Charquini mountain day hike tour

 We tried to DYI Charquini mountain hike, but only found one article about the public transportation. As advised by the hostel front desk, we took a hiking tour at the last minute for 160b ($12.6, since no snack were prepared for us). All other tour groups left, but we ran down to the square to catch up the one we booked via the hostel at the last minute. 

The mini van stoped at a convenience store for people to buy some snacks, and then drove for approximately 2 hours to the first attraction, a landmark sign (welcome to El Alto capital de los Andes) with the La Paz highest peak Huayna Potosi (6088 meters) as the background. I considered this challenge but gave up since I would move too slowly with a 20-kg pack in below 40f coldness. However, my friend Lutz in his late 20s is taking the 3-day-2-night hike since tomorrow. 

Then we visited a historic cemetery next to an abandoned mining town and observe beautiful landscapes. The van stopped at the park gate where there was a store for people to buy warm hats and gloves as they needed, and use the toilet. After reaching the slopes of the Glacier Charquini, we began the hike of approximately 1.5 hours from 4600 meters high to 5200 meters high to reach the Laguna Esmeralda, where we stayed for around half hour for enjoying the landscape while eating snacks.  We could have stayed longer, but the rain kicked in so we returned to the van earlier. We got back to town around 1:30 pm. The hike was demanding for me and was helpful for acclimatization. It offered spectacular views of the lagoon and the snow-capped mountain.