Day two was so full of highlights that it was actually a bit overwhelming. Breakfast was at 5am and we were on the road by 5:30. We quickly realized that everyone else had the same idea to get ahead of ther others when we arrived to the first stop dead last. You win some you lose some. We got out to walk around a small Incan ruin on the hillside, shivering a bit in the morning freshness.
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| on the road again |
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| sunrise |
At the next stop, the sun started to show its face and we overlooked mountains and valleys on all sides. On a side note almost totally unrelated. I have had to carry my own toilet paper everywhere in Bolivia so far. Even in my hotel I was the one in charge of the sanitary wiping of my ass. Just find it interesting. And I had to go to the bathroom right after the photo below, so it´s not so random.
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| meh. i´m cold. meh. shut up. it´s beautiful. |
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| i could live off these suckers |
Around 9am we stopped to pay entrance to the national park, which holds a treasure chest of natural wonders within its borders. First up, the llamas, where the woman herding told us we had to pay her to take photos. But we had just paid B$150 to get in, and figured the llamas were fare game. After a snack and some jumping photos, we later arrived at a lagoon filled with flamingos. It smelled mighty bad due to the high amounts of sulfur in the water, but it`s one of the most beautiful places I´ve ever seen.
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| get out the map - national park |
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| llama-rama |
Before lunch we had the chance to lounge in the hot baths on the border of yet another amazing lagoon. we all quickly changed into our swimsuits and jumped in, promising the guides only 15 minutes so as not to dehydrate ourselves.
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| group shot all refreshed and stuff...back to front - Facu, Batiste, Paulina, me, Dan, Gime, Veronica, Flo |
After stuffing our faces at lunch (seriously, Cristina and Nilda are amazing) we headed for the Desert of Salvador Dalí and Laguna Verde. I couldn´t get a good shot of the desert, but I will tell you it makes total sense why they compare it to Dalí paintings. The Laguna Verde was very green indeed. On the way back to the lunch spot we all took a little nap. Somehow sitting in a jeep for 8-10 hours per day is exhausting.
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| nap time. i was drooling on myself in the back seat. |
Next stop - geisers. While everyone walked around trying to get as close to the action as possible, I prepared mate and followed them around making them drink it before the water got cold. Thank goodness Dan was wearing sunglasses because he got a good geiser squirt right in the peeper.
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| always time for a mate |
As we headed for our accommodation for day 2, we passed Laguna Colorada, a lake with water of all different colors. Rafael instructed us not to worry, but that we would drop our stuff off and come back right away. The colors of the water change based on minerals and micro-organisms that reside there. Have you ever seen a red lake? It´s incredible. Here Dan and I began our physical challenges with a run down the hill to the lake. Note - horrible idea to run in altitudes between 4,000 and 5,000 meters.
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| running downhill. look at that water! |
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| NBD |
We went back for tea and coffee time, many of us opting for coca tea. Coca leaves are leaves from a coca plant (hard to guess, right?) that you can chew or use in a tea to help with symptoms of altitude sickness. We were all starting to feel it after reaching an altitude of 5,000 meters. As the sun started to set, Dan and I thought it would be a good idea to brave the cold to watch the sun set behind the mountains. To say it was cold and windy would be an understatement. But how many times have you caught a sunset with a double rainbow around it? You can`t make this stuff up folks.
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| coffee/snack time |
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| I´ll have a rainbow over the sunset please. |
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| physical wind challenge |
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| dan guarding the fort |
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