Day 29: Siloli Desert

This morning a group of us agreed to meet at 6:30 to walk up the hillside with our host to view the tiny town, in its vast surroundings, from a height. I woke at 6:23. Still made it in time though! The first touch of light was coming on the day, but it was still icy cold. As we climbed and got out of breath, the elderly man leading us setting a pace that the group of twenty-something's could barely keep up with.

We returned, hands like ice blocks, and filled up our cups with hot water for tea, but more to defrost our hands. Supposedly leaving at 8:00am, we had 10 mins for breakfast and to pack. We were on the road again by 8:20am.

A short drive from the village, we stopped at the Galaxy Caves. From the outside, an unremarkable, dry, dusty hillside dotted with a few cacti. Inside, the dry cold air felt outside was transformed into a balmy microclimate, where delicate, paper thin structures were suspended from above, and covered every surface of this small but surprising cave; remnants of the former sea life that used to fill these parts, a fragile composition of fossilised plants. Yet another unexpected beauty in this generous landscape. Adjoining the caves was a pre-Incan cemetery. Open tombs could be seen, some even spotting human remains.

The rest of the day was spent driving through the most phenomenally beautiful landscape, a virtually untouched wilderness. The way in which one vast stretch of environment would change so drastically to the next was truly awesome. From salt covered plains for miles on end to piles of brown sands to hillsides covered with millions of rock piles and cacti to snow, a couple feet deep. And I haven't even mentioned the lagoons. Trying to describe the natural beauty we witnessed is futile. It was too immense for words.

At lunch time we stopped at the first lagoon, hoping to see Flamingos (no one has told these sea birds that the sea has long since vanished). There were a handful, but the view of the mountains reflected in the lagoon, more than compensated for the lack of flamingos. Our drivers prepared us a refreshing lunch, before we went onto the next lagoon where we expected to see more flamingos. And we did. Lots of them. Here at the Stinky Lake (it's actual name - because of the sulphur), Vale gave us a beautiful rendition of the mating call of the flamingos.

The entire day spent in the car, we had only the views, each other, and maybe a little bit of music for entertainment ourselves (initially I had music playing from my shuffle - alt rock, indie etc... To be honest, fairly out of date at this stage, but still decent in my view! This was quietly tolerated for a while until Laura cracked, whipped off my music and frantically put on hers - mid song too! It was brutal. Apparently "Despacito" was a better choice as Shan and even the driver started bopping along! My music ego was crushed... Majority rules. Sadly.). Apart from the car tracks in front and behind us, there was no other visible signs of civilisation. This was exciting and beautiful. Until we got got caught in the snow. For 2 hours.

Throughout the morning different vehicles had gotten stuck, but never for long. It wasn't until we were crossing plains completely covered in snow that the trouble began. From our car we could see the first car getting planted in the snow. A couple of hundred metres behind, we watched with trepidation and then felt our own vehicle grinding to a halt. Gonzalo, revving the engine in vain. After a while we offered to get out and push. Again, in vain. The snow was deep and the car was truly wedged. There was a lot of creative solutions for digging implements (Laura's engineering mind coming to the fore - and also my flip-flops). Until I, remembering a similar situation in mud after a rainy Electric Picnic, suggested using the long car mats to put under the tyres, which actually did the trick! But only after about 40 cold, uncomfortable and pointless minutes trying the same unsuccessful tactics as the previous half hour, until Gonzalo finally conceded (Valeria had warned that in this macho culture, men don't listen to advise from women, even if it's valuable) and took on my suggestion. Mercifully, another car had stopped behind us and offered help. Between the car mats and the additional man power we managed to get our car out of the snow.

Once Gonzalo got moving, he drove on somewhere safer i.e. less covered in snow and we tramped after behind him, cursing my choice of ankle socks. The bare skin of my ankles now burning while my boots were filled with icey cold water, I'd never been so grateful for my inability to pack light which meant I had spare shoes in the car!

We weren't out of the woods/snow yet though. The first car was still stuck. All hands on deck and with teamwork we freed it and were on our way! Or so we thought. In a real face-palm moment, the first car that had gotten stuck (the last to get unstuck) continued headlong into more snow! Before thankfully backing up and onto the tracks we'd already created getting into this mess. Buttocks tightly clenched with nerves as the car ahead of us slowed down to the point that we had to come to a halt. A few anxious revs before we began to move again. It was a good hour before any of us felt we could breath. Night was upon us and we were no longer stuck in the snow. Hurrah! We weren't going to freeze to death!

While this unexpected adventure threw our itinerary out the window, it added to the experience. Not sure what sights we missed, but the sense of camaraderie and teamwork more than made up for it.

It was late, cold and pitch dark by the time we arrived at our accommodation: large shared bedrooms feeding off the main central, communal space. Once again our faithful drivers, despite also having wet feet and clothes, prepared us our dinner before we turned in for the night. Wrapped up in our fleecy sleeping bags, many layers and blankets we (well I at least!) slept soundly through the bitterly cold night.

Accommodation: Quetena Chico
Weather: Cold. Cut-through-your-bones cold!