On the second day we
got up at 5.30 and had a very meagre breakfast of stale bread and hot
chocolate. We then set off in our jeep for a full days tour of all
the natural landscapes. We travelled at altitudes of just under 5000m
(4855m) and for the first half of the day I was completely fine.
Before we had left Tupiza, our guide had bought us some coca leaves
and a stick of chalk which you are meant to chew on to prevent
altitude sickness. The first time I tried this I gagged and was
actually a bit sick in my mouth – it is absolutely disgusting –
especially the chalk. We drove past beautiful lakes, flamingos, and
an ancient ruins site which used to be a mining town but was
abandoned in the 17th century because everybody in the
village died and the people believe this was because of the devil.
Poor Jemma was suffering after the spicy food the night before and
had to go to the toilet in one of the abandoned houses. We just have
to hope that the devil wasn't watching.
In the afternoon we
stopped at a natural hot spring so people could bathe in them but by
this point I had a thumping headache from the altitude and was
advised by the guide that going in the springs would be dangerous.
Instead I took an altitude sickness tablet that the guide gave me and
took photos of the others in the springs. We then had our lunch made
for us again in a little building near by – pasta, beef and
vegetables. After lunch we visited some natural geysers which were
surrounded by bubbling mud pools. Luckily by this point my headache
had started to get better.
We drove past two more
lakes – one red and one green (which was full of arsenic), before
arriving at our second 'hostel' (again a very basic building like the
one the night before.)
We sat and had tea and
biscuits whilst waiting for our tea to be cooked. When the food came,
one girl who doesn’t eat pork (Rachael), tried to ask the cook
whether there was any pork in the food but none of us knew the word
for pork. She therefore snorted at the chef and tried to do an
impression of a pig, whilst jemma made a gesture with her hands to
make herself look like she had little ears. Well the chef (Sylvia)
took offence to this and stormed off. Something was lost in
translation. We all found it hilarious. Sylvia must have presumed
Rachael was calling her a pig.
Instead I took an altitude sickness tablet that the guide gave me and
took photos of the others in the springs. We then had our lunch made
for us again in a little building near by – pasta, beef and
vegetables. After lunch we visited some natural geysers which were
surrounded by bubbling mud pools. |
| With Rachael & Dan next to a geyser |
Luckily by this point my headache
had started to get better.
We drove past two more
lakes – one red and one green (which was full of arsenic), before
arriving at our second 'hostel' (again a very basic building like the
one the night before.)
We sat and had tea and
biscuits whilst waiting for our tea to be cooked. When the food came,
one girl who doesn’t eat pork (Rachael), tried to ask the cook
whether there was any pork in the food but none of us knew the word
for pork. She therefore snorted at the chef and tried to do an
impression of a pig, whilst jemma made a gesture with her hands to
make herself look like she had little ears. Well the chef (Sylvia)
took offence to this and stormed off. Something was lost in
translation. We all found it hilarious. Sylvia must have presumed
Rachael was calling her a pig.
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