Geysers and hot springs

I had set two alarms for 4:00am but miraculously, I slept through both of them. Everyone else did wake up however but didn't think to wake me up or turn off the alarms. When our guide knocked on the door at 4:15, I was so confused by what was going on. I hurriedly packed up and ate breakfast. This morning we got cold pancakes and yogurt which was a welcome change from hard bread. We were in the jeep and on the way promptly by 4:30. Driving through the dark, I didn't really understand why we had to be up so early. I couldn't tell you the last time I've woken up and looked at the stars before a sunrise. But as we approached the geysers an hour later, with the sun peaking over the hill, I understood why we were there. It was so unique and beautiful. Apparently the geysers are much more active during the day, so we drove around to the different ones, touching their steam and jumping through them. They instantly warmed us up although once you left the steam heat you were nearly chilled to the bone since you were now moist in freezing cold air.

As we drove around, we noticed that all of the snow formed into jagged pieces. Our guide said it was due to the intense winds that were constantly blowing through this area. I thought it was one of the strangest things I'd ever seen.

In addition to the geysers, there were pools of molten rock bubbling all around us. They were steaming and churning in the early morning light, making the area look prehistoric.

After leaving the geysers, we headed to the nearby hot springs. Of course we could not go into the little house to change (because it was locked) so we were forced to strip down next to the house to put on our bikinis. We made Ewan wait on the other side of the house until we had finished since luckily we were the first group there, but as we stripped down other jeeps began to pull up, lol.

We spent a glorious 40 minutes in the water which was amazing after days of freezing cold weather.

Once we left the hot springs, we headed in the direction of the Bolivia/Chile border. On the way, we stopped to see the green lake which you can see in the background of the picture below. We took one final group picture in front of the lake before saying our goodbyes at the border. We were really lucky with the group we were put with. Even though we had taken the Spanish speaking tour, we were the only ones in the group who spoke Spanish and everyone we travelled with was our age and very nice. I think the people you are with on a trip like that can really affect your experience, so I was glad we were so fortunate.

Once a the border, we got our exit stamp and had to wait an hour for our van to leave at 10:00am for San Pedro de Atacama. There was absolutely nothing at this border crossing including no bathroom...we all had to take turns peeing behind a tractor, lol. Finally our bus came and drove us a hour into Chile to the Chilean embassy. We got our entrance stamps and for the first time since we began our trip, they passed all of our bags through scanners to make sure we didn't have any weapons or produce.

I was instantly relieved by how much warmer San Pedro was than it had been in Bolivia. As is turns out, we were now in the driest place on earth (and boy did my skin show it!). The town was small so we could walk to our hostel from where the bus dropped us of. We had booked "Hostel Soncheck" in advance and I was glad that we stayed there. It had an adorable, southwestern style with a very open platform- not to mention hot water and a kitchen! We immediately changed into shorts and took a walk around town.
Later in the day, we went to the town square to watch some of the local talents how that they had been setting up all day. The kids who performed didn't have amazing voices but I admired how confident they were on stage.

For dinner, we chose a restaurant with a set menu that we thought sounded good. Much to my dismay, Chile is definitely the most expensive country we've been in so far and we couldn't get a meal for less than $14. This will be interesting as we get into Brazil, New Zealand and Australia which will also be super expensive.

We both got the same set menu that included a pumpkin soup, salmon with grilled potatoes and lemon tart. It was actually fantastic!

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