Our driver, Ernesto, met us at 8am and took us over the pass that had recently been closed owing to heavy snowfall in the mountains. The Bolivian border is close, so it wasn't long before we reached the offices to 'check out' from Chile.
Venturing on, we rounded Licancabur volcano, revealing the side we hadn't yet seen. Pulling off the tarmac road onto an unsurfaced track, we continued the final 5km to the tiny Bolivian immigration office
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| Border crossing |
The formalities and a stamp in our passports was quick and painless. Once we emerged from the office, we found that Ernesto had set out a small breakfast table with bread, cheese, avocado, pan dulce, and jam. This was an unexpected surprise and went down very well.
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| Impromptu breakfast |
Being at the border, we had to switch to a new car and driver, as Ernesto, being Chilean, cannot drive us into Bolivia. We were introduced to Wilson, our driver, and Janet, our English I speaking guide. Yes, we should be practising our Spanish, but we booked this trip long before we had considered whether our language prowess would be up to scratch and, frankly, it isn't.
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| Our transport |
Entering Eduardo Avaroa national park, named in honour of the man who fought against Chile in the war over land, we found ourselves in yet another unbelievable landscape.
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| White lake |
On the opposite side of active volcano Putama, which was smoking away as ever, we were confronted by the frozen white lake. The thick surface was host to a few ducks, gamely skidding about, while their food remained locked under a few inches of ice.
The water from the white lake feeds the neighbouring green lake. Its distinctive colour, albeit not as deep today as in summer, is due to concentration of arsenic and copper.
I was surprised at the presence of ducks in this inhospitable environment, but much fauna survives here. We were approached by a little fox - although not dangerous, we were safely in the confines of the vehicle. The Andean fox is known locally as soro.
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| Andean fox |
We passed by a dune full of isolated rocks, which reminded someone so much of a Dalí painting that they named it after him. Perhaps with long shadows courtesy of the low sun and a few more melting clocks, I could grant it this similarity. The nearby peaks showed the telltale signs of having once been sulfur mines.
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| Sulfur mine |
Arriving at a geothermically heated hot water pool, I was sceptical. The last pool we visited at this altitude turned out to be an endurance test, but we were guaranteed that the water was heated to 37°C. It was bliss. The outside air temperature was chilly and so stripping off our layers seemed like a crazy thing to do. Still, we joined the other contented-looking bathers and melted into the environment, much like one of Dalí's clocks.
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| Genuinely hot hot pools |
Having warmed up significantly, we were treated to a simple, but most welcome lunch of pasta, vegetable fritters, mushroom salad, and vegetables.
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| Fuel |
The sights took a turn for the dramatic in the afternoon. Our next stop was the geysers "sol de mañana".
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| Geysers |
At 4960m, this was the highest point of the tour. Having seen bubbling mud pits, and sulfurous, roiling fumeroles in New Zealand, I was not expecting the energetic and impressive scene that we came upon. The Earth below the surface was barely contained and gaping holes gave forth explosions of mud so violent that they spattered us even from a conservative distance.
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| Stand well back |
Having been stunned by power of the geysers, we were not prepared for the next vista.
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| Laguna colorada |
The red lake - tinted by the presence of certain algae - emerged out of the otherwise brown landscape like a pool of rusty blood. It was as though someone had a splashed the hills with a palette of primary colours - red water, green algae, yellow grass, all set off by the blue sky and white salt. Against these blocks of colour, we were arrested by the sight of hundreds of coral-pink flamingos.
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| Incredible sights |
In the foreground, placid llamas - both brown and white - munched at the stiff yellow grass. Their ears were decorated in the traditional style.
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| All the rage at Accessorize |
Driving into the retreating sun, all semblance of roads were lost. The tracks of other vehicles were a blur, as each driver forged their own path through the rocky desert. The wind had picked up and demonstrated its artistic potential with a collection of rocks hewn into elegant forms. One of these, sculpted into an improbably tapered, top-heavy shape, resembles a tree and is so named the árbol de piedra.
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| Bugger to prune |
The day contained some incredible and surreal sights, whose existence - without the proof of our own eyes - we would surely have denied. In amongst these was our final destination, Hotel Tayka del Desierto, our lodgings in the middle of an otherwise deserted... well, desert.
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| Bivouac |
This was an unexpected oasis of plushness. However, given the feat of having a hotel in the desert, there are understandable foibles. The water is solar-powered and we were advised to take a shower as a first priority before it ran out. The electricity (also solar-powered) goes off at 10pm, but I am amazed that there exists any semblance of civilisation in this isolated area of Bolivia, let alone one that serves a wonderful three-course meal.
We enjoyed cream of vegetable soup, followed by aubergine fritters, rice and vegetables, and finished with a chocolate flan. Then, we settled down for a night in the middle of the desert at 4,600m elevation.
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