Into the dark in Potosi

After our 4x4 trip, 11 members of the group decided to travel together to the mining town of Potosi.  It took us almost 2 hours to decide which tour company to go with.  In the end, 1 person decided not to go, 1 decided to go with a more established company and 9 of us went with a new miner owned, miner run company (The Real Deal).

First we suited and booted up.

Then we went to the miners' market to buy gifts for the miners.  This included coca leaves, dynamite and fuses and soft drinks.  We were also introduced to one of the miners' favourite drink, Ceibo (96% alcohol!)

At a refinery, we learned that 90% of the rock that is mined now is waste and the remaining 10% is silver, lead and zinc.  At the 500 year old mine, we met miners as young as 15 who work 10 hours a day.  Some of the mines are so deep that the miners don't see daylight for their entire shift.  So why work there? Miners can make up to 3 times more than other workers; however, their life expectancy is 50 to 60 years old.

Dark, cold, dusty, hot, suffocating, maze of tunnels...we were probably in the mine for less than an hour, but it was more than enough.  It was an experience we were glad we had as we can now empathise with the miners, but it's something we are happy never to do again.

Licancabur Part 2

We woke up at 2:15am and tried to eat the driest cheese sandwich ever with little success.  By 3:30am, we were walking in a line in the dark practicing our breathing.  We've never concentrated so hard on our breathing and our foot placement.  There was absolutely no room to think about anything else.

After an hour, the guide checked on how we were doing and we felt pretty confident because so far it was fairly easy.  At sunrise, we took a break to admire the amazing views. It was also good to get some light as Mauricio could not find the "path".


The climb became harder and Renato soon decided to stop.  The 2nd guide went back down the mountain with him.

Mauricio and Penguino picked up the pace, but we continued slow and steady.

After 9 hours of climbing, we decided not to continue ascending. We had made it to 5800m and only had 100m to go, but we were exhausted and we still had to get back down the mountain. The last part was really snowy and knowing that the last person who died on the Licancabur slid on the snow was not reassuring.  Mauricio and Penguino were nowhere to be seen so we decided to sit and wait for them to return.

Then the real challenge began.  It soon became obvious that Mauricio wanted to get down the mountain as fast as he could regardless of everyone else's pace or well being.  Penguino was showing a wide collection of altitude sickness symptoms: he was terribly ill, could hardly walk straight and wanted to sleep (a bad idea at 5500m).  Thankfully, youth, fitness and sheer determination were on his side.  Mauricio took off so we did our best to encourage Penguino to keep going.

The decent was difficult.

We walked blindly through snow patches that sometimes were knee deep.  We also slid down sections of sand and small rocks.  Even with poles, we often found ourselves on our butts.  We had forced down some nuts and granola bars along the way, but we had not had lunch and our minds and bodies were shattered.

We found Mauricio waiting for us near the bottom of the mountain.  After a 5 minute rest, he was ready to go.  Somehow Penguino found the strength to keep up with Mauricio's pace.  We could not and soon found ourselves by ourselves again.  The van was parked behind a hill and we soon lost sight of them.

At 4:45pm, Yumi hit a wall.  After a good 2 minute cry, we continued making our way down a steep, rocky hill.  We finally reached the van just after 5pm, over 13 hours after we began hiking.

Thomas confronted Mauricio about leaving us and his reply was that it is an "adventure tour" and that his job was to "guide" us up the mountain.  We needed to make our own way down.  Yumi was too tired to complain so in protest she kept the roll of toilet paper that the 2nd guide had given her earlier.  We were going to get something out of this fiasco!

There are very few photos of the day because we were too tired to get out our cameras.  Thomas was too out of it to realise that he should have been wearing sunglasses so ended up burning his eyes and the skin around it.  Yumi had been blowing her nose the entire time so ended up removing the sunscreen from her nose and ended up burning it.

We are disappointed that we didn't summit, but looking back on it, it would not have been worth it because we may not have had enough energy to make it back to the van.

Not bad for our first real mountain climb.

Licancabur Part 1

The morning of our departure to Licancabur is a hectic one.  We wanted to book our 3 day 4x4 tour to Uyuni, but found out that Yumi may have an issue with her Bolivian visa.  The issue: because we go to Bolivia to climb the mountain and then return to Chile and return to Bolivia with the tour, Yumi may have to pay an additional $50 on top of the $135 she will already have to pay.  As Mauricio says, "Thanks, George Bush."

In order to try and avoid the additional charge, we decide to stay in Bolivia.  It is then a mad rush to pack up our stuff, buy food and exchange money.  We leave our bags with the tour agency and take only our day packs with us.

With us on the climb is Mauricio, the 2nd guide Marcelo, "Penguino" born and raised in Ushuaia, Argentina and Renato from Brasil.  It is the first real mountain climb for all 4 of us.

At the Bolivian border, the border guard wants to keep Yumi's passport.  Thankfully, he likes Yumi's smile and her middle name ("Tina, like Tina Turner") and he lets her keep it.  

