Into Bolivia via the Salar de Uyuni

There had been a storm a few days before I reached San Pedro de Atacama and a lot of snow up in the mountains, making the road into Bolivia impassable. It was clearing up but it was uncertain whether the border crossing would be open the next day for the Salar de Uyuni tours to get going again. I signed up anyway, hoping for the best, then hired a bike again and went for a great bike ride out to Devils Canyon before climbing up, though a tunnel and up onto the ridge line which took me back past the Valle de Muerta. The views out to the volcanoes strung along the horizon, now with a beautiful coating of white, were magnificent.

Devils Canyon

Back in San Pedro that evening I was told the border had opened and the 3 day tour was on. We left early (7am early) but didn't get very far as they'd closed the border until ice on the road had melted. We eventually got off around 10 in a convoy of tour jeeps and a few hours later had officially entered into Bolivia and the vast alien landscape of the alto plano, scattered with volcanoes, mountains and lagoons.

passport control

The first "attraction" on the tour was an area of bubbling mud pools and sulphuric geysers, and shortly after that we were relaxing in a natural thermal bath. Not for too long though. At 4000 odd metres staying in for longer than 20 minutes isn't recommended.

Our next and final stop for the day was a big deep red lagoon with flocks of feeding flamingoes.

We had time to wander around but as sunset approached our driver was keen to head to our nights accommodation. I wanted to at least stay until the sunset but our driver wasn't having any of it. He did however with a wry smile say I could walk back if I wanted and was then slightly taken aback when, delighted by the opportunity, I said yes, great! It wasn't that far (only about an hours walk) and easy enough to find given its the only habitation within walking distance. Matthias (a young Belgian guy) joined me for the hike and we had a good walk back as the sun set and the stars came out.

The rest of my group was made up of 4 friends from Melbourne travelling together: 3 ozzies and an English girl. Very Australian but fun enough for a few days.

Our accommodation was basic. Concrete beds, electricity (from a generator) until 9, and no heating. There was a small stove but they didn't light it for us - the tour group next door to us had a lit stove however so went and joined them for warmth. It was a seriously coooold night and up at 4000 odd metres I didn't sleep too well.

Day 2 we passed through some interesting rock formations, sculpted by the desert winds. and then more lagoons and lots of flamingoes.

 

We spent our second night in a salt hotel. Yep, a hotel made of salt. And quite well made actually, with salt tables, salt chairs, salt beds, all salt. No need to ask for the salt for dinner.

Nearby our hotel was a very interesting burial ground, where bodies had been entombed in tombs of lava rock. The bodies were mainly still intact and thrown into some amusing poses as they gazed out of their graves. I can't remember how old they were, but pretty sure it was in the thousands of years.

Our final day was the salar de Uyuni itself and we were up early to watch the sun rise from cactus island; a genuine island in the salt flat, only lacking in water. The sun rise was a breathtaking sight, with a beautiful change of light across the white expanse of the salt flat, with the giant cacti adding presence and immense shadows.

We took the ubiquitous perspective photos on the salt flat itself and then a few hours more driving got us to Uyuni.

Our last sight was the train graveyard, where all the trains that used to transport minerals and ore from Bolivia to Chile were left to rust.

First impressions of Uyuni were pretty grim; the outskirts a huge expanse of unfinished buildings. The centre was a bit more happening though and we enjoyed a few beers out in the sun before getting on a bus to Potosí.

name change!

Never really liked chasing hot air that much... Going XCountries is better I think!

it makes sense if you paraglide

Iquique

Had a brilliant time in Iquique and ended up staying 11 days there. Had my own room in the paragliding hostel Altazor Flight Park so it was a nice chance to relax and set up a base for a while. The Iquique routine goes something like this:

1. Get up around 9, breakfast, then head up to Alto Hospicio (the main take off up on the ridge overlooking Iquique). 
2. Fly for a few hours, cruising the ridge, practice some wing overs / spirals / acro (if that´s your thing).
3. Land on the beach in the city or on the dunes just behind the flight park.
4. Lunch, siesta
5. Around 4, head down to the big dunes at Palo Buque (20km south of Iquique).
6. Fly till its dark. (mini XCs along the ridge, sand skiing, playing near the dune, high fives,  practising manoevres, acro, its all possible when the wind blows at Palo Buque!) 
7. Eat, drink, sleep, repeat. 

Take off at Alto Hospicio

Beach landing

What they don't tell you about the sand dunes at Palo Buque is that it's not all sand! There are actually a lot of rocks about so whilst the flying is great it's definitely not great for your gear. A bit further away from the main takeoff there are some nice clear sandy patches, perfect for skiing along. The hard bit is staying down! Also, not ideal playing on the dunes with a pod harness!

Had a couple of nice XCs running along the ridge from Alto Hospicio and Palo Buque. Pretty easy flying but occasionally tricky when trying to get round some of the spurs, slightly into wind and pretty rough at times in the lee. I headed south from Alto Hospicio twice (about 10km I think) and was foiled both times  trying to get round the corner to Palo Buque, where a statue of the Virgin Mary marks the turn. The wind accelerates round the point and each time I was stopped dead in my tracks and thrown about before I turned around and high tailed it outta there.

