High Attitude

Day 1 The wind pounds the single pained glass, it creaks and howls under its pressure. I sit next to it (protected)... gathering the last of the suns energy. Its mid afternoon....Were killing time... waiting, waiting for tomorrow to happen... The three days previous had be spent what can only be described as "playing" in the desert. ...O we laughed... we laughed in the face of the driest place on Earth. This is one of the gringo trail right of passages...The Salt flats "Xpediciones"... A 3 day jeep rumble from San Pedro Atacama (Chile) to Uyuni (Bolivia) taking in a whole load of baron landscapes and I guess some very salty ones. (somewhere in between we visit some crusty lakes, bathe in some hot springs and take silly perspective photos). (we definitely eat boiled sausages and instant mashed potato). According to my hollandaise tour companion (or rather her watch...which seems to do, well, everything) we are currently at 4300m. At this height you are susceptible to altitude sickness (a mild headache... maybe "a tummy upset")...Although her husband (arms crossed, head on the table) appears to be somewhat suffering.... (...the big jessie) Day 2 - We soon forget about the cold restless night in the Refugio when in the horizon the dots in the Lagoon turn out to be pink flamingoes. (Much to annoyance of our driver) Some of our crew fancy themselves as semi professional wildlife photographers...and there is massive lenses and tripods going on all over the shop. (we visit some more lagoons and see a lot more flamingoes....(my ungrateful) appreciation for wild flamingoes wains) Driving in endless valleyscapes (is valleyscapes a word?) takes on a computer game like quality. We finish our day in "a" salt hotel (not the original (as pictured)...this is no longer in use because of sanitation difficulties... (...brown salt...probably) Day 3 - After a red wine induced sleep we awake in our "salty beds" and head off into the white "salty" horizon. We take obligatory perspective photos and generally fanny around with Salt. Yeah it was a pretty fun.