It was our first day on the Island and we were lucky enough to see this amazing sunset. #travel #photo #lp
Showing posts with label Chile. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chile. Show all posts
Thursday, 2 September 2010
Monday, 24 May 2010
A Unique Border Crossing into Bolivia
It was time to cross the border into Bolivia. Having spoken to a few people about it, this journey across the Andes was one of the highlights of their trip. We were both excited and nervous as we were now in the hands of Estrella Del Sur, the tour agency we had picked to take us across. It had been recommended to us by fellow travellers, and from the reviews of all the agencies on line it seemed pot luck as to whether you would get a good trip or not. There were horror stories about drivers being drunk, the 4x4’s breaking down, and shockingly, not enough food or water being provided.
We’d spent 4 days in San Pedro de Atacama and we hoped that it was enough to acclimatise to the high altitude. Our next stop was going to be over 4000m and we would be getting as high as 4800m during our trip and there was a real possibility of altitude sickness.
The night before the tour we had to confirm if the pass between Chile and Bolivia was open as it had been snowing and for the last three days it had been closed. Lucky for us it was open and we were good to go. The tour was 2 nights/ 3 days and on the first day we were picked up at our hotel at 8. We then headed off around San Pedro to pick up the others that we would be sharing the tour with - Marcus and Andrea who were from Switzerland and Rebecca who was Australia but had been living the UK for a number of years and now was returning home on a slightly circuitous route.
The first part of the journey was on a bus to the Bolivian border at 4300m. We raced up to the border in about an hour which was totally against any advice we’d read, which says you should only go up 300m a day once you get to 2500m. Here we checked out of Chile and got stamped into Bolivia for 90 days. A good result for us as there was a chance we would only get 30 days on our stamp, but our trip in Bolivia was going to last 31 days. I have to say out of all the border crossings we’ve done over the last 11 months, this was by far the easiest.
At the border crossing we met our driver Alberto a 21 year old Bolivian and had a bit of breakfast. We’d already had breakfast at out hostel and all the advice was to eat lightly to avoid altitude sickness, so both of us settled for a hot Milo. A good start as it was pretty cold at the border, due to the high altitude. It was also the first chance to get to know our companions for the next 3 days and I had a good feeling that we would all get on.
We packed up the 4x4 and set off on our adventure, it soon became apparent that it was going to be pretty cold as we were surrounded by snow. It was also going to be a thrilling ride as Alberto had a heavy foot, zipping along at breakneck speeds. The speedometer was broken so I never really knew how fast we were going during the tour but it felt FAST!
The first stop was at Laguna Blanca (White Lake). With the recent snow fall it definitely looked white and was the start of some of the most dramatic landscape I’ve ever seen.
On our trip we saw many lakes, the next was supposed to be one of the most impressive, Laguna Verde ( Green Lake). Again due to the snowfall it was less green, however with a backdrop of Volcan Licancabur it still made for a very imposing view
We’d been going a few hours on the first day and about midday we arrived at Polques Hot Springs. This was a chance for us to take a dip, partly because they were there at 4400m above sea level and partly because our first nights accommodation was described as basic with no chance of a shower. I was really reluctant to strip off and get in as it was so cold. However as our fellow companions eased themselves in and gushed about how wonderful it was I was persuaded to get in. It was really like stepping into a hot bath and was a wonderful experience, once in though it was much harder to step back out into the cold!
Our next stop, after having dried off really quickly and gotten back in the 4X4 was Geyser Sol de Manana, which would be the highest point of our trip at 4800m. I’d already started to notice that even the slightest bit of effort would make my heart pound and breathing was becoming more laboured as the air thinned at altitude. At the geyser I made sure I walked around slowly trying not to exert myself. Another tip is to take it easy at altitude to avoid sickness. One of the things I’ve been doing on our trip around the world is having a jumping picture at different locations. Being at probably the highest point on our entire trip I couldn’t resist. Not the best thing to do at high altitude but as our timing has got pretty good, it only took one go.
Our final stop of the day was at Laguna Colorada (Red Lagoon). Before we headed there we stopped off at our very basic accommodation for the night at Hostal Hualla Jara at 4300m. Taking one look we all knew we were going to be in for a cold night. It was freezing and the sun was still high in the sky. I did also notice the beds were made out of concrete – interesting.
Laguna Colorada was our first chance to see some of the wildlife of the area. It wasn’t ‘peak season’ if you like as most of the Flamingos had migrated to warmer climes for the winter but we got to see some hardy flamingos and Vicuñas. The latter are like Llamas but smaller and can survive at higher altitudes.
