BACK TO OVERVIEW

Bolivia - Chile - Bolivia - Chile (12-17 nov. 1999)

After a long day of great sightseeing we reached Laguna Colorada (see Potpurri on previous page), where we went for a stroll along the lake. In fact, I went on another stroll, that is, to the salty hills looking like Snowboardland. Next, we spent our second last night in Bolivia (although we thought it would be the last one). We went up really early the next morning to be able to reach the geysers Sol de Ma�ana at sunrise. Unfortunately, we were a bit late, implying that the jeep was overstrained when driven to quickly. Hence, we enjoyed sunrise along Laguna Colorada while the driver was making a fire below the car. It was freezing cold and we were amazed by the flamingoes that were sleeping, standing in the frozen surface of water. Finally, we reached the geysers, which were quite amazing too. Then we reached some hot springs, where the guys of the group enjoyed a 40 degrees bath with surrounding degrees of frost. The views of Volc�n Licancabur (5916 m.a.s.) behind Laguna Verde were just tremendous (see the volcano on the previous page and below).

We were supposed to enter Chile at the end of the jeep tour. Anna managed to enter (see custom house above), but I threw the passport on the custom house officer's desk, which meant that we had to return to Bolivia. Unfortunately, we had no money to pay the trip back to Uyuni and the nearby village of San Pedro de Atacama offered no means of getting money, which meant that we were really in a fix mess. Happily, we had got to know some people on the jeep tour that we hoped would be kind enough to borough us some cash. Unfortunately, they had already left the customs, which meant that Anna had to leave me at the border to search for our friends in the village. A kind policeman gave Anna a lift and helped her to localize Steve, a kind Englishman that she thought would be of great help in this awkward situation. It wasn't too hard to find him, since he distinguished himself with a long beard that soon made him famous in the small village. Steve was as helpful as we had hoped for, and even joined Anna to the custom in an attempt to act as diplomat between me and the officer. I had already tried to make it up with him two times when Steve made his attempt. Unfortunately, the officer was stubborn as a mule because I had treated him like a dog, so we had to give up and concentrate on how to get back to Bolivia. Initially, I wanted to return to Bolivia alone and meet Anna in Calama later. However, Steve and a helpful German couple, Gisela and Eddi, convinced Anna that it wasn't such a good idea parting, so we decided to stay together. Instead, we would part as a couple when we finally reached Calama. That is, thirty-six hours travelling in vain (or rather for some passport throwing) didn't really promote our relation. However, before starting this 36h-detour we had to spend one night in a camping ground together with Steve, Gisela and Eddi. Steve really enjoyed meeting some people that had been travelling for longer time than himself. Gisela and Eddi were in fact an amazing couple, having travelled around the world in a home-made housecar for ten years before running out of savings. Now they earned their living by selling their travel video to some German TV show. How Steve had earned his living for nine years of travelling is still an enigma. On the other hand, he only ate papayas, which were really big and cheap in Bolivia...
      The 36h-detour consisted of a seemingly eternal twelve-hour jeep trip to Uyuni, one night in Uyuni, and then 24 hours on train together with Bolivian travelling sales(wo)men. I didn't throw the passport this time. Calama, the driest town on earth (rain never registered), didn't have too much to offer in terms of sightseeing.  However, I enjoyed meeting people that were surprisingly pleasant to be Chilean. Nevertheless, we didn't stay in Calama for more than one night. My dream of climbing the nearby volcano San Pablo (6100 m.a.s.) wasn't fulfilled. I didn't feel like pushing the matter to extremes after the San Pedro-incident. Anyway, Anna was really tired of ash and thin air after the Lauca trip. To be honest, I was also keen on reaching the warmth at sea level. We jumped on a bus taking us through the Atacama desert (see below) down to Antofagasta by the Pacific Ocean.

Chilean North Coast

Back to Soutwest Bolivia Potpurri