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Published: February 27th 2007
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Laguna Verde
Verde means green in Spanish - a pretty self-explanatory name...this lake was the most beautiful torquoise green we´ve ever seen The plan was to head from San Pedro de Atacama in northern Chile across the Bolivian border through the spectacular Bolivian altiplano (high plane) dotted with deserts, volcanoes, lakes and llamas. There are no proper roads or towns along the way, so basically the only way to access this area is through a 4WD tour. We had heard so many horror stories about all the tour agencies - prices are about $90 including all transport, meals, and 2 nights accommodation so even Lonely Planet had warned not to expect quality - whole groups get food poisoning, jeeps with multiple flat tyres, and drivers falling asleep at the wheel. So it was with very low expectations, but much sense of adventure, that we embarked on our 3 day 4WD adventure.
We were in a battered old Landcruiser (actually pretty luxurious by South American standards) which had holes in the sides and floor that let all the dust fly in. There were 6 of us plus the driver crammed in but it wasn´t too bad. In our group were a young couple from the UK, Dave & Emma, another UK gal Alex, and a funny 18 year old Japanese boy Suguru
Volcanic Llama
Not sure what the name of the volcano is, but its 6000m high who was travelling on his own with absolutely no grasp of either Spanish or English. Good luck to him.
The trip started with a hitch when we arrived at the Chilean border exit, not far from San Pedro de Atacama. Even though we arrived during standard open hours, it turns out the guard had decided to go walk about for a few hours and close up shop - so as busting as we were to hit the road, we had to hang around at the border crossing for a few hours, not that there was anything stopping us from driving straight through.
But ultimately, we got super lucky and had an absolute dream run - great bunch of people; basic but decent food and accommodation in tiny cute villages, and a really lovely driver called Juan, a 50 year old Bolivian father of seven, who was so proud to show off his country to us. He spoke only Spanish though so we were again lucky that Alex could be translator. And we soon realised too that he had only one ear, so that would explain why he never responded when we spoke to his right side!
The
Laguna Blanco
This lake is like a mirror - it gives a perfect reflection of the mountains and sky! other group of 6 in the other 4WD weren´t quite so lucky. As they were about to leave, they were warned by the previous group to watch out for the driver who often falls asleep at the wheel. And sure enough, he lived up to his reputation - they had to take turns sitting in the front with him to prod him whenever he fell asleep. In between sleeps, he burst into action & demonstrated his apparent racing ambitions, intent on overtaking our group to ensure he got to each stop first. Bizarre. The drivers are worked so hard, they get no holidays and basically do the 3 day trip back and forth over and over again.
On the first day, we ascended from 2500metres up to 5000m within a matter of only hours so we were all feeling the altitude and had a hilarious night eating coca leaves (the natural remedy for altitude sickness & the local favourite for just about everything) which seemed to send us all loopy and into giggling fits. Could have something to do with the fact that these are the leaves that are used to make cocaine? Ashleigh took quite a liking to
The Pink Flamingo Lake
Not its scientific name, but pretty nonetheless them. All the locals chew them constantly, as they´re said to ease fatigue and also numb pain.
The first two days of travelling took us to gorgeous pristine lakes - one called Laguna Verde (green) and another Laguna Blanco (white) which gives a perfect mirror reflection of the mountains behind it. Laguna Colarado is a red lake filled with pink flamingos who get their colour from eating in the lake. In the distance, we saw snow-capped active volcanoes over 6000 metres tall. The altiplano is full of amazing and unusual wildlife you don´t see in Australia or anywhere else at lower altitudes - llamas, vicunas, alpcacas. A lot of them have brightly coloured wool and ribbons tied to their coats as it's a local custom - said to be giving colour back to the mountains. They look so cute!!
The food was great - all meals were basically served by a lady in her house and were so fresh and made from the local ingredients - vegetable soup with quinoa (local grain) seemed to be a popular choice.
The third day was the main event - the Salar de Uyuni (Uyuni salt flats) - the largest and
highest salt flats on earth. This once was part of a lake that covered a huge part of Chile and Bolivia millions of years ago, but what now remains is this spectacular expansive land of salt that seems to stretch on forever - it is so bright and reflective in the sun, you can´t tell what is land and what is sky. In the middle is actually an island which is covered in cacti and from the top you get a spectacular view of the white stretching all around you.
We arrived in Uyuni town and after a farewell lunch with the group, we had to figure out where we where going next in Bolivia and how we were getting there. We decided on La Paz and bought a ticket for an overnight bus leaving at 7pm and arriving in La Paz at 7am, with a change of buses at 3am - so a long night was ahead. The bus ride can only be described as an ¨experience¨- it was really quite comical.
We were two of only 4 gringoes on the bus packed with crazy locals. They seem to overbook buses here so there were people standing
Isla de los Pescados
A bizarre island rising up in the middle of the salt flats, covered in cacti crammed in the aisles for hours on end. To make it worse, there are no lights or anything on the bus and it was pitch black, so people were falling and stumbling around in the dark, yelling at each other in Spanish. And a ninety year old man kept insisting on climbing on top of Naths chair to search for his flashlight. Nath has harshly declared the Bolivians the dumbest nation on earth. There were lots of country ladies in their traditional costume which we loved, but then we discovered one was carrying a dead lamb on the bus, which explained the foul smell the whole time.
There are no toilets on board and the promised stops along the way only happened once during the whole 11 hours!! Even then, everyone just seems to go to the toilet one the side of the road…we made the mistake of looking out the bus window to see all these ladies in their traditional skirts squatting not so elegantly!!
There are no paved roads in that part of Bolivia so we had the first 9 hours of dirt road and sometimes not even dirt road - at times we were literally
Ash has Nath in the palm of her hand
...and wrapped around her little finger too going cross country in this old city bus - at one point I looked out and we were actually driving through a river!! Throughout the whole night, the driver just kept honking his horn at full blast as we drove along - sometimes to scare the llamas out of the way, other times he¨d just honk randomly in villages at 2am in the morning - I wouldn´t be too happy if I lived there!
Anyway, it was a hilarious, sleepless night but we survived and eventually made it to La Paz.
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