One of our fears was that there was not going to be enough food on the trip but there was no problem of that sort. Both at lunch and then dinner that evening food was plentiful. Being full didn’t make it any easier though as it was hard to see the sun go down and, as predicted, for the cold to take over. After dinner we did not hang around for long, all of us were tucked in by 9. Luckily Jono and I had hired sleeping bags as without them I think it would have been twice as cold as it was. The night was long with not much sleep for any of us. I discovered the next day we mostly had the same experience – we were all really cold and wide awake for most of the night. It could have been the cold but we had our suspicions that it may have been something to do with the coca tea we had. The locals use coca to help with altitude sickness as before we went to bed we were nearly all suffering from throbbing headaches which was one of the early symptoms of altitude sickness. The next day I ‘awoke’ to the worst headache I’ve had in ages. As soon as there was a glimpse of light I was up. A couple of neurofen and a hot chocolate later (caffeine is also bad at altitude) I started to feel better. I was so pleased to see the sun.
The second day was another packed day of sightseeing as we continued on our way into Bolivia. We started off by having a look at some rock formations named Arbol De Piedra (Stone Tree).
On our way to the next sites we helped another 4x4 which had got stuck in the snow. We saw more wildlife with the most interesting being a very curious fox..
We had lunch at the picture perfect Laguna Hedionda..
The flora was interesting along the way too.
And generally got time to enjoy the dramatic landscape.
That night we arrived at what Jono and I thought would be a salt hotel to stay in. Somewhere, either we got our wires crossed or we were lied to by the tour company but we ended up at a village called Villa Martin at a little homestead. My disappointment was soon forgotten as I got a warm shower and some more decent food. That and with the prospect of a much warmer night at only 3600m and being able to breath just a little easier I was content.
The next morning was an early start as we were on the road by 5am to get to our destination of Salar De Uyuni, the salt flats, for sunrise. This turned out to be one of the highlights of the last 11 months for me. The salt flats were an ethereal place. As we ventured onto the salt flat in the 4X4 it was the smoothest ride we’d had for a while. Alberto also turned off the headlights and it felt like we were gliding along at high speed into the twilight. We eventually stopped somewhere on the salt flats and got a chance to get out and watch one of the most memorable sunrises I have ever seen.
The following are set of pictures I wanted to share with you from that morning.
Sun shines out of my ..., Salar De Uyuni, Bolivia
Contemplation, Salar De Uyuni, Bolivia.
Jump, Salar De Uyuni,Bolivia
After the sunrise we went off the nearby ‘island’, Isla Incahuasi, which was covered by a cacti forest. We wandered around for a while to have a look and then tucked into another great breakfast
While tucking into breakfast I wasn’t expecting to see an ostrich.
Leaving the island and the ostrich behind us we were off to our next destination – the first salt hotel to be built in the area.
The hotel is pretty much in the middle of nowhere and is made entirely out of salt and is also surrounded by salt
Further on we saw that the salt is still collected and sold for what I think is household use.
I was really sorry to leave the salt flat as I thought it was a magical place. The landscape started to change again and there was noticeable more evidence of life. We made a pit stop at a little village which was very used to seeing tourists.
It was a chance to get a few souvenirs for those of us who had space in our backpacks and for me to people watch. It was the first glimpse for me of life in Bolivia.
As the third day was coming to an end we were on our way to Uyuni, our first real town in Bolivia at 3600m. There was one last thing to see before we got there, a railway cemetery, where forgotten locomotives from the first railway in South America had been abandoned. For me it wasn’t the locomotives that will be memorable but the amount of rubbish strewn over the parched desert landscape. I have to say it’s the worst I’ve seen anywhere on our travels. I think I must have been too shocked to take a picture.
That was it, we made our way into the centre of Uyuni and checked into a hostel for the night. We still had some daylight left so we took a look around Uyuni, which in comparison to what I had seen around the outskirts was a pleasant surprise. It was relatively clean and pretty lively but nothing to keep us there for more than one night.
The trip was at an end and the 3 days had been amazing, the scenery was gorgeous and we had really lucked out with the company of Marcus, Andrea and Rebecca. That final evening we tucked into some of the best pizza we’ve come across with our new friends. It had been a great start to our time in Bolivia. Next, waiting for us was our first taste of the notoriously bad Bolivian roads by bus.
Saturday, 22 May 2010
Acclimatising in San Pedro De Atacama, Chile
A novel way of doing the border crossing from Chile to Bolivia is to do a tour of the Salar de Uyuni, starting in the Chilean town of San Pedro de Atacama and finishing in the Bolivian town of Uyuni after three days in a four wheel drive. We were really looking forward to this trip, but the first step was getting to San Pedro de Atacama, in the north-east of Chile.
