable our torches. Down we go…

Using ropes and the occasional metal rung we disappear down into the bowels of the cave system. We reach a small room surrounded by stalagmites and stalactites where Albi instructs us not to touch them as the oil on our skin prevents their growth. Keep in mind it takes a millennia for these to grow 1cm it doesn’t seem like we’ll make much difference but we oblige anyway, at least as much as we can in the tight spaces we find ourselves in. To reach the next section we must clamber around like monkeys on all fours, with little headroom and needing to avoid pools of dirty water that have formed on the floor. A helter skelter down a smooth sloppy rock awaits us on the other side.

Albi tells us a bit more about the cavern, points out a large pile of bat shit (they left as the tourism arrived) and takes great glee in informing us of guides that have heard children’s voices coming from the dark areas of the cave, but there were no school tours registered to have entered that day, ooooo. To toy with our emotions some more we must all turn our lights off and stand in complete darkness for a few moments. Frankly after doing this same exercise in the middle of the jungle at night, this is tame in comparison.

We sink further down and it is time for our first abseil, a 10 second demo and Albi is off down below. The descent is not too far but it is dark and the rocks are slippy. We all do a decent job of getting down with Albi’s guidance.

We pause to inspect some curious looking shapes that have formed in the rocks, see if you can guess what these are called.

Before long it’s time to face my fear as we’re guided through incredibly narrow gaps between the rocks. Crawling and squeezing through like some sort of human spider I see Alex up ahead and it looks like the walls are closing in on her. I wonder how the hell I’ll fit through being broader but somehow my body manages to mould into just the right shape. I’m glad we didn’t have a big lunch.

Luckily this is the narrowest part of our route and after a bit more climbing down we reach the halfway point. Here the sound of moving water surrounds us as it tumbles through the rocks forming a large lake where we stand. The lake is inhabited by tadpoles and small blind fish which we can just about spot.

Time to head back to the surface. I’ve no idea how people had the courage to come down here in the first place to discover this intricate network of narrow passages and hollow rooms, but I’m grateful they did. We take a different route back up and find Albi is as quick below ground as he is on the surface, hopping between sharp and slippy rocks like a mountain goat. We follow the sound of the water back up and I’m mesmerised by the reflections my head torch casts on the mini swirling rock pools. It’s been a challenge down here but another incredible experience we savour as we ascend back.

Before long we realize we’re back at the rope we started at and can make out the late afternoon sun illuminating our exit.

Exhausted, sweaty and starving we arrive back at our homely hostel where Ignacio smartly negotiates for some cold beers. Griselda says she will make us pork chops and potatoes for dinner and we freshen up. We sit down to eat with Ignacio who converses in Spanish with Alex about travel, politics and economies of South America. Dinner is a feast of chops, chorizo sausages, potatoes, salad, veg and bread. We inhale the lot and retire to bed, a thrilling but tiring day has me asleep before 9pm.

I had to get a picture of Cappuccino, one of the gorgeous hostel dogs:

Next stop: Sucre

Transfer day involves a lot of killing time as we will get a night bus from Cochabamba across to Sucre. We relax around the hostel until midday where a collectivo picks us up. We’re sat near the front on a row of 3 and for the first 20 minutes a local couple squeeze onto the row too. Luckily after they are dropped off, for the next couple of hours we can spread out, much to the envy of the rest of the sardines in the back of the vehicle. The return journey is a thousand times smoother than the way out, and we can see how this wonderful area will soon be a must on the tourist trail with this faster and less painful transfer now available.

After a hop across Cochabamba in another collectivo costing around 30 pence we are at the main bus station. With many more hours to kill we settle down in the food hall and share half a chicken with three types of carbs! Between playing phone games, chatting and reading the Kindle, time passes surprisingly quickly and we board our bus for the night. Leaving Cochabamba just after 9pm.

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Adventure – Unique landscapes, being out of our comfort zones underground, lots and lots of trekking while trying to take it all in, collectivo driving through a road still being built

Excitement – Cold beers and a hearty home cooked meal, keeping pace with Albi, seeing daylight emerging out of the cave (we’d survived!)

Trauma – Bouncing jeep, no idea when we’d eat lunch, waiting for photoshoots to finish