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    • Chile März 2024
      2
      113
      Day 24

      Lauca Nationalpark - Seen und Eisriesen

      March 26 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C

      Heute wollen wir die Vulkanriesen bei Putre sehen! 6300m hoch, mit blendend weißer Eiskappe. Wir sind schon voll freudiger Erwartung 😊!

      Aber zuerst tanken. Google Maps muss helfen. Der erste Stop verkauft Gasflaschen. Nicht schlecht für den Anfang, hilft uns aber nicht.
      Wir cruisen durch Putre, nix in Sicht. Wir fragen Leute und erhalten den Hinweis auf ein weißes Haus am Markt, Casa Blanca. Meine kleinstädtischen Vorstellungen lassen mich nach Zapfsäulen suchen 👀, nix in Sicht, weiter fragen. Ja, Casa Blanca, pregunta! Fragen!
      Ich also ans Tor: „Hola, Hola“ und tatsächlich erscheint eine alte Frau und bedeutet mir zum Hintereingang zu kommen. Dort, neben dem Hühnerstall befindet sich das Tanklager in einem Schuppen. 20L Kanister sauber aufgereiht nach Treibstoffart. „Novento Cinco“, 95 Oktan sind gefragt und unser Tankwart verschwindet im Schuppen und wuchtet ein blaues Plastikgefäss zum Tankstutzen. Eine abgeschnittene 1,5L Colaflasche verbunden mit einem Stück Gartenschlauch vervollständigen die Ausrüstung. „Me puedes ayudar?“
      Klar helfe ich der alten Dame mit dem schweren Kanister! Self Service an der Tankstelle, was sonst. Sie hält die Colabuddel und ich lasse laufen. Mir kam kurz der Gedanke, ob Colaflaschen Lösungsmittelfest sind, aber ach was, schnick schnack.

      Noch neues Geld gezogen, der Sprit war kein Schnäppchen und dann los in die Berge bei herrlichem Sonnenschein. Es ist traumhaft schön!      Read more

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    • The Craze for TravellingThe South American Odyssey
      2
      Day 57

      Parinacota village

      November 25, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 0 °C

      Our initial plan was to park at Parinacota village and then trek to the Cotacotani lake viewpoint. We were at a pretty high altitude now and climbing just a few steps to the viewpoint made us breathless. At the viewpoint, we realized that the distance to the lookout was about 4.5 kms. This would take us about 2.5 hrs to go and come back in the searing heat of the high altitude sun and with no trees or any shade anywhere. We came down into the village to ask around if we could take our 4x4 vehicle all the way. As usual in Bolivia, Peru and now in Chile, the tourist office was closed. We've not even once found any of them open at any hour in any of the 3 countries we have visited till now.
      The office was closed. The staff was sitting in a jeep outside but made no effort to indicate that they worked there. We actually thought they were some local tourists. We walked to the lake at the end of the village and it was only when we were returning we saw one of them go into the office. We managed to get a few seconds with him but we were told that the office was closed and that we could take our vehicle to the lookout point.
      We started the drive and had to use the 4x4 at a few places. At one point our gravel track ended and there were small sand hills formed by another gravel track running perpendicular to our road. There was a board indicating entry for authorized persons only. We had no where else to turn to so we drove on over these sand hills onto the other track and started driving in one of the directions which we felt was almost towards the direction we wanted to go to. After driving for a few seconds, we realized we were going perpendicular and away from our marked track on the map. There was no one else on this road and we ended up 2 kms away from the village with another board indicating that we had been in a forbidden zome again. (As with every trip of ours this has to happen 😉).
      We drove back to the village, now on the legal road amd decided to continue further on the main road to the roadside viewpoint of the same lake.      Read more

    • The Craze for TravellingThe South American Odyssey
      2
      Day 57

      Missed Cotacotani Lake

      November 25, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 0 °C

      On the way out of the Parinacota village we saw a forked road, both leading to the main road. There was a board indicating that the road to the right was for authorized personnel only and we realized that we had used that one when going towards the village. 😜😜😜 That made it twice in half a day when we had been driving on unauthorized roads. In any case no one had stopped us and neither of us had seen the no entry sign when going towards the village.
      Once back on the main road, Hristo set up the Cotacotani viewpoint on the gps and we continued on our journey. A few kms away, we saw a huge que of trucks on the road. We were not sure about the reason but presumed it to be the checkpoint for trucks on the Bolivia border with Chile. We drove past them and after driving 2-3 kms found out that the trucks had been stopped due to road repair work and the que would open on our side in about 10-15 min.
      After a few minutes, the road opened and we continued further along with the trucks. We saw some views of Cotacotani lake on the left of the road but continued driving to the point marked in the gps. After a few kms we could see the lake no more and Hristo realized that the gps had not been working properly and that we had missed the lake altogether.
      Just at that point, we saw a track going down to the left and back towards the lake's direction. We turned around there and started downwards on the rough gravel road.      Read more

    • The Craze for TravellingThe South American Odyssey
      2
      Day 57

      Cotacotani viewpoint

      November 25, 2017 in Chile ⋅ 🌬 3 °C

      After all that drama, we tried to take some pictures of the reflection of the Parinacota volcano in the Cotacotani lake but it was quite windy and we couldn't see the reflection. After that, we drove back to the main road towards the viewpoint. Here, again, we had to join the queue off the trucks waiting for the road repair. Luckily, the queue started in a few minutes and then a km away, we were able to drive off the road for a few meters to the view point. The views were amazing. We spent a few minutes taking pictures and enjoying the view and then were able to get back to the end of the truck queue and continued further along the road.Read more

    • The Craze for TravellingThe South American Odyssey
      Day 57

      Vicuñas near Cotacotani lake

      November 25, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 4 °C

      After we parked at the lookout we had been trying to reach from the Parinacota village end, we tried to climb a lava hill next to the lake for better views. The air was very rarefied and after climbing about halfway, we realized its the same view we had seen earlier plus we were getting late with a long distance still to go before sunset so we decided to go back and continue further.
      As we were driving back near the lake shore, we stopped to take a picture of the reflection of the Cotacotani volcano in the lake water. I walked back to that point along the shore while Hristo drove the vehicle along the track. A herd of vicuñas was trying to come towards the direction we were coming from and got trapped between the lava hills on one side with our vehicle just below and the lake with me standing near the shore. It was total panic chaos after that. Most of the herd ran past me while i prepared my cameras to take pictures and videos while one of them was too scared and started running towards the vehicle. Here, Hristo came out and started running after it 😄😄😄 Both kept running towards amd away from each other for about a minute before Hristo got totally out of breath due to the altitude and the vicuña decided that going around the lake was a safer option 😁😁😁
      Finally, it ran around the lake and the rest of the herd that had stopped and was looking back at the circus happening behind, too ran and joined it at the opposite end of the lake.      Read more

    • The Craze for TravellingThe South American Odyssey
      Day 57

      On the shores of Cotacotani lake

      November 25, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

      We drove around the lake. There were lovely views of the lake and the volcano behind. We saw vicuñas and some birds in the lake there. It was very scenic.

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Parinacota

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