We took a bus from Copiapo directly to San Pedro, which took about 12 hours. A lot of people do this trip overnight because it’s so long, but we chose to do it during the day so we could see the countryside. It was really interesting. We saw the desert go from a little bit of life (cacti etc) to no life at all. The mineral-rich landscape zipped past throughout the day, along with the odd little settlement and a few larger towns, such as Antofagasta and Calama. We arrived in San Pedro at 8:30pm, and then walked to the hostal we’d booked – Hostal Elim. Our room was lovely and warm, in contrast to the cold desert air of the night. We both felt a little dizzy after walking with our heavy backpacks – I think this was owing to the 2400m altitude!
The first thing we noticed about San Pedro de Atacama (apart from the chilly air and clear night sky) was that it was really busy! In Chile it was the off season while we were there, but San Pedro was packed with “gringos” (foreigners). I think that on the first evening we saw more fellow tourists than in the rest of Chile combined! Apparently it’s even more packed in the high season, but even at this time of year it seemed like there were more tourists than locals. There is a good variety of restaurants in San Pedro, and even on that first night we sampled one of the quieter ones which had some decent pasta to help our spinning heads and upset stomachs!
Admittedly, San Pedro de Atacama was a stop for us to acclimatise to the higher altitude before we ascended further, and we used it to do a lot of planning for the next part of our trip. We did do a few things about town however. What did not help was that on the first morning of our stay, we awoke in one of the driest places on earth – to rain! To be honest, it wasn’t exactly pouring down, but it was drizzling steadily, sometimes picking up a little to sort-of-rain. The locals seemed a little worried – it hardly ever rains in San Pedro, so they were on the roof of our hotel putting down rain-proof sheets. When we put on our raincoats and went for a walk we didn’t see San Pedro’s signature mountainous views and clear skies, all we saw was grey cloud and haze into the distance! We were really worried that our whole four night stay would be in the rain. So we decided to make the most of the bad weather and had a look around the town, and spoke with a few tour agencies – both for our Salar de Uyuni trip and also for some tours more locally around San Pedro.
The following day we awoke to better weather – some low cloud over the hills but generally a clear sky otherwise. We decided to book a tour to see the Valley of the Moon, a famous desert valley just a few kilometres from town. Later that day we were picked up by our tour van along with a few other people, and began our tour of the Valley of the Moon. The first stop was the Valley of Death – supposedly named so due to the complete lack of life and water in the valley (despite the previous day’s rainfall!). It was really windy – in my opinion it’s named the Valley of Death because people get blown off the edge!
Next up we drove to a viewpoint overlooking the Valley of the Moon and San Pedro – this gave us a good perspective on where we were headed. The landscape was very dramatic, and I was impressed.
After this, we went to Cari’s Broken, a part of the Valley of the Moon which used to be a river valley. It was really interesting to see the ways in which the water had shaped the rocks – there were some amazing formations. Some of the rock contained large, clear chunks of salt which were smooth to the touch – like glass or warm ice.
The next stop was the Three Maria’s – three chunks of rock which apparently look like the praying Maria. Personally, I saw a snake, a frog and a hand rather than three identical women, but I suppose it’s open to interpretation – especially if you really want it to look like something!
Our final stop was sunset at the giant sand dune. Mahmoud’s been to San Pedro de Atacama before, and when he was last here you could climb the sand dune. Not so this time – we were only permitted to walk up the rocky hill next to it, which overlooks the sand and has a spectacular view of the mountains overlooking San Pedro on the Bolivian border. The sunset was beautiful, and as we watched the clouds peeled away from the mountains, leaving them bathed in pink light and revealing their dramatic snow-capped peaks. Stunning!
This was a really good sign of things to come. The next day the weather was absolutely perfect – not a cloud in the sky. This was a day of getting things done. We booked our trip to Bolivia with a tour agency called Estrella del Sur and bought lots of supplies in preparation for said trip. We also went for a walk on the outskirts of town and a little way out into the desert. This enabled us to get some photos and video of the scenery away from the hustle and bustle of town – the beautiful, clear weather helped with that! That evening we met up with some people that Mahmoud knew from Twitter. They were New Zealanders on an extended trip – interesting to chat to, especially as they’d just come from Bolivia, doing the same trip as we were about to do!
All in all, San Pedro de Atacama was a nice place to spend a few days. We got acclimatised to the (relatively) high altitude and the cooler nights. We also had a good time seeing some of the sights of the Atacama Desert. It was a great farewell to Chile – and it was about to be a great prologue to Bolivia.
