We started to day out at 7:15 am when we were picked up by the tour company at our hostel. The streets were so quiet this early -- it was weirdly peaceful:
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| The street is so quiet at 7:15 am...The first stop on our trip was just about 20 minutes outside of Arica. On the hills there were these really cool geoglyphs: |
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Geoglyphs on the hills in la Valle de Lluta
We continued up the road and stopped at Poconchile, a tiny town in the foothills just before the ascent up into the mountains. The main building was the church, which was founded in 1580!! |
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| Iglesia San Jeronimo - founded 1580! |
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| "Iglesia San Jeronimo. Fundada en 1580. Ultima reconstrucción 2001-2005. Fundación Antiplano" (San Jeronimo Church. Founded in 1580. Last reconstruction 2001-2005. Antiplano Foundation) |
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| inside of the church |
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| church altar |
Behind the church was the cemetery, which had been founded in 1580 as well along with the church! It was really cool:
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| "Cementerio Parroquial San Jeronimo Poconchile. Fundada en 1580." |
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| Cemetery |
One of the tombs had a bottle of Coca Cola as an offering to the person buried there....Coca Cola has truly taken over the entire world. I also love how the Jesus statue is hugging the Coke bottle...
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| Coca Cola as an offering... |
After this stop we began our ascent into the mountains. Down in the valley it was still very foggy, but once we got up into the mountains we came out of the fog and had REALLY cool views of it blanketing the valley floor:
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| Fog blanketing the valley floor |
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| Fog blanketing the valley floor |
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We kept going up up up into the mountains and the landscape looked vaguely martian....just sand and rocks everywhere...no plants. There was a really tall mountain in the distance that had a perfect cloud halo right above it:
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| Mountain with cloud halo |
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Tiny oasis in the middle of dry mountains
Our next stop was in the town of Zapahuira for breakfast. At this point we were at a little over 3,000 meters (9,842 feet). The town consisted of about 3 buildings, one of which was this restaurant. Our breakfast was a HUGE bread roll with butter and slices of cheese (weird combo but it was DELICIOUS) and a big cup of coca tea. Simple but delicious. |
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| Breakfast in Zapahuira: coca tea and bread with butter and cheese |
After breakfast we continued our ascent up into the Andes. We stopped at an overlook point on the highway that looked down upon the town and agricultural lands of the town of Putre. Putre is at 3,500 meters (11,482 feet). You can see from this picture the terraces that the people here use to farm in mountains.
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| city of Putre and terracing |
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| city of Putre and terracing |
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| Andean woman selling textiles on the side of the road |
First sight of snow!!:
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| snow!! |
As we kept ascending the road got worse and worse. The bus swerved all over to try and avoid the giant potholes... but it didn't always succeed. I was surprised because the road is actually used by trucks carrying minerals and things to and from Bolivia. This picture is from before it got really bad....but you get the idea:
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| bumpy road |
Once we reached the National Park we started seeing wildlife. The Park is actually a wildlife preserve so all of the animals in it are protected by the Chilean government! It has vicuñas, alpacas, llamas, and a cute bunny-like animal with a long tail which I can't remember the name of. They were all very cute! At this point we were at 4,000 meters (13,123 feet).
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| first sight of vicuñas!!! |
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| Vicuñas, Llamas, and Alpacas |
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| Llamas, alpacas, and vicuñas |
This bunny was very suspicious of the bus....it was giving us the side-eye:
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| cute bunny-like animal that was VERY suspicious of the bus |
All of the plants up at this altitude were very spiky. This plant had beautiful flowers but very sharp and spiky leaves....one woman didn't realize this and got a hand full of spikes:
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| spiky but beautiful plant |
The water was very clear at this altitude and there were beautiful pools all over the plain:
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| beautiful plains at 4,000 meters |
Our next stop was the small pueblo of Parinacota, named for the Parinacota volcano that overlooks the town. The volcano is 20,827 feet tall and is on the border between Chile and Bolivia. The town of Parinacota is at 4,400 meters (14,435 feet)....at this point Ane Kine and I were definitely beginning to feel the altitude....it was harder to breathe and I had a slight headache. But we were not feeling it as much as some other people...one guy had to use the oxygen machine.
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| Church in Parinacota |
The bathroom was definitely a bonding experience.....the door didn't close all the way and the window in the front was very big...everyone could basically see and hear you peeing.
We decided to walk up this set of stairs that went up a small hill. Here is a picture I took about halfway up:
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| Parinacota |
We got about 10 steps from the top but we were breathing so hard and feeling so weak (because of the altitude) we could not make it....so close yet so far. I took a picture of the top instead:
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| So close yet so far.... |
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| buildings in Parinacota |
We left Parinacota and headed for our final destination: Lago Chungara, one of the highest lakes in the world at 4,500 meters (14,763 feet)!!! Parinacota volcano overlooks the lake so we could see it the whole drive. It is pretty impressive:
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| Parinacota volcano -- excuse the weird lighting it was taken from the bus window |
We stopped at an overlook on the way and had a great view of the volcano:
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| Parinacota volcano |
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| Parinacota Volcano featuring me -- the landscape is even more beautiful than it looks here it was amazing |
Finally we got to the lake. We were feeling pretty lightheaded and weak at this point but we soldiered on because the scenery was so breathtaking:
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| Lago Chungará and Parinacota Volcano |
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| Lago Chungará and Parinacota Volcano |
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| Lago Chungará and Parinacota Volcano |
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| Lago Chungará and Parinacota Volcano |
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| Lago Chungará and Parinacota Volcano |
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| Lago Chungará and Parinacota Volcano featuring me |
We had to climb back up a small embankment to get back to the bus and in our altitude-sick state the small embankment was like a mountain....even though it was only about 10 feet. When we got back up Ane Kine had to sit down on the side of the road and of course I took a picture:
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| Altitude sickness claims another victim -- featuring Ane Kine |
After we left the lake we started our decent. We went back down to 3,500 meters (11,482 feet) to the town of Putre to eat lunch. It was good to be back down to an elevation where we didn't feel lightheaded! Here is where we ate lunch...they even had a vegetarian meal! and of course we had more coca tea to recover:
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| La Paloma Restaurant in Putre |
After lunch we explored the town a little. It was very nice:
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| stream in Putre |
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| Putre |
There is a big indigenous population in the Andes and the biggest group in this part of Chile is the Aymara. This sign is in both Spanish and Aymara:
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| Sign in Spanish and Aymara! |
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| cool mural in Putre |
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| Church in Putre |
After this we left and drove down and down and down back to Arica. All around an AMAZING day! This trip was honestly one of the most amazing things I have ever done, especially the National Park and Lago Chungará.
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