We've made it to Santiago, Chile, which is a great place for rest and relaxation. We are delighted to find free bathrooms (with toilet paper!), water we can drink from the tap, and lots of other developed country conveniences. We are less delighted by the developed world prices; street food has been a balm for the budget elsewhere.
This is the post for people who like photos, because Bolivia is hard to describe in any other way. We set out from from Uyuni, Bolivia (12,000 feet) for three days in the desert.
First, we rolled into the salt flats--a flat endless expanse of salt that looks like a lake from certain perspectives, and Arctic snow at other times.
The bizarrely flat nothingness (for lack of a better description) makes possible some of the fun photos that we've posted elsewhere. This was a fun hour or so.
We spent the night in an unheated salt hotel; the walls are made of blocks of carved salt and the floor is rock salt. The temperature plunges after dark.
The next day, we began climbing into completely different terrain. First, a more conventional desert, like the American southwest. (We're still fascinated by llamas--and now we can even tell the difference between a llama and an alpaca.)
Then, as we climbed as high as 15,000 feet, the terrain started to feel like a different planet.
As if things weren't weird enough, there is a species of flamingo indigenous to the region.
We rolled into another lodge (around 15,000 feet) around sunset. The views were much better than the sleeping. It was unheated, and just walking to the bathroom caused huffing and puffing. We all climbed into our sleeping bags in our clothes.
This is why we are now spending a few days just hanging out in Santiago!
This is the post for people who like photos, because Bolivia is hard to describe in any other way. We set out from from Uyuni, Bolivia (12,000 feet) for three days in the desert.
First, we rolled into the salt flats--a flat endless expanse of salt that looks like a lake from certain perspectives, and Arctic snow at other times.
There are even "islands"--little deserts that jut out of the salt.
Here is the "making of" photo that shows how they are done.
The next day, we began climbing into completely different terrain. First, a more conventional desert, like the American southwest. (We're still fascinated by llamas--and now we can even tell the difference between a llama and an alpaca.)
Then, as we climbed as high as 15,000 feet, the terrain started to feel like a different planet.
As if things weren't weird enough, there is a species of flamingo indigenous to the region.
We rolled into another lodge (around 15,000 feet) around sunset. The views were much better than the sleeping. It was unheated, and just walking to the bathroom caused huffing and puffing. We all climbed into our sleeping bags in our clothes.
This is why we are now spending a few days just hanging out in Santiago!
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ReplyDeletesweet...i love the atacama. they have some pretty radical urban bike decents in valparaiso--if you check them out, see if they wear helmets!
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