Day 2- Up early as departure time of 7.30. Luckily this meant we could see the sunrise although it was really cold still, pretty much just changed my pyjama bottoms for my jeans- no showers anyway and in those temperatures you wouldn't shower even if you could!

After breakfast we drove to "Laguna Colorada" which was near our accommodation. Apparently we should have gone the day before but as we arrived late we waited til the morning and it was a beautiful time of day to go. The lake is red coloured, which comes from algae and plankton in the mineral-rich water and the shoreline is fringed with white deposits of sodium, magnesium and borax. There are flamingos here and it was lovely to just enjoy the tranquillity and the views. Our next stop was the 'Arbol de Piedra'- a huge stone that looks like a tree and some other shaped stones surrounded by desert like landscape. After this were 4 high plateau lakes, one had some flamingos and then the next had loads; it was interesting to stop and watch them and we had lunch at one of the lakes. We had a mid-afternoon stop at a place with big rocks and the chance to see an active volcano smoking in the distance- Volcano Ollague I think. After that it was a few hours' drive via the Salar de Chiguna and the tiny village of San Juan to get to our overnight stop on the edge of the salt flat (approx. 3,500m). We stayed at a salt hotel, so the tables, stools and beds were made of salt. We were there in time for sunset so that was nice and then of course it got really cold again! Dinner was a bit later here and we went to bed a bit later too, but no sleeping bag. I think I was colder that night :-(