Atacama to Uyuni - day dos

After a very fitful sleep which Jimmy and I put down to sharing the single bed, we were woken at about 5am by other your companies that were heading off then. Chatting to the others it sounded as though everyone had a pretty rough sleep so maybe it wasn't just trying to be squeezed onto a single bed made of concrete with a mattress on top? Our breakfast wasn't until 7 so we made the most of the blankets for as long as we could. Cold pankakes and dulce de leche (they LOVE that stuff here) and we were back on the road. Also you'll be pleased to know our driver was much more awake today which meant a far less nerve wracking drive for us.

First stop was to the tree rock and it's surrounding formations that had been blown there from a nearby volcano. It was once again bitterly cold so I wasn't keen to be out of the jeep for very long.

We did gain ourselves an extra jeep member at this point though, Dmitry the Russian/Canadian, whose tour group had left without him the previous day at the Bolvian border control. Our company had taken pity on him and put him in one of the other jeeps but they wanted to put him our jeep instead as ours had more room apparently. Fred knew him from earlier in their trips as they had both spent some time at one of the infamous Loki hostels so we knew he'd fit in with the wolf pack pretty well.

Day dos saw quite a bit if driving but we did stop off at some more lagoons, one in particular where we had lunch, had more flamingos. They were a lot closer to us this time so meant some more good photo ops. What we found fascinating though was the Laguna was 'toxic' to humans yet here were these crazy looking birds digging around in the shallows for food. They really must be tough. 

Next off was a view point to see an active volcano (I forget the name sorry) which had obviously spewed out some crazy rock formations a long time ago. There were even a few that looked like surf barrels! 

Last stop off for the day was some train tracks which provided Jimmy & Fred an opportunity to practice some capoeira on the tracks. 

After a long drive we were happy to head to our salt hotel (yes, it's made of salt - the boys confirmed this by licking the walls). It was a bit if a step up from the last place we had stayed with power, hot water, matrimonial bedrooms for us couples and carpet floors. How luxurious!

We had been told we were having roast duck for dinner but after having a few mouthfuls we were all pretty sure it was just chicken which I was a but gutted about as was having to break my New Years resolution of not eating non free range chicken - but hey, who knows were it came from really! They had given us wine with dinner so we thought it'd be rude not to finish off the few bottles plus one of the Pisco bottles we had been lugging around since La Serena. Which pretty much goes against anyone's advice of what to do while at altitude as drinking isn't really advised due to the hangovers you get the next day. 

Speaking of altitude sickness, I had found that I hadn't been affected much, apart from a bit of a dull headache. Which is a great sign as we will be at altitude for a while so that hopefully means I won't be suffering much. Jimmy hasn't been getting headaches but his nose is suffering pretty badly, often being bloody so his sinuses as clearly not liking the altitude. Here's hoping it'll acclimatize soon!

Jeep ride from Atacama to Uyuni - day uno

Choosing which tour company to use for the jeep ride from Atacama to Uyuni is not an easy task. The main street in Atacama is filled with tour operators trying to get you to use their company but having done a fair bit of research online, it pays to be careful about who you choose. This is due to the drivers being drunk / driving recklessly / having poor service etc etc etc. In the end we were recommended two different companies who were meant to be reputable and we went with the cheaper of the two - Estrella del Sur (90,000 Chilean Pesos) as our German friend Frederic had already booked with them. Handily, he is fluent in Spanish so we figured he could translate for us if necessary as it seemed as though there were no English speaking driver options going from San Pedro.

We were collected from our hostel at about 7:45am and were then driven to the Chilean border control who 'checked us out' of Chile before we drove for about an hour on the bus through no mans land. Next up was the Bolivian border control which for some people didn't go too smoothly. Apparently you can't leave Chile on a different passport to what you entered on so those with dual citizenship had a few issues (and there were even some tears). Jimmy and I had no trouble however and so we were happy campers as we set off on our jeep. Our jeep was made up of six of us including the driver - Jimmy & I, Khalid from Singapore, Frederic from Germany, Irina from America and our driver Chino from Bolivia. Quite a diverse mix!

After only about an hour of driving Jimmy and I were alarmed to notice that our driver was very clearly struggling to stay awake (as were the rest of us - probably due to the altitude being about 4,500m where we were). It was not a good start for us so were pretty on edge keeping an eye on him and woke Fred and Irina up so they could try and chat in a Spanish with him to keep him awake. 

Our first stop was not long after that, at the highest hot springs in the world. I hadn't been that keen on getting in as it was FREEZING outside of the hot springs but once I'd heard they were the highest in the world I figured I had better. It was well worth it and we seemed to set a trend as when we first arrived no one was in but after not long it was full of people all thawing out for the first time that day.

Thankfully after our next stop the driver's coca leaves had kicked in and there was no more nodding off. The next stop were some geysers that took us straight back to being in Rotorua.

