6:40am: Driiinngggg...
7am: Breakfast: tea, toasts, peach jam (not bad), and some weird "dulche de leche" cream thing
7:30am: 4x4 is loaded and head into adventure. We are told that we'll see an active volcano this morning. Sounds great.
10am: After driving close to 2h30, we stop, and Ruben points at a mountain in the distance with a bit of smoke... "Here's the active volcano" he said... Haha... We look at each other and without a word, we all agree "not worth it".
11am: it's scorching hot in the car, especially for those at the back of the car. As we learned yesterday, the A/C doesn't work, and neither does the ventilation. We have to open the windows to get a bit of fresh air mixed with dust. The three chinese girls immediately put on their face masks (see pic)... They came prepared.
11:30am: We arrive at "Laguna Hedionda", full of pink flamingoes. They all have their beaks in the water to feed plancton. Awesome view! Quite touristy, there are 10/15 4x4 parked next to the Los Flamencos Eco Hotel where we have lunch. Solid lunch again. Tasty and nourishing.
12:30pm: On the road again. We'll be driving for 1h30 to reach the "Rock Trees". On the way we saw several animals: llamas, ostriches, foxes and several crazy bike riders. The three of us have a hard time understanding what drives these guys to ride their bikes under the scorching sun in the Bolivian desert.
Our guide gives us a nice tidbit of information: He said that foxes feed on flamingoes in these parts. Overnight, the birds are stuck on the lagoon, frozen by ice, and the foxes only have to rock up for breakfast.
2pm: we arrived at the "Rock Trees". These are rock formations that resembles trees. Nothing crazy.
2:30pm: We arrived at "Laguna Colorada", a stunning lagoon with red colors. The view is amazing, despite the howling wind. We spent a good 15min outside, when our three fellow Chinese took a picture and were back in the car in 30 seconds. Next stop, the Geizers.
3:50pm: We made it to the Geizers. Holes in the ground are bubbling away, releasing trapped heat from the volcanoes around us. Nice place, although it smells of rotten eggs (sulfur). Wind is still howling big time. We didn't stay long.
4:30pm: we arrived at the hotel that Ruben upgraded us to (for 25 Bolivianos each). The place is a dump... The only nice feature is the "natural pool" at 35/38 degrees Celsius, but after the one in Sajama, we are hard to impress!
5pm: we play UNO on the rickety garden table installed in the hotel. I've got a splitting headache.
6pm: headache is getting worse despite popping pills like tic-tacs.
7pm: Dinner! The dinner was smaller than usual because we agreed with the 3 chinese girls that we didn't need that much food, so there was no need to serve us full portions. Ruben had relayed the information to the kitchen. I eat a bit, but gave up half way and go to bed to rest for a bit.
8pm: Night is falling, and I'm feeling better as the headache retreats. The three of us decide to go to the natural pool to look at the stars.
9pm: We are in the pool, and despite the people throwing a ball around in the pool and splashing everyone, we enjoy the stars! The sky is full of them, you can see the Milky Way, as well as the occasional blip of satellites and even a shooting star. It reminded me of the night sky in Central Australia near Uluru.
10pm: In bed
7am: Breakfast: tea, toasts, peach jam (not bad), and some weird "dulche de leche" cream thing
7:30am: 4x4 is loaded and head into adventure. We are told that we'll see an active volcano this morning. Sounds great.
10am: After driving close to 2h30, we stop, and Ruben points at a mountain in the distance with a bit of smoke... "Here's the active volcano" he said... Haha... We look at each other and without a word, we all agree "not worth it".
The "active" volcano!
11am: it's scorching hot in the car, especially for those at the back of the car. As we learned yesterday, the A/C doesn't work, and neither does the ventilation. We have to open the windows to get a bit of fresh air mixed with dust. The three chinese girls immediately put on their face masks (see pic)... They came prepared.
11:30am: We arrive at "Laguna Hedionda", full of pink flamingoes. They all have their beaks in the water to feed plancton. Awesome view! Quite touristy, there are 10/15 4x4 parked next to the Los Flamencos Eco Hotel where we have lunch. Solid lunch again. Tasty and nourishing.
12:30pm: On the road again. We'll be driving for 1h30 to reach the "Rock Trees". On the way we saw several animals: llamas, ostriches, foxes and several crazy bike riders. The three of us have a hard time understanding what drives these guys to ride their bikes under the scorching sun in the Bolivian desert.
Our guide gives us a nice tidbit of information: He said that foxes feed on flamingoes in these parts. Overnight, the birds are stuck on the lagoon, frozen by ice, and the foxes only have to rock up for breakfast.
2pm: we arrived at the "Rock Trees". These are rock formations that resembles trees. Nothing crazy.
3:50pm: We made it to the Geizers. Holes in the ground are bubbling away, releasing trapped heat from the volcanoes around us. Nice place, although it smells of rotten eggs (sulfur). Wind is still howling big time. We didn't stay long.
4:30pm: we arrived at the hotel that Ruben upgraded us to (for 25 Bolivianos each). The place is a dump... The only nice feature is the "natural pool" at 35/38 degrees Celsius, but after the one in Sajama, we are hard to impress!
5pm: we play UNO on the rickety garden table installed in the hotel. I've got a splitting headache.
6pm: headache is getting worse despite popping pills like tic-tacs.
7pm: Dinner! The dinner was smaller than usual because we agreed with the 3 chinese girls that we didn't need that much food, so there was no need to serve us full portions. Ruben had relayed the information to the kitchen. I eat a bit, but gave up half way and go to bed to rest for a bit.
8pm: Night is falling, and I'm feeling better as the headache retreats. The three of us decide to go to the natural pool to look at the stars.
9pm: We are in the pool, and despite the people throwing a ball around in the pool and splashing everyone, we enjoy the stars! The sky is full of them, you can see the Milky Way, as well as the occasional blip of satellites and even a shooting star. It reminded me of the night sky in Central Australia near Uluru.
10pm: In bed
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