An early morning for most (a lie in for me!) had us leaving the land of salt and heading South. I was feeling fairly refreshed after what was my best night's sleep yet, and enjoyed looking at the changing landscape on the way to our first stop. This was a small village, where we bought some essentials, used what was apparently the last bano for a while, and hiked up to a small monument. This gave us a good view of the town, which was fairly well looked after (there were roofs, render and not too much rogue rebar) as well as a pretty river and footbridge. The town was very quiet though, and on the way out we discovered that most of the locals were working (or appearing to work) on the road out of the town. For the privilege of passing through, we were charged one 2L bottle of water.
Further on along this road, the valley opened up to include a flat green river bed (more like a stream at this dry time of year) which was being grazed on by many llamas. We strolled amongst them, keeping far enough away not to scare them, yet close enough to capture them on camera. Also amongst them were a number of ibis and flamingos, which were fascinating too.
Next for us to look at was a plant that is native to these parts. Liking the altitude, it had a very fine moss appearance and colour. It's shape was bulbous, with spherical nodules, and it stood out against the ragged red rock. Inspecting the plant was a chilly process, and from here on our stops were to get progressively more exposed to the wind and colder.
Saying that, the lunch spot was sheltered, with a great view of a lagoon in the distance. Here we were instructed to use "llama banos" (hide behind piles of rock) before walking on up the hill whilst the guide packed away lunch - which had included plantain, yum! Although I do like a post-meal stroll, at 14,500 ft this just didn't have the same pleasure factor as normal, and by the time I got back into the jeep I was feeling fairly nausious.
Fortunately, there was more stunning scenery to distract me. Also, our guide, Alberto, has a collection of different memory sticks with music on, and the pink one seemed to be mostly to my taste (plenty of Black Eyed Peas and Sean Paul...), so this made the long journeys more enjoyable than otherwise....
We reached a big bowl-like area, within which was a whiteish lagoon, and a tornado! Avoiding the latter, we parked up and I got out to get a closer look at the lagoon, which was full of flamingos. I could watch flamingos for a long time - their flight and wingspan is beautiful, and their walking style is a lot more elegant than mine.
Back in the jeep and still feeling quite sick, I decided that the time had come to resort to the cocoa leaves. I grabbed a few from the bag and chewed them into the side of my mouth. To my surprise I instantly felt a little better! This enabled me to enjoy the "Rock tree" - which is pretty much as it sounds. Erosion due to wind (it doesn't rain here) had cause a rock to erode in the shape of a tree, which provided us with a good two minutes' entertainment. Better were the big rocks spread distinctly about the area, on which I could practice climbing.
The next stop was much much more entertaining. The "Red Lagoon" lived up to its name (apparently it doesn't always - a certain combination of sun and wind is required) and boasted three types of flamingo. We wandered around in the sandy slope admiring the view and taking photographs (and inadvertently filling me shoes and socks with sandy dust) before getting back into the jeep to drive along the lagoon "coast" to the National Park entrance. Here we each bought a ticket for 150 Bs, getting our passports stamped too.
Onwards from the entrance we came across a very lively and steamy thermal area. This included many pools of mud, bubbling and squirting away, as well as steaming springs. Unlike when I saw a similar area in New Zealand - here there were no barriers, and we were free to just walk and drive amongst the pools. Funnily enough, there have apparently been accidents in the past!
The sun was now starting to set, so we left the pools and soon arrived at our hotel. Here, we were roomed in groups of four, and compared to the salt hotel it was very basic. There was no electricity (apart from lighting between 19:00 and 21:30) and no water. There was however, a lovely hot spring pool a few hundred metres from the hotel, so after dinner I took myself down there for a dip. I was a bit dubious about getting undressed in freezing cold temperatures, but the water was amazing! The 40 degrees water was very relaxing, and I happily gazed at the stars and the moon until bedtime.
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