Atacama Desert and Crossing the Atiplano Salt plains

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Greetings from La Paz, Bolivia. The internet here is sooo slow that it has just taken me the best part of 40 minutes to read 3 messages. So, thanks to all of you who have written, and I will try to reply when I next get to a computer with a decent connection!

The last few weeks have been mad since leaving Pucon (the volcano place) where I last e-mailed. We went straight up to Santiago, the capital of Chile, and met up with a Chilean friend who took us to his house and made us a home cooked meal (not had one of those in a while) and then drove us into the mountains to see Santiago by night. We could spot our hotel, the Sheraton, shining brightly...!??

When you think of Chile, what do you think of...wine! WE visited a winery about an hour south of Santiago called “Concha y Toro” which is quite famous apparently. We were given several free samples but, unfortunately, we’d forgotten to buy water the night before and had had no time in the morning, so we arrived at the winery parched. Therefore, instead of sipping the wine leisurely and appreciating the aroma and taste etc. etc. it was too tempting to just guzzle it down! Not very cultured! Mind you, I am sure our guide would have been horrified to discover that we’d been drinking boxed wine for US$1 the whole time in Chile! I was working up the courage to be a smart-arse and ask our guide if Concha y Toro produced boxed wine for a dollar or less, but in the end bottled it (no pun intended!).

From Santiago we took a night bus straight up to the tiny village of San Pedro de Atacama, which is in the middle of the Atacama Desert in Northern Chile. The village was really quaint, with dusty streets and tiny white-washed buildings . All around was the desert, with the snow-capped Andes in the distance. It immediately became my favourite place in South America so far.

We took several day trips from San Pedro, including one to the “Valley de la Luna” (Moon Valley). There used to be a huge salt lake there until it dried up, leaving the salt plains. It was really strange to be stood in the heat of the desert with a dusting of white all around you, giving the impression of snow! We climbed to the top of a giant sand dune to watch the sun set before heading back to the hostel for a “drip” instead of a shower - I guess that’s the price you pay for staying in the desert!

Our crossing from Chile to Bolivia was fun. We took a 4-wheel drive trip for three days, crossing the antiplano to Uyuni. We saw so many things, from strange rock formations, lakes of every colour, snow-capped peaks, and tonnes of wildlife including pink flamingoes, chinchillas (cute rabbit-like creatures) and, my favourite, the llamas. The llamas had really cute and comical faces, accentuated by the pink material tags in their ears. I was horrified to arrive at a hut for one of our meals and see a llama skin stretched out in the sun to dry. A few moments later, a cook peeked her head out of the kitchen door just long enough to throw a bowl of blood onto the dusty ground. Obviously that poor llama had met a sticky end. I was so glad when they brought out only bread and jam for breakfast!

Our last stop on the trip was the “Salar de Uyuni” (Uyuni Salt Plains). They were under about a foot of water instead of being in their usual cracked and parched state due to extra rain this year caused by El Nino. In the middle is the salt hotel which, as the name suggests, is made entirely of salt - salt walls, salt chairs and tables, salt bed bases...I kept wondering if the table would melt if you spilt your coffee on it!

After the trip we made a quick stop in Potosi, the highest city in the world. We went on a trip to a silver mine which was pretty scary. It is still a working mine and they get about £70 a month and work in terrible conditions. The average life-span is only about 30 so it’s a pretty miserable life.

We are now in La Paz, capital of Bolivia. It is a nice city built in a basin with poor housing stretching up into the hillside all around. The markets here and really colourful and interesting with the women all wearing traditional dress, most carrying a baby on their backs wrapped in a brightly coloured cloth. We’ve spent today e-mailing, shopping, relaxing and making the most of our first hot shower for a while. I think the concept of hot showers will be a thing of the past as soon as we reach Peru - boo hoo. Off to lake Titicaca tomorrow, which is the highest navigable lake in the world.

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Photos

Dusty Streets of San Pedro
My favourite place in South America so far

The Salt hotel
Every thing inside was made from salt too

Llama
My favourite animal in South America

Piles Of Salt
Crossing the Altiplano to Uyuni

Flamingos