I'd set my alarm for 3:30am as I was being picked up for a tour of the El Tatio geysers at 4am! I dressed in 8 layers of clothing on top, 2 pairs of trousers, 2 pairs of socks and a hat, scarf and gloves - I'd been warned about the extremely cold weather out there! We were on the road after picking up sleepy travellers from other hostels and starting our ascent to the geysers. Our guide warned us that we were travelling from around 2500m altitude to 4200m altitude and that some of us may start to feel headachey or nauseous. Thankfully, everyone on my bus was fine, although I did sometimes feel like my breathing was speeding up, but maybe this was psychological.
We arrived as the sun was coming up and the geysers were like something from another world. There was still an early morning blue light and sometimes you couldn't see for all the steam! Unlike some other geysers I've visited (e.g. Old faithful in California) this place wasn't just one large geyser, it was a geyser field. Every direction you looked you could see and/or hear bubbling water and steam escaping from small craters in the ground. There were a couple that would erupt regularly so our guide would show us these and explain some of the science behind it. After wandering around it was time for breakfast on the geyser field. By now, we were all feeling the cold, despite our preparedness, -8oC will do that. So, it was excellent to be served a hot chocolate (chocolate milk in a carton, heated up in one of the geysers), some cereal and a ham and cheese roll.
After brekky we returned to the bus and drove for 10 minutes to get to the hot springs. Now, I'd taken my swimming costume, and I knew that parts of the pool were warm (not all of it though) but the thought of taking off my 8 layers to put my bikini on, and the thought of getting out of the warm water at the end was enough to put me off the idea. Instead, I spent the extra time taking some photos and exploring the geysers near the pool.
We started descending back to San Pedro but on the way, made two more short stops. The first was at a small river where there was quite a lot of birdlife - coots of different colours with bright red legs and ducks with bright blue beaks. The second was a small village called Machuca. We were told 7 or 8 people live here, the rest having moved to San Pedro for work and school. It was very small with narrow dusty streets, low houses and wooden shutters. The highlight was the village church, at the top of a small hill - a hill that I noticed walking up, being at 4000m altitude still. When we were leaving the village we saw many llamas in the fields on the side of the road and also a couple of Andean flamingoes.
We arrived back in San Pedro in time for lunch. The remainder of the afternoon was spent relaxing at the hostel or looking at the shops in town where I managed to pick up a little silly something for Andrew's birthday. That night I joined Ketz and Leena (the English couple I'd been hanging out with the last few days) for a nice dinner at a vegetarian restaurant. A long day, what with the extra early start, but worth it. Next stop, Salta, Argentina to meet Andrew.