Hot springs in Surire
26 ноября 2017 г., Чили ⋅ ⛅ 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 nearЧитать далее
Colored algae in the hot springs
26 ноября 2017 г., Чили ⋅ ⛅ 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, someЧитать далее
The Craze for Travelling
Its too far off and isolated with no fancy tourist facilities around.
Flamingos in the Salar lake
26 ноября 2017 г., Чили ⋅ ⛅ 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 theЧитать далее
Swim in the Pollequere springs
26 ноября 2017 г., Чили ⋅ ⛅ 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 wasЧитать далее
Salar de Surire
26 ноября 2017 г., Чили ⋅ ⛅ 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. ItЧитать далее
Путешественник
Salt formation is due to rocks,(rock salt) or the ground water is salty?
The Craze for TravellingIt was below the ocean many million years ago. The water evaporated leaving the salt after the area was uplifted 4000 mts.
Salt extraction at Salar Surire
26 ноября 2017 г., Чили ⋅ ☁️ 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 thereЧитать далее
Lakes on the North Salar Surire
26 ноября 2017 г., Чили ⋅ ☁️ 2 °C
Along the North shore of the salar, there are 3 lakes with salty water. There were many vicuñas and flamingos in and around the lakes. We stopped for a while to take pictures and then continuedЧитать далее
Salar viewpoints
26 ноября 2017 г., Чили ⋅ ☁️ -5 °C
Along the route there were some vantage viewpoints where we could see the salt plains and the lakes. It was extremely beautiful. It was 11:20 am by now and we continued further South towards Lirima.
Caught on the border
26 ноября 2017 г., Чили ⋅ ⛅ 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 CarbineriЧитать далее
Scenic route to Colchane
26 ноября 2017 г., Чили ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
It was about 1 pm now. We decided to stop at Colchane for our lunch. Colchane is a border town with restaurants, hotels and other services. The route was very scenic with typical high altitude sceneryЧитать далее
Into a part of Bolivia
26 ноября 2017 г., Боливия ⋅ ☀️ 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. WeЧитать далее
Путешественник
It seems you have not been taking any guidance from locals or tour operators? Is this area not visited by tourists?
Red river
26 ноября 2017 г., Чили ⋅ 🌙 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 inЧитать далее
Путешественник
The maintenance cost of vehicles including tyres costs must be very high due to b bad condition of roads.
The Craze for TravellingYup.. That's why the rentals are costing almost the same as in Europe despite these being cheaper countries.
South to Lirima
26 ноября 2017 г., Чили ⋅ 🌫 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 whichЧитать далее
The Craze for Travelling
Yup... Its a very isolated area like ladakh and similar altitude.
Lirima hot springs
26 ноября 2017 г., Чили ⋅ ⛅ 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 theЧитать далее
Natural hot springs Lirima
26 ноября 2017 г., Чили ⋅ 🌫 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 theЧитать далее
The Craze for Travelling
Don't know about the levels around the year. It could change. There was no mention about it.
Salar de Huasco
26 ноября 2017 г., Чили ⋅ 🌫 0 °C
From Lirima, we drove South to Salar de Huasco. We reached at around 6:30. There were many flamingos and other birds in the lake on the edge of the salt plains. We stopped there for a few minutes andЧитать далее
Pica oasis
26 ноября 2017 г., Чили ⋅ 🌫 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 wasЧитать далее
Around Pica
27 ноября 2017 г., Чили ⋅ 🌫 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 clothesЧитать далее
Pica thermas
27 ноября 2017 г., Чили ⋅ 🌫 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 areЧитать далее
The Craze for Travelling
Don't really know. There was an exit from the pools but didn't see where it goes.
In the thermal pool, Pica
27 ноября 2017 г., Чили ⋅ 🌫 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 caveЧитать далее
Views from the 1st cave
27 ноября 2017 г., Чили ⋅ 🌫 0 °C
We spent some time inside the 1st cave as the sun outside was quite sharp. It was about 15-20 mts deep. The water was about a meter deep all along. It was a bit steamy inside die to the heat of theЧитать далее
In the 2nd cave
27 ноября 2017 г., Чили ⋅ 🌫 0 °C
We went into the 2nd cave. It was similar to the 1st one but much shorter at around 7-8 mts deep. Here too, the water was about 1 meter deep.
Facepacks on the guys
27 ноября 2017 г., Чили ⋅ 🌫 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. WeЧитать далее
Underwater in the cave
27 ноября 2017 г., Чили ⋅ 🌫 0 °C
My phone the Samsung Galaxy S7 is waterproof so I tried using it for underwater photography. The results were quite lovely actually.
Путешественник
Your mob. Flash is very powerful as this is photographed from the darkest end.
Source of the thermas
27 ноября 2017 г., Чили ⋅ 🌫 0 °C
In the left cave, we found the source of the hot water bubbling out from below. I managed to capture that on the phone camera.