What a lucky men I m. Can you just imagine me few month ago
in Paris. Like each morning I get up, take my breakfast
and go out. Its raining, I go down the street of Claude
Vellefaux in the 10 arrondissement. The traffic is
already in action. I can see the sign of the Metro
Goncourt and in few minutes I will be in one of the
biggest subway gallery of the world: the Paris Metropolitan.
Like everyday I going to work. The train is coming,
I enter in the wagon. The most of the people look
tired. Mabye they just dream to stay in the bed longer.
Some other listen to music. I seat down and open my
bag. I take the national geographic. Open it and beginn
to read about a place that strech from Bolivia to
Chile. ATACAMA. At this moment I m fascinating by
this photos, by the place that is one of the dryest
in the world. Its incredible. I never expected something
like that in the world. The only desert I knew before
was in Maroco. But this one here lay in an altitude
of 3000 meters. Waaoow, the more I read the more I
wish to get there. Suddendly a sound ring. Terminus.
Metro Issy les Moulineaux. Lets go out of the wagon,
put the article in my bag and go to work.
But today its my day. The article is far away, somewhere
in a dustbin, making his way to the recycling, and
I, I m in a bus in San Pedro de Atacama in the north
of Chile. Its 8.00 a.m. I m waiting that the driver
finish to check if everybody is there. This bus will
leave San Pedro (Chile) to Bolivia and a 3 days trip
to Uyuni will beginn. Some will come back on day 4
to San Pedro, the other will continue they road into
Bolivia.
Close to me seat Lorenzo. Lorenzo
was born in ...., he study economy and is working
for this compagny....
The motor goes on, the bus moves 10 meters untill
we cross 3 backpackers. This people are late. Should
we take them? 3 spanish guys: Marta (the blond girl with a deep blue regard and the big
smile), Helena (the dynamic girl
from Madrid, who always get the last word ! ;-) and
a big heart), and Raph' (mister encyclopedia,
who knows everything about nature - also know as mister
Trompa Trompa). Behind me Rosa (Spain) and Milan (UK).
The bus go. We stopped to check out from Chile. The
bus goes up the road, through the window I can see
the Licancanbour Volcan. In few hours we will be on
the other side of him, in Bolivia.
The bus goe slower and turn left, quit the asphalt
raod and get into a dirty sand road. A half hour is
left. We are driving in a landscape empty of vegetation.
All arround us the volcanics stones are lying since
millions of years. The only stones who moved 2 meters
are the one that lay into the "primitive"
way. Middle of the nowhere, a house and a barrier.
This is the frontier of Chile and Bolivia. We get
out of the bus, check in for Bolivia and get back
to the bus. This place is just amazing, the barrier
totaly inutile, seems to be very symbolic
 After half hour we arrived in a beautifull lake. The
mountain reflect in the water like a miror. We get
out of the bus and the guide say we should eat something
at this refuge and then splitt the team into the 3
jeeps. Everybody is getting in the refuge, but I can
t, the landscape fascinate me so much, I go down to
the lake. There the flamingos are eating, just walking
arround. Its quite, no artificial noise. The strange
thing is that in this incredible place, some animals
are living. I mean, in this desert there is nothing.
Its an arid place where you just will survived 2 days
on your own. Some of the lake have arsenic. The sun
is burning your head. Less vegetation. If you wanted
to hunt something that will be the ganacos but they
fear the people so you can t get close to them. But
we have a jeep and a driver who knows hes job very
well.
After eating something I get into one of the three
cars. Inside Augustino the Bolivian driver who never
stress us when we just wanted to chill out in a place,
Heink the Netherland man, who get into so much country
in the world ( well Heink most sentences beginn with
"When I was in....." It s a funny guy!),
then they was Chung the japanese, the opposite of
Heink, Chung don t speak so much but sleep a lot.
Chung is the Emperor of sleeping. In the Jeep, when
the car was driving, the spannish girls just translated
the different information the guide gave us, Chang
got his sunglasses and sometimes you never nows if
he was listening to us or if he just move his head
because of the bad road when he was sleeping.
Okay then they was this 3 amigos from spain. I can
just say they will become very very good friends.
First Helena, a very dynamic girl, I realy like her
because of her energy and she is just entertaining.
Then we have Raphie, who leaves in Madrid, Mister
Trompa Trompa the encyclopedia for all that concern
Nature. At last Miss big smile and beautifull eyes
Marta. The 3 together is a great and funny companie.
And the group was just so cool. I couldn t expect
better. On this trip we will laught so much. And the
best thing its that the guide just took our rythm.
When we want to stay somewhere longer we could. Sometimes
we just arrived hours later to the refugio than the
two other jeep. But we didn t care.
So we went trough this desert, visit one lake after
the other, driving in dirty roads into this lunar
landscapes. The only shape that make this landscape
less boring than a normal desert are this volcanics
mountains, some covered with snow, some other just
changing colors because of the different earth from
suffre to iron. Red, braun, yellow. The lake react
exactly the same. Some are just kind of white because
of borax, some other turn to blue, some other to red.
