looks cold? well it was!...still riding uphill and into strong chilly winds before the Chilean border
Anna jumping for joy...(and then blowing in the wind) at the idea of being in Chile already! The twin volcanoes of Parinacota and Pomerane in the background are in Chile too
Chile by name, very 'chilly' by nature (smashed my mirror for this photo when my bike got blown over)
7km into Chile, "yep, bagged that one!" Chilean Flamingo in flight
Chilean flamingos feeding in the frozen waters below some pastel coloured volcanic hills, Lago Chungara
the perfect snowcapped form of Volcan Parinacota looms large above Lago Chungara, one of the highest lakes in the world at 4500m
Vizcacha lounging around lakeside, Lago Chungara
The 'CONAF crew' at Refugio Chungara, Rosi, Jimena, Mara (in front), Pedro, Patricio, Ali and Anna...a friendly introduction to Chile with intelligent conversation, wine a warm fire and new chilean friends
flamingo dance, Lago Chungara
Anna wheeling into camp at the first hot springs at 'Termas Chirigualla'
boiling water bubbles to the surface and feeds the hot pool at 'Termas Chirigualla'. Our camp is on the other side of the river among the spinifex
Use your imagination...Anna did too (think pregnant woman laying on her back)
Smoking Volcan Gaullatire and some nervous vicuñas inspecting the 'crazy bikers', the only traffic they saw on the day
big altiplano landscape...a smoking volcano, hundreds of vicuñas, endless horizons and...
...Borax trucks @#$@#$@! that covered us in clouds of dust each time they blasted past. Hundreds of these trucks plied the horrible washboarded road between the Quiborax plant and the highway making this stretch a whole 'bag of fun'!
Fumaroles seep from the southern side of Volcan Guallatire, an obviously pretty active piece of rock
Guallatire water stop near the old white wash altiplano church. Note the dust mask for the Borax trucks. These things saved us inhaling half of the highway!
Puente Rio Lauca wild camp view - among the clumps of spinifex and piles of vicuña dung and tracks we had views of three 6000 plus metre snow capped volcanoes. Also was our coldest night in Chile so far...-10 deg c in the vestibule of the tent! brrrr
Spinifex plains, Rio Lauca
Ali's latest 'camp stove-top creation' - potato, tomato and quinoa curry
mmm..."¿como se dice 'washboard' en español?"...the Borax trucks also create this bad washboard effect, it was like riding a 'bucking bronco' for hours at a time
descending to our first salar, the 'Salar de Surire'
Anna arriving into camp at 'Termas de Polloquere'
mmm 43 degrees in the water, - 6 degrees outside at dawn..."I know where i'm going!"
Chilean flamingos
Anna making 'altiplano flatbread' on the camp stove, Termas de Polloquere
some andean camelids coming down from the hills to enjoy the warm waters
Anna relaxing 'poolside' before paradise was lost when 6 jeep-loads of tourists rocked up for lunch...paradise was regained when they gave us fresh food and leftovers and left again in the afternoon..thanks to the Frenchies
Someone's looking ripped! that's what four days of riding on washboard and two days of gale forced wind can do to you. Termas de Polloquere
Sulfurous hotspring paradise, 'Termas de Polloquere'
Morning flight, Chilean flamingos
Ali climbing the steep dirt track up to the border with Bolivia from the salar
Beautiful detour through cushion plants and Queñua trees around an abandoned minefield crossing into Bolivia again..."these countries really didn't like each other did they?"
...and then straight down again
a beautiful and endangered Llareta 'cushion plant' which is harvested by local people to use as fuel for cooking. Sadly the one next to this one was already on fire, we could only guess someone lit it to make a fire and stay warm. It was still smouldering after our modest firefighting attempts to put it out
our first taste of 'salar riding' or riding on salt, Salar de Coipasa
"look no hands!", Salar de Coipasa
the 'turtle' floating on the crispy Salar de Coipasa
"mmm...my bike mechanic is not going to be happy!"...one salt enrusted bicycle from the wet and sticky Salar de Coipasa. That's right, it's salt not snow on the undercarriage...ouch!
wild camp on the way to Llica 6km short of Hizo between the salars. Flat saltbush country reminded me of the treeless deserts of Australia
cooking 'bandido style' at our wild camp among the salt bush..."yep it gets a bit fresh when the sun goes down"
there was plenty of 'hike a bike' on the way to Llica
sand, sand, sand..."and who said this was a biking trip?" walking between Hizo and Llica
riding on the Salar de Uyuni...a dream of ours since the start of the trip!
Anna riding the endless 'white highway', Salar de Uyuni
Vegemite 'puts a rose on every cheek!'
'bums on bikes' (don't look too close for your own health and safety!), Salar de Uyuni
"fresh bread, tomato, egg, a splash of tabasco...oh i forgot the salt!"...'salar dining' increased our salt intake tenfold!
the main 'highway' on the Salar
Isla de Pescado beach camping, Salar de Uyuni
a short climb up Isla de Pescado among a forest of giant cactus, Salar de Uyuni
an island full of life among a sea of salt...giant cactus with fuzzy white tips, shy vizcachas and petrified red coral rock formations, Isla de Pescado
Salar de Uyuni
the compass went crazy at Isla Incahuasi and hasn't worked since! Anna figuring out which way we need to ride..."let's just head to where the sun came up, that should be close enough to east"
'little Anna' jumping for joy
sunset from 'middle of the sea of salt' camp
Ali demonstrating the new 'mini' Hilleberg 4 season Jannu tent..."look it can even withstand this!"
'little' Ali was excited to be finally riding the Salar de Uyuni, some great 'heel clicking' action
Well lucky we weren't banking on a drink and a snack at the 'Playa Blanca' salt hotel....'closed'... the best thing we could do was an outdoor table to eat our last pieces of dry bread before hitting 'terra firma' near the town of Uyuni in 18 clicks
