San Pedro de Atacama can be described as a classic tourist hotspot which seemingly exists for little reason. We arrived late in the afternoon to what we perceived to be a ghost town but as the sun went down amd tourists returned from various trips the place came to life. There´s a wealth of tour options available ranging from sandboarding to star gazing, but my choice was the 3 day tour to Salar de Uyuni. The scenery on the first day was breathtaking as we passed Lagunas Blanca and Verde, so named due to the colour of their waters. My personal highlight was the Polques Hot Springs where those of us brave enough to change in the cold had a soak whilst enjoying a spectacular view of Chalviry Lagoon and the encompassing mountains. It was after this that problems began for many of us - altitude sickness. By the time we had ascended to the Geysers de Sol, we were at 4850m above sea level, some 600m higher than Europe´s highest point at Mont Blanc - and the effects began to show. Imagine the headache of a hangover in addition to the light headedness you experience after spending too long in a jacuzzi. Throw into this a shortness of breath at the most minimal physical exertion and you have a fairly brutal cocktail. Fortunately by the time we descended to Laguna Colorado with it's flamingoes, this had mostly subsided but in return we spent a night on the freezing altiplano where nobody could attest to enjoying a good night's sleep.

The second day, in contrast, was fairly anticlimatic in comparison to the first; the 'Arbol de Predra', Stone Tree, subject to your own opinion, whilst the Lagunas Altiplanos had nothing on their previous day's counterparts, some of which were subesequently bypassed by our jeep. Given the discomfort of the previous night, Villa Martin - a hostel made of salt, was far more comfortable. It was here that i was consulted by a group from Israel as to the lyrics for Ronan Keating's 'When You Say Nothing At All'. Maybe it was the Bolivian wine or the Quinoa beer (both of which i had only small glasses of), or even the altitude but in the blink of an eye i was up performing whilst Moses accompanied on guitar. It was certainly not a sterling performance on my part, especially given the glares of a large German group at the far end of the room, but it certainly provided entertainment (mostly at my expense i fear) and should video evidence appear i'll be a good sport and not detag on FB...

The final day of the trip, and the one most eagerly anticipated was the trip onto the Salar for sunrise. The flats are the largest in the world measuring some 10,000 square km, and the iridescent colours of the water film on its surface were simply spectacular. After that a vast amount of time was attempting the classic spoof perspective photos, most of which you'll be familiar with. Almost as surreal as the flats was our driver Lucio's music collection, ranging from Boliviam hits (my ignoarnce of which prevents me from listing) to Hall & Oates, Sting, and possibly the strangest of all - Village People´s, In The Navy. All in all a spectacular trip which I'd reccomend to anyone visiting South America - (tour company was Estrella Del Sur).