Bolivian Altiplano, San Pedro, Antofagasta, Las Picinas, La Serena

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The next couple of days were interesting to say the least. We had a two day bone-shaker ride off road accross the Altiplano, staying in the most basic of basic hostals. Towards the end of the first day all had been going well until the sand started to give way under the truck almost tipping over before getting stuck. We all had to get out as quickly as possible and I found myself stood in shorts and a vest top in the freezing cold. The jeep that was guiding us soon came back when we didn´t arrive at the hostal and I managed to blag Matt´s football shirt and the first lift back to the hostal, along with Caroline and Alex.

The pictures do not really do the hostal justice - there was no heating (it can get down to -30 at night on the Altiplano!) and they only have electricity between 7pm and 10pm, so we sat there by candle light wrapped in blankets like 3 refugees, watching the local cooks preparing our dinner with just the light from a camping stove. We were relieved when at last the truck turned up with everyone else an hour or so later - not least because it had all my warm clothes on board!.

The second night´s accommodation was even more basic - (yes, it is possible) the windows were broken and held together with brown tape, there was no running water, and you had to flush the toilet by pouring a bucket water down it - nice! We went to the local "shop" to buy some wine hoping to blot out the evening - this is the first time I have been in a shop where the shop keeper´s bed is in one corner and the merchandise is stacked up on top of a Llama carcas in the other! Its all character building stuff though - we survived and it was quite good fun.

The scenery was also amazing. We stopped at Laguna De Verde - the most beautiful lake we have ever seen, saw flamingos, and geishers.

After a bit of trouble at the border with the truck paper work, we finally we hit Chile and proper tarmac roads where we stayed in the travellers town of San Pedro in the Atacama Desert - the driest desert in the world. With the warm weather, proper toilets and chilled out vibe it felt like we were on holiday again!

We were supposed to be camping for two nights in San Pedro, but just to uphold our reputation, the 5 star hotel girls checked into a very nice hostal instead! Well, we were both in desperate need to charge our ipods and my hair had a big frizz on, so what else could we do?

We spent a very nice day in San Pedro, Ella even convinced me to hire a mountain bike and we cycled 3km to a swimming pool that was like something out of the 1950´s. I was very proud of myself as I´ve have had a bit of a phobia of cycling.

From San Pedro we continued down the coast free camping on a couple of beaches. We met up with a dragoman tour one night and Shona and I had an interesting time playing Vodka Jenga in between taking trips out to the "toilet" (i.e. a rock). We almost disgraced ourselves by weeing behind one of their tents which was a khaki green colour and cunningly disguised as a rock! The Shona ventured off on her own and returned with a bleeding face where she had run into a rock in the dark! Just as well we weren´t on that tour for 5 weeks as I would have developed a serious drink problem with those nutters!


Ellas bit:

Currently top of my "best list" is the night sky in Bolivia truely amazing as there are more stars in the sky than I´ve seen before and Lake Verde truely beautiful but everyone has to go as the pictures do not do it justice.

The day the truck got stuck. After the truck skidded off the road and was left tilting in a sand bank we were all very keen to get off. We forgot that the sun streaming through the windows was not an idiciation of how warm it was outside. It was freezing!..We got out wearing our flip flops and t-shirts and couldn´t believe what we were seeing. It looked as though the only way out would be with a tractor. The wind blew right through you and whiped the sand up into everyones faces it was not a pleasant experience. Alex managed to catch a lift back to the camp in the jeep with Lisa and the rest of the group were left with a local and his 1950´s motorbike! The guys started digging and trying to put the sand mats under the wheels while Shona tried to start an aerobics class to keep everyone warm. The sun dropped quickly behind the hills and it got even colder. Once the guys had but the sand mats under the wheels we were a bit more optimistic that we´d all get out. Unfortunately the truck got stuck in a worse position and it was left balancing on just three wheels (we have no pics but you had to see it to believe it!) About 2 hours later after the sun had set Pete freed the truck. Helen, Shona, Jo and I ran so fast to get onto the truck and back into the warm you´d think we were running for our lives!...We quickly all shared out whatever food was left on the truck - crackers, crisps, old cookies etc...... All of a sudden there was a huge fire in the field opposite, everyone was really worried as it looked as though it was the local on his old bike. Pete ran across to him but apparently he said everything was alright!!??.....We left and headed to the hostal where we found the girls wrapped in blankets!

Although the facilities were somewhat lacking we had one of the funniest nights in the very basic hostal (2nd night on Altiplano). The girls were together in one dorm and thanks to the lighting of the candle managed to scare ourselves silly with lots of funny ghost stories...Thanks Owen!...and Shona and I were near the window! As it was so cold at night (-20 to -30) the guys had to run shifts to start the truck every 2 hours to ensure the engine didn´t freeze and we could get to Chile.

The next day we tried to get into Chile. When we arrived at the truck customs 5000 metres above the sea (snow on the floor) and in an old mine next to the geisers Pete was told the office was shut and he´d have to come back tomorrow! (His visa meant we had to go into Chile on this particular day)...Lisa was great and said no problem...I´ll get my group of 24 off the truck for showers and we´ll make up a camp in your office!....After an hour and a couple of calls to his boss he agreed to forge the paper work and signed the forms with his bosses signature!...Perfect! We were off into Chile.

As Alex said we upgraded in San Pedro. The lure of a hot shower and our own room to charge cameras and ipods was too much.

San Pedro was an interesting place. There are no bars or night clubs here and you can only have a drink if you order food. Every bar has its own open air courtyard in the centre of it and what looks like a well in the middle is actually an open fire. We discovered how the locals like to spend an evening in San Pedro - sit around the open fire, watch the stars, smoke spliffs and have a little music in the background....definately very chilled.

After we left San Pedro we had a very exciting treat. We stopped at a shopping centre!?..This seems a little strange but to us it was soo exciting. We had just spent the last few days in absolute isolation, no home comforts and little food. Here they had food and lots of it...even better brands that we knew! Each group split up and had to buy a meal E.g tonights dinner tomorrows dinner etc

Our next free camp was on the beach at Antofagasta. Antofagasta is a very interesting place. Huge sprawling shanty towns with a quaint beach with a famous arch rock or bridge (its on all the postcards). This is where my group (Penny, Matt & Steph) cooked an amazing chicken & vegetable stir fry with cashew nuts (great sauce Penny) and Amy made an amazing warm punch for us to enjoy whilst sitting on the beach. We had a very funny night, Helen admitted she was infact Lady Helen Campell (apparently it was a gift from Mike!), James and I had a good old gossip by the truck and kepty poor Pete awake....Steph was dramatic and sat on the edge of a cliff much to the distress of poor Pete and Lisa and I who couldn´t find her.....and Suria and Matt got it on!...or was it a gerkhin?! :-)

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Photos

The truck before it got really stuck and ended up on three wheels
....and before Alex jumped in the jeep and headed back to camp and left us all in the cold :-(

Three refugees
they think they´re cold!!??...They should have been outside with their flip flops and t-shirts on whilst the truck was dug out...that was cold!!

Our first basic Hostal on the altiplano
As we are so high the sky is a brilliant blue, the night sky is even better. More stars that you can ever imagine

"So this is the bucket you fill to flush the toilet!!??""
Its -20 outside and the wind blows right through the designer windows!

Helen, Shona, Ella & Rachael
Before we scare ourselves with ghost stories!!!

Comments

[Cynthia]

Hello
Hi Alex and Ella It looks amazing. I felt like joining you guys today. Here is cold but sunny but I would rather to be in the -20 with you both. Missing you. Love Cynthia xx