During dinner, Mauricio gives us a briefing on warning signs of altitude sickness.  Yumi is more worried getting altitude sickness than actually climbing the mountain.  As we drink coca tea, Mauricio explains that the whole coca thing is a myth.  We go to bed at 8pm for a 2am start.

Microsoft wallpaper, but for real

Today is a laguna and animal day.  We visit Laguna Chaxa and see flamingos up close and in flight.  At Lagunas Miscanti and Miniques we see more flamingos, black duck and vicunas.

Jorge has us walk dynamically for 45 minutes at 4300m to start our preparation for Licancabur.  We both find the walk very easy.  The scenery is stunning.  It reminds us f the Microsoft wallpaper with gold fields and blue sky, but it's better of course because it is real.

The next morning we get up at 4:30am to catch El Tatio geysers at sunrise.  To be honest, we weren't wowed by the geysers, but we were in left a bit stunned by the number of people who ignored warnings and would get very close to the 85 degree celsius water.

Day 2 of prep for Licancabur.  We are to climb Cerro Copacoya (5000m) for 45 minutes.  The climb is not hard on the legs, but we can hear our hearts pounding faster and harder than usual.  After climbing for almost an hour, we slide down the mountain.  Both Jorge and us are happy with how we coped with the altitude.

Later, we meet with Maurcio, the guide who will take us up Licancabur the following day.  No meat, chocolate or sugary alcohol tonight.  What were we planning to have for dinner?  Steak and pisco sour.  Oh well.  Pasta, it is then.  How is Thomas going to cope?

Day 2 in San Pedro

We start the morning with a guided tour of the Gustavo Le Paige's Archeology museum where we learn about plantlife in the area, the first peoples and the tools, pottery and weapons they made and the influence of the Tiwanakus, Incans and finally the Spanish.

Then we walk to Pukara de Quitor, a fortified village and then to a monument for the Indian chiefs who were beheaded.  The views of the oasis are breathtaking.  We also see Licancabur, the mountain we will attempt to climb in 4 days.

After lunch, we go for a refreshing and salty dip in Laguna de Cejar.  You can sit, stand straight up and swim on your belly with your feet out of the water with absolutely no effort.  Just don't get salt in your eyes like Thomas did.  Ouch!  Unfortunately, it is a injury day for Thomas.  While floating backwards, he ran into the side of the laguna and cut up his back.  Then while taking a jump photo, he jammed his finger while trying to strike a pose.

The great thing about having your own guide is that you are on your own time schedule.  We were able to take another dip in the laguna after all the tours had left.  We also had time to walk around the 2 other lagunas and see different types of salt formations.

In the evening, we pick up some empanadas and desserts and have once comida with Jorge and his family.  Once comida is tea time, a British tradition that has stuck in Chile.

San Pedro de Atacama, here we come!

We are on the move again.  This time we decide to splurge and pay £15 more to have the luxury seats for the 20 hour bus ride.  The seats recline to a completely horizontal position.  Don't be fooled by the "cama" seat option.  Cama means bed in Spanish.  It is comfortable and you get a leg rest, but it is nowhere near being a bed.

Although we are heading to the driest desert in the world, we arrive 2 hours late because heavy rains have damaged the roads.

We are looked after for the next 5 days by Jorge, a former guide to the rich and famous in Swiss and a self proclaimed "wild cat".

The first stop on our tour is Valle de la Muerte (Death Valley).  Earlier, we had seen places that offer sandboarding trips for 15,000 pesos.  We ask Jorge about it and he gets us a board for 3000 pesos!  What a deal, except neither one of us has ever been on a snowboard before.  Oh well, who needs lessons when the sand is soft.  The most difficult part is climbing up the hill.  At this altitude (2600m), it doesn't take long for us to be huffing and puffing, but the ride is definitely worth it.

We then rush over to Valle de Luna (Moon Valley) to try and catch the sunset..  All the tours are heading back to the car park by the time we arrive.  Although it was a bit dark by the time we get to the mirador, the views are still fantastic and it is so nice to have the place to ourselves.

Adios Argentina, Hola Chile!

We leave Argentina exactly one month after we arrived.  We really enjoyed our time there and are a bit sad to go, but it's time to carry on with our adventure.  After a 5 hour and an 11 hour bus ride, we reach the capital city of Santiago.  It reminds us a bit of LA; it is a modern city that is  spread out and full of smog.  Highlights include: a great view of the city from Cerro Santa Lucia; our first completos (hot dog with tomatoes, mayo and guacomole), a favourite Chilean snack;  a historic walking tour of the city; and a fantastic 1 month celebratory meal of chorrillana (a fried egg over steak and french fries) and caiprinhas.

The next day we head to Valparaiso, considered the cultural capital of Chile.  The first thing we do when we arrive...go to a thrift store and buy ourselves "new" shirts for £1.30 each.  What's for lunch?  Another completo, but this time Thomas gets The Grande. 

It looks like a rainbow exploded over Valparaiso because the houses, buildings, buses and shipping containers are all brightly coloured.  We take a funicular up to Cerro Artilleria -one of the 46 "mounts" in the city- to get a better view of the multi coloured landscape.