Volcanoes, Hot Springs and Gastrointestinal Illness: Part 2

Part 2: A Tour through Chile from Colchane to Chungará

Jan 23-29: about 185km

We arrived in Chile on the evening of January 23, and immediately began noting the differences between it and Bolivia. There were still the requisite llamas, but now there were streetlights! And trash cans. Not to mention the very official customs building, with free public bathrooms, water you can drink from the tap, and X-ray machines through which all baggage had to pass. You are not allowed to bring any fresh food products into the country, so we picked up a few things in the one tiny store we saw in Colchane, before heading out of town to camp. 

Camping by a river! That was something new for us too. 

Jan 24: 32.5km, Colchane to wild camp near Taipicollo

In the morning, we said goodbye to pavement for the next five days. This was nice because it meant no more large trucks and tour buses, but it did mean a lot of sand and washboard. That morning, Adie had discovered that one of his front rack bolt holes is cracking, so all the bumping was certainly a test for the last 1.5mm of metal that was holding his rack together...

Luckily, the bolt hole held up through the rough roads! And the scenery was gorgeous, with verdant river valleys, animals grazing, and striking volcanoes rising above us. 

Unfortunately, by afternoon, Lucy's stomach illness started to take its toll. 

At 3pm, with no more energy left in her body, we pitched camp in an abandoned llama corral. 

Jan 25: 45km, Taipicollo to Polloquere Hot Springs

The next morning, feeling well-rested, we set out to find some hot springs! We climbed and descended from one valley to the next, until we found ourselves in Bolivia again!

No border control this time, but we did have to climb a very steep, sandy pass to get back into Chile. Lucy's other hamstring had started hurting (not another injury!) so Adie valiantly pushed both bikes the final 300m of sand. 

Crossing the pass, we came upon the Salar de Surire, where supposedly hot springs awaited us! 

Unfortunately, the long descent brought us to the edge of the salt flat, but no steam was in sight. We searched but to avail, all the water we found was shallow and cold... Thankfully, Adie had saved a photo of the route of some other cyclists, and it turned out to say where the hot springs were! Reenergized, we pedaled into the driving headwind and, a few km later, smelled the strong, sulphur fumes and saw the steam rising from a giant thermal pool!

Happy to have a giant hot spring in the middle of a magnificent landscape, all to ourselves. 

Jan 26: 20km, Polloquere to CONAF ranger station on the Salar de Surire

In the morning, there was even frost on the tent and picnic table! And flamingoes and vicuñas keeping us company. 

Unfortunately, Lucy was feeling her worst upon waking. Weak, achy and tired, she collapsed back in the tent after our morning dip. While she rested for a few more hours, Adie made her coca tea and moved her rack to his bike so that he could take all the panniers!

Knowing that we had to make some mileage that day (we we're just about out of water and didn't fancy drinking hot sulfur-water) we set out at about 10am, Lucy drafting behind Adie even though he had all the weight! It was a trying day, crawling along at about 5km per hour, with the ever-present afternoon headwind soon beating us down. We knew we'd probably be spending more than five days in Chile now, but at least we were eating significantly less food than expected, so we had plenty to spare!

We made it to the park ranger office on the other side of the Salar, where one ranger lives, and set up camp at 3:30. 

Just us and the viscacha, giant rabbit-like rodents!

Jan 27: 38km, Surire to wild camp by Río Lauca

After resting all afternoon, dining on pasta bouillon soup, and sleeping all night, Lucy was feeling somewhat better in the morning. Shortly after setting off, we came upon the borax mine and asked for water. The kind man we talked to showed us the bathroom, brought us bottled water, and then came out with a big bag of oranges and bananas! Never have we felt so appreciative of a mine before! The fresh fruit powered us through the next two days, even as the endless stream of mining trucks blew dust and sand in our faces. 

We found a great campsite that afternoon beside a gurgling river, where we washed our clothes and even our bodies! The water was so warm from the sun at 4300m that we could comfortably get in! 

Jan 28: 42km, Río Lauca to Churigualla Hot Springs

We took off early, knowing we had a long stretch ahead if we wanted to make it to the next hot springs!

The exciting milestone of the morning was completing our first 1,000km! We'd realized a few days before that Lucy's bike computer was not calibrated to her wheel size, giving us an odometer reading that was 7.5% further than reality (which we calculated using the km signs on the Bolivian highway). So the odometer actually reads 1075 in the photo, but now it's been reset with the correct wheel size!

We passed through the mostly-empty town of Guallatire, which had a nice little church, typical of even the most abandoned villages we've seen! We stopped at the CONAF station and found a bowl of soup at the truck-stop restaurant, our first bought meal in Chile! About four times as expensive as a bowl of soup in Bolivia. 

Mid-afternoon, we finally reached the turnoff to the hot springs, which meant leaving the trucking route! 

We headed through the hills, searching for signs of hot water, and eventually made it to a tiny shack that the CONAF ranger had mentioned. Inside: a deep stone tub with a rush of water pouring in. Very hot water! We stopped up the outflow and tried to get in, but it was just too hot. So we let it fill, blocked the inflow, and luckily it cooled enough for us to soak for a few minutes. The nicest part was that there was a small sleeping bench in the hut, so we had a very cozy, steamy night out of the wild wind.

Jan 29: 47km, Churigualla to Sajama, Bolivia

When we awoke, it was Lucy's birthday! She even got both of her wishes: hot springs and the beginning of the end of her stomach problems. We had one last soak before hitting the road to go back to Bolivia. We climbed to the highest point of our lives: 4650m (15,300ft)! 

As we descended and the highway came into view, we realized that it was covered with an enormous line of trucks!

All sitting for hours, waiting to pass through Chilean customs. We had a bit of a confusing time getting through ourselves because our road came out on the wrong side of the border control, but we managed to find our way back through to get our exit stamps. 

Then it was one more 4600m pass before a glorious 7km (paved!) descent to Bolivia!

We saved our last candy bar for a birthday treat, though it turned out to be very disappointing... But the views of the volcanoes all around made up for it!