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The alarm went off at 3:15am, ready for Chris and my 4am pick up to see the Tatio geysers, leaving Taryn sound asleep. We sat waiting from 4am until 5am - bloody South America time! We wouldn't have minded so much except that we had paid to see the sunrise over the geysers and with them being a 2 hour drive away we would surely miss it. We were about to go back to bed when our truck arrived. The geysers were another first for us, and all the vapour looked pretty cool in the early morning sun. It is the 3rd largest geyser field in the world and although not comparable to the 100 foot geyser in Yellowstone Park, we did see some water shooting up from a few centimetres to a couple of metres. There was no escaping the effects of the 4200m altitude (that is the same as the highest point on the Inca Trail) - even standing still you could feel your heart beating faster in your chest, and even the smallest incline or exertion puffed you out.
Next stop was a natural thermal spring... which was not so thermal! Getting out was the worst bit
- 8am at 4200m was a cold and windy place to be stood in a bikini! When we sat down for a breakfast of pancakes and ham and cheese toasties afterwards, my wet bikini grew an icicle!
On our way back to town we stopped at Machuga, a village with only 10 people living there. They get money from the government to keep the place alive, but they cheat big time - they rotate who lives there! So no-one really lives there. It was an opportunity to try a new food though - a kebab made from the very animal we had just been photographing - llama. I was keen to try but still had very little appetite. Chris has one of course, and loved it, they smelled beautiful, so I am looking forward to tasting.
Final stop was some giant cactuses, 8-10metres tall but growing only 1-2cm per year, making them... very old! Back in town we met Taryn for lunch at the tea salon we had been to twice the day before. Taryn had already been that morning... making it our 3rd and her 5th visit in two days. Needless to say she got the biggest
piece of quiche!
And then on to our second tour of the day - Death Valley and Moon Valley. Death Valley was actually named Mars Valley by a European, due to the similarities with the landscape of the planet Mars. However his pronunciation in Spanish was not understood by locals who mistook "Marte" (Mars) for "muerte" (death). We stayed in Moon Valley (you can guess why it was named as such!) for the sunset - volcanoes in the background. As for the view, I'll let the photos do the talking. Except for one thing we couldn't capture on camera - the sound of the salt in some of the rock formations contracting as the sun set and it cooled. Sounded like rain on a tin roof and only happens at sunrise and sunset.
For dinner we branched away from our favourite haunt to an outdoors restaurant with an open fire and South American music - gorgeous little place. Unfortunately we witnessed another bag snatch - one of a group of German ladies who had all left their bags unattended behind them. Rather foolish of them, but horrible to see her distress. Chris thinks he saw the guys that
did it come in and look around, pretending to be interested in eating. They had followed us into a shop moments before and not bought anything... maybe they were watching us but we kept close guard of our bags. Very unsettling to know you are being watched. Aside from that, and the way the desert dries you out all over, I loved this town and was sad to be leaving.
Chris's Corner Our truck was another overlanding beast! And yet another object for me to climb. I'm not gonna lie, it was brass monkeys at the thermal pools but I stood out long enough to take a couple of pics of Sophie still "enjoying" them.
The llama tasted delicious, a lot like lamb, and I'm definitely starting to enjoy these South American delicacies. Over the course of the trips we met a number of interesting characters including Don, a very opinionated, but knowledgeable, well travelled American (two months travelling followed by four months resting, repeatedly!). But by far the most interesting came when I practiced my Spanish with some Chileans on holiday. Mario came from Concepcion and despite the damage to the towns' homes and infrastructure due
to February's earthquake, said "it is not a problem, life goes on"! Viola, who had just come back from the salt flats on her way to Uyuni, had the most telling tale to tell. Her jeep and 17 others had been effectively kidnapped, taken to a small town and held up for 10 hours by Bolivian protestors about their lack of electricity and facilities. The jeeps had been threatened by men with rocks, but they were after nothing and eventually let them go. As the protests have apparently been going on for 9 days and we are booked and paid to go in the morning, it could definitely add to our adventure!!
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