Maybie the red one is the most incredible. Called
Laguna Colorada, this red lake seems to be imported
from Mars.
Nothing that I ever see look like that. Far away on
the horizon you can see some white spots moving. This
are the Flamingos, having lunch on this strange place.
Sometime I ask me how they get there? I mean they
can t read a Footprint or Lonely Planet, but they
are still here, enjoying the lake mood with us. The
difficulty for me to share this moment with you trough
a simple bad stiched photo is that on a photo you
don t realy get into the space. In southamerica everything
has a so big proportion with so much space arround
that you don t get the feeling of big because you
can look at it from far away. In Europe everything
seems to be close and so a 1000 mountain seems enorm
because you look at it from the feet of it. But in
south america you have so much space that a 1000 meter
mountain can be seen over 200 km and just beginn to
be big because you take so much time to get on his
feet. Well I don t know if you realy understand me
but I do, and that is the most important...
 Great other thing on this tour was the Termal bad
in midle of the desert. You just put your close away,
take a bathshort or your bikini, and get into this
30 degree natural waterpool. The water just come out
from the eart an when you get in, you are so relaxed
that you could stay hours in there thinking about
nothing, just chill out and enjoy doing nothing in
this crazy place. I realy never think that I will
do that. It is quite enjoyable when you know that
this night you not gonna have a hot showel, or even
not have a showel where we will stay this night. So
if you searching for a free SPA that the place.
 The
last interesting stuff are the geyser. Hot wet earth
spring out like a little volcano, with very high temperature.
A lot of bubbles everywhere, a lot of watersmoke,
and each geyser set this bubble with a different rythm,
some very fast, some more reagge like, and with different
color also. Blue-grey, braun, orange, yellow a funny
place where you have to look out each step you go
if you not wanna meet the devil deep into the earth.
The Bolivian scientist even think to use this natural
process to make some energy. They perfored the earth,
put some pipes and will later try to catch the presur
of the gaz that comes from deep into the earth to
a mecanic system that use the natural force. It will
be a ecologic energie. But for the moment the test
aren t finished due to the less-finance.
Finaly we arrived 1 hour later than the two other
cars in this refugio. The car parked with the two
other, and we get inside this midle of nowhere place
to our new room. First of all when you get into the
room, take care on your head. Remember that the Bolivian
are for more than 50 percent indigenous and this people
are not that big. So when you are 1,84 m high, it
can be dangerous if you don t look out. Our cool team
(sory for the other teams) get into the room and we
put our backback on our new beds. Well Chung didn
t do the same, he just put himself inside the bed
and get into a deep Japanese sleep. Ahhaha. Incredible
Chung, maybie he will live more than 120 years. Soon
I follow him because my head was hearting me so much.
The high altitude make it hard sometimes and there
is nothing to do than waiting and get accustomized
or masticating coca leaves. But thats okay. Later
the good times comes: DINNER. Yeeeeaaaar. First a
soup witch was excelent, but sorry for the cookers,
it was the only execelent thing here, and later I
will know that good food is rare in Bolivia. When
you come from Brazil, Argentina or Chile the difference
its just to hard to support but that s okay, different
culture different food. We get some kind of Pasta.
It look like spaghetti, it taste like nothing, so
I put some cheese on it, what I never should do because
this kind of cheese just stink like a dirty lama.
Irrrgggg. I eat few this night. But I forget my hungry
stomac as my spanish friends take the card to make
a game. And that was the best card game I never had.
Okay I losed and get the vicuna (kind of stupid llama)
but it was just great. Rosa (from spain) stressed
me so much in this game by counting 1 2 3 in a different
rythm going faster and faster ....ahahah incredible.
The game is simple to learn. Your setting close together
on a table. You take the number of player multiplied
by 4 cards. Take from all the card same familly one.
That means if you are 3 people take 4 card of king,
4 card of As, 4 cards of number 2 or whatever. Okay
then give each player 4 of this mixed cards. The game
started when a guy count 1, 2 and 3. On 3 every player
take one of this card on the table. The card are not
seen by the other. On the same time you take the card
you receive and do it with yours other. If you have
4 card from the same familly you say the word VICUNA
and put your hand on the midle of the table. All the
other players has to put they hand on yours and the
last one (me) losed.
The more you are the more funny is the game, but the
more dangerous for your hand. Its a realy funny game
that will use your zygomatics...Well my friends thank
for that games, it blew away my head-hit.
Finaly we had to get to bed because the electric-generator
(function with petrol) had to run few hours only.
In this place electricity and hot water are inexistant
and luxus. I burst my tees outside, looking at this
amazing landscape lighted by the moon. What a luck
to be here. What a luck to share this time with my
great new friend, with them I just feel good. I have
to think to my Tomate Tomato and Laura Relinda from
Argentina with gave me so much in El Chalten. And
here I feel the same with my group, great people,
great energy with Marta, Helena, Raphy and Lorenzo.
- mes nouveaux amis
- le refuge - carte vicuna - magicien - toilette-
electricite
- les effets de la haute altitude
- la dure nuit |
