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Whether it was the altitude or the late night pre-bus schnitzel I ate, (I suspect the latter) I hadn't felt that sick in a long time. After the border crossing from Argentina to Chile I cut loose and fed the bus seat in front of me enough spew to sink the Titanic. There wasn't even enough time to race for the bathroom. Now, truly at my worst, I was half naked, with my clothes and face full of vomit. To be fair, the altitude did beat the s*** out of me, we reached a maximum of 5000m asl, (around double the highest point in Australia). In contrast to how I was feeling, the views were stunning. To see lagoons, birds and mountains in the middle of a desert is enough to make you think your mind is playing tricks on you. It just doesn't seem right. Maybe it was the altitude?
After making it to "Sand Pedro" and numerous visits to the toilet. I could now confirm my suspicions that there was more to how I felt than just the altitude. It was safe to say I had encountered my first bout of the runs. And in a desert, it's a dangerous game to play. With Gatorade and water as my saviour, I rode out the storm within, bed ridden all day in the 40 degree heat, sweating harder than that time I visited the school playground.
Not wasting any more time (or body fluid) the next day, I was up at the crack of and into the small city of San Pedro. It's main attraction are the numerous tours you can take to the surrounding areas. The town itself is nothing more than a tourist hangout. I was straight into it. Jumping on a sandboarding tour that morning. It was definitely going to be interesting when the instructor rocks up still pissed from the previous night, coughing up a lung or two. Once there, I raced up the dune for my first attempt. First try was loosely described as a face plant into the red sand, totally kooked it! Up again for no. 2, passing the instructor who was now watering the desert with last nights beer. My second try was a good one, and with the help of The Offspring playing in the background I gradually got the hang of it, though I only made about 6 runs in total as the walk up and heat wore everyone down.
I opted to hit Laguna Ceja that afternoon, a deep lagoon in the middle of the desert. The water was perfect, extremely salty and best of all - you could float! No rookie moves were made this time as I beat the tourist rush and enjoyed it with a few pals. From there, we travelled to the Valle de la Luna for sunset. The view was insane! With a landscape resembling something from Mars it was the perfect way to end a very brief, but adventure filled stay in San Pedro.
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