The formations were however quite different as the mud pools were a lot deeper and more crater like in comparison to Rotorua. But still the same lovely smell to be enjoyed!

The rest of the day was spent stopping off at different Lagunas which were all sorts of incredible colours due to their mineral content. 

After a late lunch at the hostel we were staying at that night, we headed out for one last sight seeing stop at Laguna Colorado. The colour of the lake is an incredible red and dotted about the red were a heap of flamingos. We couldn't believe they could stand to be there in the water as we were absolutely freezing just being on the shore in every item of clothing we had, while these spindly birds were grazing through the sand for food. They are obviously a lot thicker skinned than they look!

It's times like these when I really miss my good camera :( Like when we saw the llamas on the way home and could only get pretty average photos.. Oh well. The memories are more important than the photos anyway.

After 45mins in the cold temperatures we were all frozen to the bone so it was back to the hostel for some tea and biscuits to try and warm us up. Now when I say hostel, that's probably being a bit generous as it was most definitely the most dilapidated place I had ever stayed. With no heating, concrete floors and no hot water, we knew we were in for a long cold night. After a decent dinner of soup and vegetarian spaghetti bolonese we all figured we may as well head to bed so we could try and finally warm up. I wore merino pants, wooly socks and three

merino tops, a scarf and a beanie. Just to give you an idea of how cold it was. Oh and Jimmy and I shared a single bed so we could double up on blankets! Needless to say, it was a pretty restless sleep for everyone. Welcome to Bolovia.

San Pedro de Atacama - day cinco

Since it was our last day in San Pedro we decided it would be fitting to do another bike ride, this time to a site that the tour groups don't visit. We had managed to convince the two Singapore boys, Kelvin and Khalid to join us as well. After we had booked ourselves in for the 3 day jeep tour to Uyuni in Bolivia, leaving the following day, the four of us set off for the cruisy ride down a dirt road and reached El Pukara de Quitor only 3km out of town. The ruins were a fortress that overlooked the San Pedro river and was used for defensive purposes and to help control ancestral trafficking. 

Once exploring the ruins there was also a track that wound its way up the hill to give a panoramic view of the surrounding area. It was about 45mins up to the top but it was well worth the hike, even if it was in the heat of the day as the views from the summit were incredible. We could look out and see the dune that we had sand boarded on a few days before as well as get a good view of the town and the mountains in the distance.

After some more great photo ops we meandered down the hill and jumped back on the bikes for a final bit of exploring. We ended up heading up a canyon for about 10 mins which was tough going but we eventually turned around and so of course got a sweet downhill run as a reward for our hard work. By that stage the sun was disappearing all too quickly (a common theme in our days it seems!) so we decided to call it a day and head back into town before we froze.

As it was our last night in Atacama we thought we had better have one last dinner with our hostel friends. The top restaurant on Trip Advisor was a place called Baltinache and as it was off the main tourist strip it promised to be a bit more of an authentic experience. It didn't disappoint with a 3 course meal that was very tasty and very reasonably priced. A great way to end our favourite stop so far.

San Pedro de Atacama - day cuatro

After 3 nights in a tent we thought we would upgrade ourselves and check into the private room at Aji Verde instead. We were pretty happy to discover that not only did we get a nice warm, spacious room to ourselves, but also an ensuite! What luxury. The room is one if the coolest we have stayed in with a bamboo roof, a stone bed and stone shower so well worth the extra 12,000 pesos. 

Having done the tour thing the day before we decided that going solo was best for us to go check out the Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon). The ride this time had a few more hills which wasn't much fun, but we saw plenty of beautiful sights out in the valley. Unsurprisingly, its name is a clue as to its resemblance to the surface of the moon with sand, clay and salt combining to create a huge variety of fascinating formations. As the brochure touts, it's "an experience outside this world". 

Since we had had yet another late start we though we had better head back to San Pedro before we lost all the light. We literally had the shadows chasing us as we made the 10km trip back into town, and we were glad we left when we did as we were not dressed for the cooler temperatures. We did have to have a second stop off for more photos at the cutest bus stop for another photo op as the colours were so hard to resist!

A few nights prior I had had some serious trouble sleeping. It happened after our first bike ride when my knees had developed this dull ache that intensified massively that night. After some codeine in the middle of the night I finally managed to get some sleep but found it returned the next day after the drugs had worn off. I was somewhat perplexed as to what it was as it didn't feel like it was the result of the ride but some kind of deep tissue ache. Anyway, after some consultation with Dr Google I was interested to discover that it was most likely severe dehydration that was causing it. This was surprising for me as I usually get a headache the minute I'm not hydrated enough and having not had any headaches I thought I was keeping on top of my hydration levels. But I'm pleased to say, after drinking a bucketload of water to see if it would help, I haven't had any aches return, even after another ride. So it seems I need to be far more diligent with my water intake. Damn desert just sucks you dry!