21:00 - We left San Pedro at 8sh this morning and after a fairly slow border check so that we could leave Chile, we headed off into the Andes towards Bolivia. We soon left the tarmac and went offroad to the border with Bolivia where we would also be meeting the Jeeps that would take us all the way to Uyuni over the next couple of days. We are likely to see tarmac in about 3 days...about the same time as you'll be reading this. After the Bolivian border check, we loaded our luggage onto the roofs of the cars and off we went on what for me should be the highlight of these first 3 weeks in South America. Again we drove through some outstanding scenery. We stopped at laguna blanca, laguna verde, laguna colorada, sol de mañana (geysers), went for a dip at a thermal pool in laguna salada...amazing! We even had a little mechanical failure (one of the jeeps brakes was locking up) and it was quickly fixed by our capable drivers/mechanics. We got up to 4950 metres and although I was fairing a little better this time around (just a little out of breath on exertion), Jolanda and Alison have ended up the day with headaches and skipped dinner in favour of sleep. Our cook, that came with the jeeps, prepared an excellent dinner in our current abode. Soup and chicken. What to say about our accomodation? It was supposed to be dormitories but they have built a new wing and we are actually staying in double rooms...an unexpected upgrade...not sure when the last time they washed the bed sheets is but we are so tired after a day on a dusty road that anything will do. The little town has a tiny church and a plane that crushed nearby that got moved on a rock in town so people could see it (I guess it's almost a tourist attraction). Not many people about as it is off the beaten track for most backpackers. We uncorked El Niño at dinner and had a couple of glasses of red wine.