I
was up early to finish packing my bag and to get ready for the tour.
Fortunately I was one of the first people to be picked up so wasn’t left behind
like yesterday. I the bus I got chatting and met an awesome group and hopefully
we can all be in a car together.
We
waited at the border on Chile side to open before getting our passports
stamped. From here we drove an hour to the Bolivian side where there were 4x4's
parked everywhere waiting for all the passengers. We joined the queue to get
our entry stamps and everyone had their passports stamped and it was an easy
process until my turn came. I Was told my visa had expired because it was
issued last year and that I had to buy a new one (usd 60). I fought them a
little with no luck and then my driver came and told me to go for breakfast.
After
breakfast went back to fight some more and eventually got through this time (I
think he realised I was right after speaking to a colleague). My driver even
offered to pay the visa fee for me and I pay him back in Uyuni which was
amazing and so generous of him! Fortunately I didn't need his help.
Our
first stops were laguna verde and laguna blanco. It was cold here with the wind
blowing across the lagunas but the views were excellent. We looked across the
green water to see the mountains in the distance with some snow. It was just a
pity that there were so many people around (I hope the group splits up at some
point).
Along
the way we picked up a puncture so Milton (our driver) jumped into the roof to
grab the spare and proceeded to change to tyre while another car waited with
us. It wasn't a long wait but the tyres were in really bad shape as was the
rest of our car. It definitely was the runt of the litter and think it's
probably because Milton is the youngest driver, but we were still chugging
along.
From
here we went to the geysers which were bubbling and spitting out sulphuric
smelling smoke. We stayed here for a while and walked through the geysers
before heading back to the car. There was lots of chatting, laughing and
riddles in the car while we all got to know each other and also pass the time
(even though the views from the window were amazing with desert, snow capped
mountains, volcanos and rock formations.
The next stop was the hot springs where I jumped
in (very unelegently) in my underwear. The backdrop was a plain with some water
and vegetation and then more snow capped mountains in the distance. I enjoyed
the warm water for a while before drip drying in the wind and changing back
into my dry clothes.
From
here we went to our hostel where we put down our bags and had lunch (packet
mash n sausage). It started snowing just after lunch where we noticed our car had
another puncture. We showed Milton who sprung into action and first tried to
pump it up but after a while realised it also had to be changed and changed the
tyre in the snow. After fixing the puncture we got going again and made out way
to laguna roja which had lots of flamingoes and another amazing backdrop.
After
walking around for a while we went back to the hostel where we chilled for a
while before dinner. Dinner was soup followed by pasta with onion and tomato
sauce (not the greatest but it fills the gap). With dinner we drank lots of
wine and a few beers and chatted until the lights went out when we all made our
way to bed.
Our
maximum altitude for the day was close to 5000m and our hostel was at 4300m
which is definitely the highest I have been.