At the end of the 2nd day of a three-day journey across the Andes from Chile to Bolivia, I am in awe of the landscape we have seen. We left San Pedro, Chile early Tuesday morning to climb over 2000 meters (6000 feet) to reach the Chilean-Bolivian border, which was only reached by dirt road. After crossing the border in our tour's 4X4, the seven of us (5 British, our Bolivian driver and me, amazingly the group's translator) followed the gravel road for upwards of 6 hours. We passed numerous majestic Andean peaks, 2 gorgeous salt and borax lakes, a hot spring pool, and a series of shockingly hot sulfur geysers bubbling out of the ground. We ended the day at a very basic and shabby camp building on the edge of Lake Colorado, where microorganisms made both the water of the lake, and the flamingos that consumed them turn pink.
The climate in this area was absolutely otherworldly. Upon crossing the border and afterwards, we never descended below 4000 meters (about 12,000 feet), and at our highest point, the sulfur geysers, we were at 4870 meters, which is 15,290 feet! At this altitude, the mornings and evenings were freezing, while midday was warm. Of course, the air was also extremely thin, and I felt the effects of the altitude all day, through heavy breathing, a headache, and a drastically reduced appetite.
The second day had us continuing north through the unpopulated highlands of Bolivia, finding 2 magnificent rock formations and finding an amazingly reflective lake nestled between several peaks. After more than 8 hours of driving today, we stopped at a much more modern and comfortable dorm, which sits at the magnificent edge of the Salar de Uyuni (the Salt Flat of Uyuni). Tomorrow morning we will cross it.
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