Beautiful Sydney

San Pedro de Atacama

Moon valley and it's surroundings

Second last day of a wonderful trip. The tour was to The Moon Valley in Atacama desert. This consists of sand dunes, sequences of layered peaks, dry rivers and lakes.
Moon Valley, Amphitheater, Dead Valley, Three Marias and finally the sunset were in the plan. These names were given by a Belgian priest who had studied geology. He had said that the surface of the valley looks similar to that of the moon. The death valley was called Mars valley initially. Upon translation of his book about this area it was translated into dead valley.
Moon valley was a lake that had dried out over a millions of years. The peaks still show different layers of sedimentation that had occured.
These peaks had started to erode due to:
1. Water
2. Wind and sand working together and
3. Dissolving and drying salt
There are underground salt deposits. Due to high amounts of rain since 2010, salt from underground had dissolved and had deposited on the surface making scattered white patches.
Amphitheater was formed due to the movement of the earth's crust and it looks like an amphitheater...
Three Marias with Jesus is an eroded structure made out of salt and gypsum about a million years old. Well, one has to have heaps of coca tea or alcohol to figure out the description the tour guide gave on this. According to him the Maria on the left to the praying Jesus is broken down due to someone tryibg to climb on it.
I prefer the story by the locals. The three ladies are the widows of the miners. On the left to this structure, the entrance to the living quarters of the miners can be seen. To the right of it is another structure that they call a mirror and I didn't really get the reason behind it unfortunately.
The sunset I have seen today was the most boring but the way the Andies range changed the colour was more interesting than the sunset.
I love my Bolivian sunset with "Mark Anthony". Heaps better. The fact that Bolivia is on the other side of the Andian range made me realise how much "my Serena" misses Bolivia....

Visit Bolivia

Adios Bolivia!

At the end of four wonderful days, with a heavy heart I said bye bye to Bolivia. This is a country that had impressed me and surprised me immensely.
The first impression of the country is misleading if the first stop is La Paz. La Paz has not much to offer in terms of nature compared to what this country got.
Three days spent in Salt Flats - Cochani, Uyuni and lagoons - red, white and green.
This country has so much to offer. Get away from main cities and you will find the heaven on earth. There is so much that Bolivian government could do to promote tourism and hope what I am writing here will open the eyes of travel bug infected people in this world to visit Bolivia.
It is amazing how the smallest of the doors open to an amazing tourist accommodation in a least suspected location. But my recommendation is, go with a reputed tour company if you look for small comforts.
Within the same area one could find lagoons filled with Flamingos, lagoons of different colours, mountains with different shades of reds, browns and whites, geezers with different colored mud, ice caps and rock formations.
On dry season it is dusty but who cares, have a shower later. In Spring the days are cold in the morning and warm during the day. But a jacket is always needed. Besides, reflection from the white solid salty surface can burn you together with the sun, Sunblock, long sleeves, sunglasses and hats are a must.
I tried to capture my tour from Bolivia to Chilean border but believe me, these photos do absolutely no favor to the beautiful scenery I went pass.
The diversity within a few kilometers is amazing. Visit Bolivia and spend more times in areas that are not too populated.
4WD is the best and that is offered in tour packages. It is a great way and may be the only way to see this part of Bolivia as the roads are mostly dirt roads.
One advice though, carry your own toilet paper and a few Bolivian coins.... up to about 6 bolivianos..... yes, you need to pay to pee or poo..... this is already included in tickets for some touristy places. It is better to prepared than sorry because cold weather always have an effect on bladder.....
If all goes wrong, for example no money, lost tickets or if it is too early for the toilet operators to be there, one can always rely on the Inca toilet....

Before it it too late, go visit Bolivia.

South America. Is it safe?

It is the last day of an amazing tour. Fell in love over and over again. With an aching broken heart, I say that I am not ready to leave yet. But I must as I need ti save fir my next adventure.
South America and Central America, what a wrog impression you had given to the world? If one follows the rules, not into illegal thrill seeking, not stupid to accept any overly cheap offers, strong enough to say NO courteously and use commonsense then this is as safe as any other so called "safe to travel" countries.
South and Central America has a character, a rich history and heaps of resources. In my opinion exploitation, bullying, discrimination and slavery that had happened historically has a negative effect on these nations to date. Good to see how they try to standup on their own but heaps more to do.
All that had happened within last 43 days in this continent stays in this continent and in my memory forever. What one needs to know are shared in social media....
My effort was to make others to be aware of this amazing continent and assist as much as I could in planning their future travels.
Met some great people. Lack of my language skills had restricted me from getting to know this continent better. Markets, local food, random walks too made this an exiting experience.
Seven countries 19 flights, a 10 hour bus ride, a 3 day cruise, a few boat rides, countless number of car rides and the first two border crossings over the land, three out of seven wonders of the world. There is not much I can ask for from a tour.
All the effort I had put in to make this trip a reality (endless number of phone calls, emails, research, dealing with tour companies, constant trouble shooting, comparing itineraries and pricing, decision making, etc) during a whole year was worth it. Funnily enough, by the time I finalised it alll, the tour company was bought by Flight Centre.....
Thank you my Facebook friends for putting up with my endless updates, photos and support. Sorry for being a nuisance if it was too much. This probably will be my last update on this tour.

ARE YOU SAFE IN SOUTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA?

YES YES and YES