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
Lazy time in La Serena
The journey from Valparaiso to La Serena was uneventful. Like the other journey we’d done in Chile, the bus left on time and arrived on time, if not a little early.
It was my second time in La Serena, the first was in 2003. As we wandered around it all looked very familiar, the Plaza De Armas was the same, the shops were a little newer but the place had the same feel about it – relaxed but everyone getting on with their lives. One of the first things we did was take a walk to the beach, on the way we stopped at the Faro Monumental, La Serena’s emblem. As we walked down to it I was telling Jono how it smelt of pee the last time was I there and oddly as we approached the same aroma hit our noses, so we didn’t hang around for long.
Last time I was here I did a tour to the local observatory to see the stars as it’s pretty much guaranteed to be cloud free once you get out of La Serena and into the hills. We’d already seen the stars in New Zealand at Lake Tekapo, so this time we opted to take a trip out to the Elqui Valley. The valley is nestled in between the Andes and has a mico climate which makes it an important growing region for Chile and provides some dramatic landscapes.
We headed off into the valley early in the morning on an organised tour, stopping at points of interest along the way. It was a cloudy and cold morning in La Serena but as soon as we had left the outskirts the sun started to peak out and a few KM’s into the valley we had cloudless skies. Our tour guide, Hector, even promised our money back if we didn’t see the sun when we booked the tour, so he must have been sure.
The tour took in the Pulclaro Dam, the quaint towns of Vacuna, Pisco Elqui and Montegrande. Along the way Hector gave us facts about the area – the region is good for growing grapes both for eating, wine and making pisco. He did have this trick of asking questions to make sure you were listening! It was like being back at school as the questions he asked me I never got right.
Each town we saw was centred around a square which I loved. It gave a really relaxed community feel to the town. I think that town planners back home could learn a lot from that! One of the stops along the way was to Gabrielle Mistral’s house, I didn’t know who she was before the trip. What I found out was the Chileans are very proud of her as she was the first Noble prize winning poet in South America.
We were also shown around a Pisco factory. The ownership of the drink is hotly contested with Peru. Hector did explain that that Peru may have made Pisco first but Chile was the one to patent it, so technically Chile owns Pisco. The tour around the factory was interesting, especially seeing all the grapes being delivered in huge trucks. Oddly later that day both Jono and I had craving for grapes.
Most of the houses we saw were made of Adobe and brightly coloured, really lovely.
Back in La Serena we did a lot of wandering around taking in the atmosphere of the place. We also had some of our cheapest meals that we’d had anywhere so far. We were recommended a little place off the beaten track, which served either fish, chicken or meat for 3000 pesos for two people including a soft drink. That’s about £4 which was great for the budget. Chile itself is pretty expensive and it was great to find a cheap eat.
While in La Serena we took a look at what we had left planned before we head home in June. The plan was to spend pretty much equal amounts of time in Bolivia and Peru when we left Chile. We decided that we didn’t want to rush through Bolivia and Peru so made the decision to give Peru a miss this time and spend the time in Bolivia. This left us with a problem, as we still needed to get to Lima in Peru to fly home. As this is part of our ticket we could not change it. What we decided to do was add a leg into our round the world ticket from La Paz in Bolivia to Lima just before we are due to fly home.
My Spanish is pretty basic but it’s getting us by and trying to something specialised like add a leg into a round the world ticket in Spanish proved to be pretty difficult. Partly due to my lack of the correct vocabulary and the complicated system Lan Air use it took over two hours, and that’s no exaggeration! We did manage to get it done and I think the lady at the Lan Air office was happy to see the back of us when it was all done. The upshot of it all is we have about five weeks in Bolivia which we are much happier with and fly to Lima a few days before we head back home.
Our time in La Serena was pretty relaxing; La Serena was definitely warmer than further south which was definitely a welcome change. As Chile was entering into autumn we were not used to the cold, it was definitely a shock to the system not to be in shorts all the time.
Luckily we were headed further north towards the driest desert in the world in Atacama, so it would definitely be warmer. To get there we had the option of doing an overnight bus journey which neither of us wanted to do. For me the chairs on the bus are way too small to try and sleep and you don’t get to see the lovely scenery. We opted to do a seven hour hop to Copiapo, a non-descript town which owes its existence to mining. Once in Copiapo we had enough time to take a quick look around and have something to eat. And as to prove my point the square in the town was full of activity, which gave the town a really nice vibe. While we were out there was a dance festival going on.
The following morning we got back on another bus and headed to San Pedro De Atacama which was at 2400m and located in the driest desert in the world. I was looking forward to getting back to somewhere warm.
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