Had a lovely late evening XC from Palo Buque one night. Had been running around with local instructor Christian and pilots Milton and Ignacio for the first few days and after playing on the dune in a nice sandy spot for a while I had started to head back when I noticed they were both heading off into the distance. Knowing that Christian would be waiting with the van I chased after them and with full bar attempted to catch up. I was quite far behind and with the light fading had a few moments of self doubt when I lost site of them and considered the prospect of a long walk and a hitch hike home if I landed out alone. I did manage to catch them however and we turned back after about 20 km and got picked up half way back to the takeoff as night set in.

Palo Buque

After the first few days of that, I disrupted the routine a little by investing in some more spanish lessons; so for 4 days I practiced my spanish in the morning and then flew in the afternoons. Not a bad routine but the early starts were a killer!

Altazor Flight Park was a nice place to stay. Not quite the paragliding centre it used to be (the Swiss owner has had enough and its now run by a Chilean couple) but it still provides a great base for pilots. Had a mix of Chileans, Argentinians and a few Europeans staying there but it was pretty quiet for most of the time. Inevitably I mainly hung out with the Europeans as despite my extra lessons Chilean spanish remained as unintelligible as ever. A swiss couple (Marc and Nadia) and a french guy Mathieu were all there for a while, the 2 guys there to practice acro. 

Iquique had its own mini Coup Icare while we were there and we were invited to take part to raise money for the local club. Whilst my costume consisted merely of a clowns wig and sunglasses, there was a cracking line up of super heroes on display. 

That afternoon everyone went down to Palo Buque for more great flying and a party on the dune. Great bbq steaks and good tunes on the PA system, until the genny ran out of fuel...

The tops of the dunes at Palo Buque were pretty much always shrouded in cloud. We had one good sunny day which brought out the amazing colours of the dunes and was the only time I was able to climb up above the dunes to see the desert stretch out behind. Annoyingly, I unwittingly knocked the settings on my camera

so all my best shots have some funky effects applied.

 

My penultimate flight turned out to be a rather stressful affair. The weather wasn't great, pretty grey and with quite low cloud, but was flyable as ever at Alto Hospicio. Flew for an hour or so before noticing the wind on the sea was picking up so headed to the beach near the flight park to land. In the 10 mins it took me to reach the beach the wind had blown up into a fury and I found myself pinned above the beach, not going down and not going forwards. Hadn't realised before but there is a small ridge on the beach that with the strong wind was creating a lot of lift. Took me a good 20 mins and a lot of head scratching to eventually get down, which I thankfully did safely enough in the end. I was left in a slightly jittery state so delayed my planned departure that afternoon and once I'd regained some composure went for a last flight at Palo Buque.

Despite the strong wind in Iquique Palo Buque was pretty mellow. Smooth lift over the small dune and without much height which was just what I needed after my earlier flight!

Iquique itself is quite a nice beach city. The main street in the old town looks straight out a western, with wooden decking and colourful panelling. Alto Hospicio is a bit rougher, with a lot of the homeless living out on the cliff where the take off is. 

Iquique centre

Still determined to leave that day (as I'd already put it back a few times) I got a night bus back to San Pedro to then make my way into Bolivia via the salt flats.

Back to Chile

I left Argentina on Tues 12th June, and took a 9 hour bus ride up and over the Andes into Chile; an awesome route into the Atacama desert, passing through desolate plains and mountains, salt flats and crossing the border at 5000m.

Collecting salt

We arrived into San Pedro de Atacama at around 5pm. Going for a stroll after settling in the hostel I got a bit of a shock when engulfed by multitudes of tourists and tour companies. I wasn't prepared for how touristy it is but it's only a town of 2000 people but with probably the same number of tourists to match.

Fortunately though there are a few things you can do on your own and after spending the morning sorting out a few chores i hired a bike and pedalled off into the valle de muerta.... Death Valley. The main feature of death valley is a massive sand dune, popular for sand boarding. I had considered doing it but was put off after watching people make the long slog up the dune for a 1 minute ride back down!

Valle de Muerta

After death valley I cycled over to the much bigger Valle de Luna with its impressive ridges and rock formations.
I watched the sun set from the top of a small hill and while the sunset didnt offer much the red glow across the volcanic peaks on the horizon was lovely to see. The cycle back in the dark as the stars came out was great too so i had a quick turn around back in San Pedro and left town again on a star gazing tour. 

Valle de Luna

 

 

Our guide didn't offer too much insight beyond the names of what we were looking at but it was worth it just to be out in the dark to admire the night sky in all its glory. Great star gazing here due to the dry air and clear skies. We had a 12" Dobsonian telescope and looked at various galaxies, clusters (and other starry things!) and then the planets Jupiter and Saturn. All of which were mightily impressive.

Keen to get flying I spurned the rest of the many tours on offer and got on a bus go Iquique the next day.