PUTRE About 150 km away from Arica, at a 3600 m altitude where 2000 souls live. Putre means in Aymara babbling waters. A bit surprising as Putre is in the middle of the Andes. There is a rough and tough climate all year long. November is the last month where tourists can visit the parks before the Bolivian winter begins (rain and snow during three months). After a traditional breakfast (eggs and bread) and a stop a the local petrol station, it was time to leave and start an adventurous day! The local petrol station consists of going to a shop and asking for petrol. A guy comes to pour petrol into a can of petrol - fill it up - 20 L. That would be our last fill up before reaching Pozo de Almente. As Putre does not reach a minimum inhabitants, petrol companies won´t open stations. We still feel the sickness altitude and once it catches it never leaves you! What a company! Nose is burning, head is aching, breath is short, and dizziness makes one sick! What caught my eyes, were colourful boards. Next to our hostel, there was a kindergarten. I had a closer look and employees were on strike! From Lauca to Isluga park Day 1 was already beyond any expectations. We enjoyed it so much! We could not even think about the forthcoming days! We took the same road as the day before and entered the Lauca national. Parinacota and its acolytes were still watch over the Altiplano the Chungara lagoons and the local animals. What changed was the weather, It was cloudy and colours were not so bright. It did really matter for our pictures. Vicunas and lamas disappeared and the rivers were thawing. ON THE WAY TO GUALLATIRI Unlike the day, there was no trucks as the road leads to the Surire Salar. The road was rockier and Parinacota moves away to give place the Guallatiri volcano. Guallatiri village: 2 souls and a church. An arch to welcome you! Guallatiri volcano: 6000 m, still active! See the fumes on the picture. Massive and impressive! Lamas: at the volcano foothills grazed lamas, untroubled in this calm environment. They fascinated us and could observe them for hours. They did not mind us too. TO SURIRE After spending some time with the brown, black, white lamas, we drove further south and discovered different landscapes until Surire. Appears in front of us a big white stain - we could deduct from the immensity and the bright white colours that we were almost there at the Surire Salar. It was a magical moment, so contrasting with the colours and landscape we have seen so far. We made a short stop and took a couple of pictures to keep on with our trip. Stunning! SURIRE We were advised to go anticlockwise as the view is nicer to finally bath in the thermal bath (Polloquere) that is at the far end of the Salar. Just follow the road 253 and this is after Chicalcaya. The master plan! So far we did not have any problems as roads and tows were perfectly indicated. Follow the sign! We pass the carabineros stop and let us go to walk to the salar. We asked for the authorisation. We did not run but saved our energy because of the altitude that made everything slowly. Every movement is painful. The body could not resist the 4200 m. The dazzling panorama eased the pain: vicunas and flamingos perfected this picture. The shy flamingos felt our presence and started to move away while vicunas and Andean ducks did not move. Well we counted a sole vicuna. It was peculiar. At first sight we thought that it was sick and stayed away from the herd. On our way back we noticed that he mourned one of this friend. Sadness in this picturesque site. THE THERMAL BATH Villages are deserted, homes abandoned, and mother nature took its right over it. Chilcaya is one of this ghost village. Sad but true. After Chilcaya we should follow the road A -95 or A 253 but we arrived at a crossroad, no sign at all. Which road to take? We went straight and continued driving for miles until the road was not so narrow, bumpy, and rocky that was impossible to drive even with a pick up! and even make a u-turn was a feat in itself! Out of the blue 4 cars were driving towards us! Luckily there was place to stop and let us pass. However we stopped and men got out their cars. No bothered of asking whether we could speak Spanish. One of them asked straight away if there were carabineros. Well Yes and he insisted and it was a firm answer. Yes! Then followed a second question: Where do we want to go ? Bolivia or Chile... hmmm Chile! The same guy said that we should follow them. Trust them? What´s else could we do? They did not know about the thermal bath. They told us that they came from Bolivia. 20 minutes later we said goodbye and thank them for their help. While they watched us leave, they gathered to decide what to do. Surprisingly a woman in traditional clothes and with long braided hair got out too. Until today we still don´t know what kind of business they were doing. For sure they did not want to meet with the Chilian carabineros. We went back on the right road. Great but still no thermal bath in sight! On the road back we saw two 10 meters polls that represent the Chilean and Bolivian border. We were actually in Bolivia. On the ground two signs that shows KM 0 and a bit further the A-253 road. Confusing, indeed! We dropped that idea to bath in the thermal bath for two reasons: we still had 100 kms to go, we did not want to waste more petrol. Later that day we were told that this is a dangerous region as there are snipers and spikes in the road that burst cars´ tyre´s. Indeed, I did recall to have read some similar stories on a traveller blog. We got lucky nothing occurred neither to us nor to the car. TO CHOLCANE We pulled over so many times, we wanted to make the most out of it . Each stops made us feel the roughness and the beauty of the Altiplano. 100 km but driving up and down in sandy, rocky and narrow paths. The wind was strong, the air thin, and the sceneries astonishing. It kept on changing. Hills after hills it was something different. We have never experienced that before. So many changes in such a short distance. We stopped a couple of locals to ask our way they were walking to the next village or to watch their herd. We met very nice people, with craggy face sand light brown eyes. They could not leave us as if they were asking us to take them. Some of them demanded biscuits as they were scarce there. We pulled over so many times, we wanted to make the most out of it . Each stops made us feel the roughness and the beauty of the Altiplano. Lamas made us stop too, we were trespassing their territories. They remained peaceful. We were amused at the situation and we had to force our way to drive through them. SURICAYO Dry mountains vs lush nature. COLCHANE CARIQUIMA We finally finished the tour, we exited the park with a tear in the eyes. We left behind this dusty, barren, drought but moisture and green valley. The harsh sunlight that makes you blind, the heavy silent peaceful and the whistling wind crazy. The solitude was enjoyable, we swam in an immensity desert that blew our mind. It was just the beginning. We travelled trough times where everything moves slowly and nature the commander. Coming back to paved roads, to the civilisation, that we almost forgot, was even harder than we thought. Everything was too noisy, too loud and just too much. We followed the road to Colchane where an extremely long queue waited. Trucks after trucks- It was like a lego game. We drove to the left side and tried to find out what was going on. Actually it was the boarder to Bolivia! AGAIN! We did not wait longer and drove back to Cariquima. Internet signal was back to save us! Once in Cariquima we check in, in a huge pension hold by a very friendly but business oriented people! It was the Patron Saint celebration of the town. We wanted to join the festival but it was to start later at night.We were promised to have a hot shower. We were looking forward to having a shower, but it was impossible that day due to the overpopulation. The owner tried to do its best to make it happen but nothing could be done that evening. We had diner at the pension and we were served lamas! What a tragedy! We have been admired them the whole time and now they were in a plate. As we were starving, we ate it but we liked too. Later that evening despite the tiredness we went to the festival, it was around 10 o´clock. People actually were going back home, drunk. The festival started later that night - at 2 or 3 o´clock. We were quite unlucky as the first morning in Arica the school nearby celebrated its year end, at 7 - the show started. The second night, in Putre, we could not sleep much because someone snored like hell, the walls were shaking, the ghosts scared off, and we awoke the whole night. The third night they played the music so loudly that vicuna and lamas were frightened. On our way back to the pension, we took an interesting picture - I am taller than the houses there. People are Aymaras and revendicated their nationality. WHAT AN INCREDIBLE DAY! THE END FOR TODAY
0 Comments
|
ArchivesCategories
All
|