Monday 10th December
The prediction was correct- it was another restless night despite throwing off the blankets and employing the hurricane force fan in the middle of the night!
After all our over-eating yesterday, we opted for a light breakfast of fresh fruit and scrambled eggs, before setting off for the Puritama hot springs (3500M elevation). The bus had a padded internal rollcage- is there something we don’t know about this trip?
We arrived 20 minutes before opening time and so waited at the gate admiring the red stone of the nearby canyons and the distant views to the salt flats. The 3 members of staff arrived in a battered 4WD pickup truck and we followed them down the track to get to the springs.
The pools are located in the depths of a river canyon eroded from the red volcanic rock. A ribbon of green runs the length of the canyon base interspersed with rippling pools. It’s very beautiful and thankfully has been developed in a simple rustic way.
We were directed to changing rooms with lockers( bring your own padlock - would have been good to know this!)
There is boardwalk running along the edge of the canyon, with short sections leading to each of the pools. There are no fences, signs etc - just the pools and the rocks and the grasses.
The series of pools and cascades looks just like any other mountain river - except that the water is warm.
Being early we were able to enjoy some solitude and we made our way to the lowest and coolest pool to allow us to work our way upstream to progressively warmer pools. It was very refreshing, the cascading water sparkled in the sunlight, the banks lined by rocks, reeds in flower and bamboo grasses.
The pools gradually became populated by tourists ranging from athletic students, Chilean families, to narcissistic Brazilian selfie takers and demonstrative glbt couples - as well as the strange rash-vested, Tilley hat wearing, beetle bespectacled middle-aged English couple! We spent a pleasant couple of hours working our way up through the gravelly pools with sparkling clear water and dragon flies zipping around our heads!
Back at the hotel we sat on our shady patio, and snacked on nuts, cherries and apricots, washed down with coca tea. It was so peaceful - just rustling leaves and birdsong. We played some quiet tango music and practiced a little diy milonga dance before going for swim. Apart from being wonderfully refreshing, our motive was to try to make ourselves as cold as possible before getting ourselves ready for the Death Valley trek.
Quite how we managed to have this bit of madness in our itinerary remains a mystery. The trek involves walking up onto the ridge overlooking Death Valley, walking over the sand dunes and through the surrounding canyons. There is no shade and it’s 32 degrees!
Our guide Gonzales arrived punctually despite going to the wrong hotel first! Today we are being guided by ‘On Safari ‘tours and our drier was Juan. He took us in a 4x4 pickup to the start of the track, just 10 min drive. We felt a bit self conscious dressed in all our sun protection but were reassured to see that we had not overdone it as Gonzales was dressed in the same way - boots, trousers, long sleeved shirt, neck buff, brimmed hat with chin strap and face plastered in white sun cream. He checked that we were reasonably fit and each had 2 litres of water with us, and we set off!
We started by ascending a rocky gulley and sand dune to reach an overlook of the valley. It is huge with tall red cliffs of sedimentary rock below us with the occasional band of chalk or gypsum. There were huge sand dunes visible in the valley base, with figures the size of ants sand-boarding the dunes. As we walked over the rocky surface and the top of the cliff Gonzales explained how these hills were formed being squeezed between the Nazcar plate and the Andean mountains continental plate. It is only cloudy for 65 days a year here and only rains on 3 days but then it is like a monsoon. This is too arid to support any living creatures creating a pretty sterile environment. The valley gets its name from a massacre that occurred at the end of the valley in the time of the Spanish conquest. It was named Vallee de la Muerte at first because of this massacre rather than the climate. Later, an explorer thought that the red valley looked like the surface of Mars and the name Vallee de la Marte came into use. Death Valley is the current favourite.
It is hot today- 32 deg C- and there is a steady wind which helps make it more tolerable. We climbed down over a cornice onto fine sand and rested for a while, rehydrating and eating nuts. We then set off to descend via a vast dune of very fine sand which gets everywhere. We zig-zagged our way down, half jumping, half running / sliding, to a small ridge - at which point Gonzales suggest we employ 4 wheel drive to scramble up a short slope! The fine sand made it really difficult to make progress!
Following the ridge line we trekked down past sweaty dusty sandboarders who have slogged up this lower section of the dune with their boards.
Soon we reached the valley floor which consists of red clay. The red rock formations are stunning and endorse its other name of the ‘Mars valley’ trek. We wound our way along the old river bed passing huge alluvial cones and finally spot our truck and driver in the distance. We were delighted to find that he had chairs and a picnic laid out on a table with a woven tablecloth. There was a glass jug full of ice cold lemonade, a bowl of olives, and a platter of salami, soft cheese and crackers! We sat and chatted about their life stories and listened to each other’s travelling tales for a while before returning to town with some restaurant recommendations.
We tipped the sand out of our boots, shook out our bags and clothing and hopped into the jacuzzi to get rid of the dust which is everywhere.
Supper tonight was at the local’s favourite ‘Delicias de Carmen’. Once again the online maps disagreed as to where it was, so we wandered until we found it on the outskirts of town. It was a very friendly place - the door off the street opened straight into the kitchen but they cheerfully waved us inside and we sat at one of the tables all covered with jewel coloured cloths.
After the obligatory pisco sour and beer we tucked into the traditional bread and salsa before sharing an enormous Salad de Carmen, accompanied by a huge veggie omelette and roast potatoes. We spent the meal making plans for Christmas, and then returned to our hotel exhausted once more!