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The South American Odyssey
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The South American Odyssey

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    Hot springs in Surire

    26 November 2017, Chili ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    We walked around trying to get warm, enjoying the raw beauty of the place. There were hot springs everywhere. Most of them were around 60-70C. There were 2 that were having boiling water and were near 100C. The place looked so surreal in the morning sun and the steam from the hot springs. It was a different kind of magical beauty than the one at night.Baca selengkapnya

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    Colored algae in the hot springs

    26 November 2017, Chili ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Some of the hot springs had algae in the water. Tge heat from the water promotes their growth. There were algae of different colors - red, brown, green, yellow etc. Each hot spring was different, some were shallow placid pools while others were bubbling with hot water, some had steam coming out in whisps while the others were bellowing massive amounts and high into the air. It was like walking on a different planet.Baca selengkapnya

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    Flamingos in the lakeFlamingos taking off from the lakeThe flamingos flew far away

    Flamingos in the Salar lake

    26 November 2017, Chili ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    We had been walking around the hot springs for almost 1.5 hrs now. We decided to go to the hot lake where we had seen a lot of flamingos earlier in the morning. When we were still 500 mts from the lake, they started moving away from us. By the time we reached near the lake shore, they were had moved to the other shore. Then in one go in unison, they all rook to the sky. It was an amazing sight. A cloud of red moving in a synchronized movement in one direction. They flew away quite far and didn't return till we were in the region.Baca selengkapnya

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    Swim in the Pollequere springs

    26 November 2017, Chili ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    It was about 9 am by now. We had been walking around in the area for almost 2 hours. Now, was the perfect time for a swim in the hot water of the Pollequere springs. The temperature of the pool was about 60C and was a bit hard to adjust to initially but once in it was very nice and cosy. The air was still quite cold but the sun was very harsh and piercing. We waded around for 15-20 minutes before coming out. After drying up, it was time to move on. The previous evening, we had arrived at the Salar Surire quite late and had not been able to see it properly. Plus I had read that there were a lot of birds and animals in this vacinity so we had planned to go around the salt plains now (a loop of about 60 kms). The Pollequere springs were at the South corner of the salar and we had planned to go clockwise around it and then continue further South.Baca selengkapnya

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    Salar de Surire

    26 November 2017, Chili ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    We drove North along the edge of the Salar de Surire in the direction of the salt factory we had seen pervious night. The salar was exactly the same as that in Uyuni, just a smaller version of it. It was a big sheet of white spread across the flats. We even saw some herds of vicuñas on the way. The Conaf place was still closed. 🙄🙄Baca selengkapnya

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    Salt extraction at Salar Surire

    26 November 2017, Chili ⋅ ☁️ 1 °C

    The salar was exactly the same as that in Uyuni, just a smaller version of it. But, here, they were extremely busy extracting salt. While in Uyuni we had hardly seen any salt extraction, here there were more than 100 trucks running in and out of the factory and even in the salt plains. There was salt and dust in the air. There were big mounds of extracted salt near the factory.Baca selengkapnya

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    Green vehicles near the hill. Border police??
    Green vehicles near the hill. Border police??2 of them waiting for us near the road nowBack in Chile

    Caught on the border

    26 November 2017, Chili ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    As was our fear when we entered the Chile side, there was no one around but just a few meters away, we saw 2-3 vehicles parked on a small hill. They were of green color, the color of the Carbineri vehicles. As we started driving towards them, 2 of the border police guys in full army fatigues with bullet proof jackets and machine guns started walking towards the road. They stopped us and enquired about us. We told them we didn't speak Spanish. They told us we had just entered from Bolivia. We told them we come from Salar Surire which is Chile. (I'm from Barcelona, I know nothing). 😁😁😁 One of them was extremely serious and wanted nothing of our excuses. The other one seemed a bit more senior and more understanding. He asked us where we were going and where we come from and then explained that we had just passed from Bolivia and that there was an alternate road 10 kms long that we should have taken. We feigned ignorance and told him that we had just followed the gps. He asked us to pass while the other guy was still pissed and didn't want to let us go. Eventually this guy just waved us on and we didn't wait for the other guy's reaction 😉😉Baca selengkapnya

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    Vicuñas along Salar Surire2Trench perpendicular to the roadMore trenches perpendicular to the roadRoad in BoliviaBolivia on the tower and the fence beyond

    Into a part of Bolivia

    26 November 2017, Bolivia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    We continued following the track on the gps. At some places, there were trenches dug across the gravel road. We couldn't figure out the reason for it and why would anyone dig it across the road. We managed to go across them by diverting off the road and continued further. Suddenly, we saw a small tower with a board indicating Bolivia and there was a fence just beyond. We realized we had passed into a small section of Bolivia on the road and the fence was the entry back to Chile. We had not seen any board indicating our entry into Bolivia. Most probably, the trenches had been made to stop the entry from this side. Now we were worried what would happen if there was a customs/immigration check on the other side. We drove on, anyways.Baca selengkapnya

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    2Golden and green grass in the boefdal
    2Golden and green grass in the boefdalBeautiful red color in the river Sitani

