Bolivia - Sol de Mañana

17-09-2011

Woke at four to get to the geysers. I have never been colder in my life, layers and layers of clothing yet I am chilled to the bone.

The geysers though were worth it, as with everything else this was our first time at a geyser. At nearly 4900m above sea level, the geysers at dawn were a wonderful sight. The first one gushed through a small hole in the ground, reaching up a few meters. The others were more widespread, one was like a whirlwind while the others were more gentle creating a sulfuric mist between the craters. The water and the mud in the craters bubble, the surrounding soil is grey and green and very hard to get off the shoes.

Passed a few lakes with flamingoes still fast asleep.Breakfast was at the hot springs, had I been better I think they would have been lovely to soak in but no one from our two tours went in. The steam covered the whole lake and with the light just filtering through the clouds the bathers looked very mysterious.

Lake Verde, the green lake, was next. Not as obviously green as the red lake was red but more a green tint, containing arsenic. It made up for it's lack of colour with the reflection of the surrounding mountains, really beautiful. This is the closest we got the Chilean border, had to turn back here to head to Uyuni.

We drove past Lake Colorado, a different view this time, quite a few volcanoes along the way. Beautiful landscapes had us admiring the view the whole way through. Passed many more trucks on this route as this is the road used by the mining companies. One even tried to swerve into us but the ever smiling ( and cocoa chewing) Ismail managed to evade it and save our lives ( our hero).

Back in Uyuni in the evening, had a nice surprise. The Dragoman tour was a day early into Uyuni due to a protest in La Paz. Had dinner with them and managed to say goodbye properly this time. Jen and George left too and it's back to just Jeevan and me.

The last three days, inspite of poor health, has been some of the best in this year.




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