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| Morning in the Jeep |
Our little group started the day at 5am this time. You can be sure that whenever you go to watch geysers, you'll be awaken at dawn. Why? Because the steam of these volcanic gases is the most visible when the weather is the coldest. In the early morning. In winter it means -10 degrees.
Brrr!
Shame on
us, but we kind of skipped the geyser part. We stopped with the jeep, jumped out, took a picture, and jumped back in the car. The Chilean geysers were larger and more spectacular so this time I was happy to be covered in my sleeping bag at
the back of the Jeep.
The next stop was the natural thermal baths. Again, I tried this in Chile,
so I generously gave the opportunity to my group members to take off their clothes in the minus degrees and experience the bath. The
water, however, was warm so I managed, at least, to dip my toes into it, watching the
braver ones from the shore.
The last stop supposed to be the Green Lake. This time of the year it was frozen, and we did not even see much of water in the valley. After the fast picture taking we ran to the Chilean border where I had an interesting fight with a tour guide who did not want to let me in a shelter from the cold, because it would have meant an intervention into the breakfast of his group. So I entered, and was feeling the killing eyes of the guide on me. After an hour if shaking in the snowy mountains the bus left and we soon crossed the Chilean border. Then we started to descend and we arrived in San Pedro de Atacama again. Back in Chile!
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| The thermal bath - playground for the brave |
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| My brave ones: Myriam, Dan, Sylvain & Augustin |
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| With Annie dipping toes. Where is Mauricio? |
The last stop supposed to be the Green Lake. This time of the year it was frozen, and we did not even see much of water in the valley. After the fast picture taking we ran to the Chilean border where I had an interesting fight with a tour guide who did not want to let me in a shelter from the cold, because it would have meant an intervention into the breakfast of his group. So I entered, and was feeling the killing eyes of the guide on me. After an hour if shaking in the snowy mountains the bus left and we soon crossed the Chilean border. Then we started to descend and we arrived in San Pedro de Atacama again. Back in Chile!
Completing the 3-day tour made me a proud survivor of the altitude, the cold and the tight pace. I was happily stepping through the Chilean border and hereby completing my 10-day long Bolivian circle.
Thank you to my team for these
unforgettable 3 days: Annie (Australia) - who saw snow for the first time in her life on our 3rd day; Myriam (Canada) - who were protesting for the Canadian students even from Bolivia; Mauricio (Brazil) - who had such a passion for his city, Rio de Janeiro; Augustin
(Canada) - who always felt warm in the back of the jeep; Sylvain (Belgium) - who was the best cumbia singer ever; and my favorite 'amigo', Daniel (US) - who gave me much more than what he thinks!
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| Time to say good bye - at the Chilean-Bolivian border |
Hobby writer and autodidact photographer whose passion is to travel and get to know new people and cultures. She has been on 4 continents and 30 countries, and the outcome is this travel blog where she shares travel stories, thoughts, tips and photography always through a subjective eye.
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