Monday 20th April

We arise early. I'm already awake when Michelle announces 5:10. I stay in bed till 5:50. No point getting cold before time. Breakfast at 6 and leaving at 6:30. Dawn is breaking.
The scenery is just amazing. We pass several more lagoons. After stopping for pass tickets we stop at a pink lagoon and flocks if flamingos. There is a small thermal inlet. It feels other worldly and reminds me of NZ's pink and white terraces. The next stop is the sulphur geysers and killer boiling mud spotted around. It is near the highest point of 4900meters.
Down we come for lunch. Beautiful and warm by another lagoon with thermal pools and iced capped shallows. It's our CEO's birthday and she gets egged in the head. 38 today. The next stop is the coloured volcano/mountains. After that we come to a blue green lake, which has no life due to its sulphur and arsenic content.
When we reach the border we quickly pass through and them await our bus. We collect tips for the drivers, but they rudely decline the tips saying it is not enough and we might need it more. Also accusing our CEO of taking some before giving to them. We had collected and given to her to deliver. A sad end to Bolivia. Our bus arrives and off we go, soon reaching sealed road once more. We fill out immigration forms on the way to the border.
Passing through the border is a two step process. One; get passport stamped. Two: get bags checked and back on bus!
It's a short trip to the hotel where we get our rooms and shower; and do washing before we see the sign on the door forbidding washing! Hopefully we don't get caught. We go for a walk down the Main Street where we change money and withdraw more. Finally we go dinner. Dinner is amazing. A bit expensive in comparison to Bolivia and Peru, but worth it. On the way back to the hotel we stop at mini mart and tour place to ask about observatory tours. At the hotel we share drinks for our ceo's birthday. Our CEO tells me the hotel manager was hesitant to give double beds, wanting to know how long the couples had been together. I told the CEO to tell the manager us 6 years and other couple 10 years. We had a good laugh.