Out of Bolivia

Jump
Originally uploaded by Johnnie Shannon.

In Santiago now, having spent the last few days trawling down through the Atacama Desert. Stopped of in the beach resort town of La Serena, which was kind of like Brighton on a wet Wedensday afternoon in January. But hotter.

After Potosi, we headed south to Uyuni, a one horse town on the edge of a huge salt flat. We took the truck out onto the salt, and some people took the obligatory wierd perspective photo type things. I jumped. Woo, yay.

The scenery is absolutely spectacular. The contrast between the harsh white of the salt and the deep, blue of the clear skies was remarkable.

Then we spent a couple of days heading south to Chile. Spent our last night in Bolivia in a tiny village high on the Altiplano. We were entertained that night by some children from the local school, who, along with their teacher, serenaded us with local folk songs and the obligatory Obla Di, Obla Da on the pan pipes. Their enthusiasm made up for lack of musical subtlety, and all in all it made up for all the dodgy pan pipe people who try to scam money of gringo tourists in every restaurant in South America.

Getting down from altitude was a huge relief. It really takes it out of you being at over 12,000` for weeks on end - nothing seems to heal and colds go on for ever.

Well, from now on it`s pretty much camping all the way until we get to Buenos Aires in about a month`s time. We`re promised the scenery will just get better and better, and the prices will be cheaper and cheaper (it`s a bit pricey here in Chile). Just looking forward to those Agentinian filet steaks and red wine. Mmmmmmmm ...