    Red river

    26 November 2017, Chili ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    The scenic route continued till the highway 15-CH between Chile and Bolivia. On the way, at Escapiña, the Rio Sitani was red with an algae that blooms in November. It looked like the Crystal River in Colombia. It was a very unique sight. We stopped for a while to take pictures and then continued on to the highway. There, we turned left to Colchane.Baca selengkapnya

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    Restaurant in Colchane where we had lunch
    Restaurant in Colchane where we had lunch2

    South to Lirima

    26 November 2017, Chili ⋅ 🌫 12 °C

    We had our lunch at a restaurant in Colchane and then headed South again towards the Lirima hot springs on the way to Pica oasis.
    A bit south of Colchane, we turned left onto a gravel road which continued south. After a few kms, the asphalted road started. This part of the altiplano is quite flat with straight road going South.Baca selengkapnya

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    Lirima hot pool
    Lirima hot poolChanging roomNatural hot springMore hot springs

    Lirima hot springs

    26 November 2017, Chili ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    We reached Lirima at around 4:45 pm. The hot springs are about 7 kms from the village. Its not a well marked route and all the roads beyond Lirima are gravel and dust roads. We had them marked on the gps so we drove directly there.
    When we reached there, there was no one there. We walked to the hot pool. It was a nice and warm about 50C man made pool where hot water from the springs has been diverted. A bit further off we saw the natural hot spring from where the hot water had been channeled to the pool. They all had a stunning emerald color due to the chemicals in the water. The water has been tested to have a neutral ph and the chemicals are known to be beneficial for health.    Baca selengkapnya

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    Natural hot springs Lirima

    26 November 2017, Chili ⋅ 🌫 0 °C

    There were about 8 natural hot springs in the area. All witg beautiful emerald blue crystal clear water. We spent about 30 minutes walking around and enjoying the views. We decided not to go into the hot pool since it was 5:30 pm and Pica was still around 3 hrs away and we had read that even Pica has public thermal springs. We decided to take a dip there instead.Baca selengkapnya

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    Sand on the road1Oasis of Pica

    Pica oasis

    26 November 2017, Chili ⋅ 🌫 0 °C

    We reached Pica just before 8 pm. After Salar de Huasco, the topology changed to that of deserts. There were huge sand dunes all around us. Some part of the road passed midway up the dunes. There was sand all over the road.
    We reached just before sunset and saw Pica as a green oasis in the middle of the desert.

    Pica is a Chilean town and commune in Tamarugal Province, Tarapacá Region. Situated in the inland of the Atacama Desert on an oasis, Pica is famous for its small and unusually acidic lemons. The town has a communal spring with a surface temperature of 40 °C, which makes it a popular bath place in the middle of the desert. It has hotels and all basic services.

    It took us quite a while to find a place to stay. All the hotels and hostels marked on maps.me had closed down. It seems that its not a populace place for an overnight. The ones that were left were either too expensive or fully occupied.
    Eventually, we found a really lovely place (Hotel Rucaru) at 35000 CLP for a night. The rooms were small but very clean and well appointed. It also had a private bathroom. We checked in and went for dinner at Gato Rapido (Fast Cat) to have dinner. After that, it was sleep time. Since we had woken up quite early and had not slept that well the previous night, we requested our breakfast at 10 am and slept.    Baca selengkapnya

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    Breakfast
    BreakfastChurch in Pica2

    Around Pica

    27 November 2017, Chili ⋅ 🌫 0 °C

    After waking up late, we had our breakfast and checked out. We left our bags at hotel and the vehicle parked outside and went for a walk around the town. Tge first stop was to drop our dirty clothes off at a laundry. We managed to negotiate a return time of 5 pm. After that we walked across the town to the thermal springs.Baca selengkapnya

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    Entrance to the hot springs
    Entrance to the hot springsThermas2

    Pica thermas

    27 November 2017, Chili ⋅ 🌫 0 °C

    Tge thermal pools in Pica are lovely. The water is at around 33C and nice to get into. The ph is neutral and there is calcium and magnesium in the water which it seems is good for the body. There are 2 natural caves as well where the water goes inside and its possible to wade in and enjoy a light sauna of the heated water in the pool.Baca selengkapnya

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    Outside one of the cave
    Outside one of the caveTwo women using stones to scrape the rock surface insideInside the caveView outside

    In the thermal pool, Pica

    27 November 2017, Chili ⋅ 🌫 0 °C

    We went into the pool at around 1:15 pm. The water was nice and warm. It was very pleasant to swim in the hot afternoon sun. Inside one of the cave, we saw 2 women scraping the inside of the rock cave with stones and used the paste so formed, as a mud pack on the face. There were marks of scraping everywhere, all the way to the back of the cave and even on the rocks outside.Baca selengkapnya

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    The bottom of the cave
    The bottom of the cave2Mud packs on ;)

    Facepacks on the guys

    27 November 2017, Chili ⋅ 🌫 0 °C

    Having nothing else to do till we get our laundry back at 5 pm, we decided to follow the locals and try the mud packs. We found some stones and started rubbing them on the rock inside the cave. We used the paste to cover our faces 😁Baca selengkapnya

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    View outside from the cave
    View outside from the cave2View outside from below the waterBottom of the cave2End of the cave

    Underwater in the cave

    27 November 2017, Chili ⋅ 🌫 0 °C

    My phone the Samsung Galaxy S7 is waterproof so I tried using it for underwater photography. The results were quite lovely actually.

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