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We headed back across the andes to the desert, passing the seven coloured mountain and getting more spectacular views of the andes. We arrived at the border only to find out that the customs were on strike so we had to wait for an hour to get our bags checked before we decided to walk the last few hundred metres to the town rather than wait for everyone else to be checked. We checked into a hostel and bumped into Trisha in the town. We decided to try and cram in a couple of tours before leaving for the salt flat tour to bolivia on Sunday so we thought we booked the early morning geysier tour the next day and sandboarding with the valley de luna for the day after before catching up with Tara, dan and trisha for tea.
So we got up at 3.30am and waited for our bus which was meant to arrive at 4, byt 5 we were pretty sure it wasnt coming so headed to bed. We got up a few hours later, steaming and ready to give the agency what for only to realise that the lady had gotten confused and booked us in tours the other way round. So we had lunch and got ready for sandboarding instead. Luckily our ride arrived this time and we headed to death valley for our first sandboarding lesson. At first the sand dune looked steep and climbing it nearly killed us, the screaming women in another group didnt do much for our confidence either but we perservierd and went off the edge. We were way to cautious and immediately ended up stuck in the sand but after a few goes we were just about getting the hang of it when both of us in turn crashed and burned, ending up with sand everywhere. After that we headed to the valley of the moon to catch sunset. Our guides decided we hadnt had enough exercise so we climbed to the top of a hill and watched the sunset over the valley (so called because it is meant to look like being on the moon). We had a pretty good spot away from the rest of the crowds.
The next morning we had to get up early again and luckily our bus didnt keep us waiting as we were one of the first groups in the area to make it to the geysier field. Safety wasnt high on the parks minds as you could basically walk right into the boiling hot water if you wanted to. We kept our distance but warmed up in some of the steam. The geyisers have a mysterious feel almost eerie but it was beautiful to watch the sun come up and as we were their early we even got some people-free photos. Next we headed to a thermal spring and braved the freezing cold morning air to enter the not hot enough water. Needless to say we didnt stay long before braving the cold air once more to get dressed. Finally we headed back to a small village where less than 20 people live year round as they have all fled to san pedro, we got to eat llama and taste a traditional tea meant to ward off altitude sickness like coca tea! We passed a group of alpacas on the way back and felt slightly bad about eating their cousin, but what can we say, they tasted good!
We had to get our supplies ready for the salt flat tour, stocking up on water and a few other essentials as we wouldnt be finding many shops on our 3 day trip. Then we packed ready to enter Bolivia early the next day!
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