As we are now in Bolivia and the borders to Chile remain closed we decide to take a 4 day jeep tour here instead of Chile and hopefully can get across the border at the end as the weather is suppose to warm up. we had to wait another day for the tour to leave due to icy roads but finally we are off with our 2 new aussie friends.
as we drive through the rocky and desert like landscape we see lots of Lama and sort of squirel, rabbit kangaroo like creature that lives in the rocks. as we are stunned by the vastness of this uninhabitted land driving on roads that barely deserve that name (hense the 4x4s) we reach a village which has 400 residence but with internet.hours later we stop in the middle of nowwhere as a girl appears at the side of the road selling homemade hats, gloves and socks which is exactly what i need as im freezing which is not so strange 4200M in the mountains and there is alot of ice around. as she doesnt have enough change we overpay her and she has such a look of shock on her face that we ask the driver twice if we understand it well and there is no problem with the payment.apparently she lives in a small settlement over the next mountain. thats what i call a hard commute to work as its looks like a few hours hike just to sit there for hours for some tourists to pass. aparently we are the only car that day. its a hard life out here!
we ourselves are up for some primate sleeping when we arrive at our accommodation. we are appointed a room with 5 single beds made of stone with a bit of a mattress on top amd no electricity here or insulation. thank god for the mountain of blankets. as its freezing outside me and Grom decide to share body heat as everyone knows thats the best survival method. the next night we are happily suprised to find showers with hot water from the soalr panels but this time its in a room of 10 which hopefully will result in more heat but as the glass has frozen on the inside of the room the next morning it doesnt seem to be the case.
We find out that the national park is closed again due to too much snow we have to do a little detour but luckily get to the laguna colorado (coloured lake). its really weird from a distance as it just looks like any other lake but as you get closer the lake actually changes from to a bright orange and the mountains are reflected perfectly in it. absolutely amazing and hopefully the pictures will show that. I hope tomorrow we dont have to get up at 5 o clock again as graham kept we awake half the night as his tights were to warm!
