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After wandering about Laguna Colorada and eating we settled into our 8-person room. Before sleeping we stepped outside. It was very dark and the stars seemed enormous, the Milky Way, a bright streak across the sky. The logic of the crowded rooms became apparent, however. It was very cold and windy, the only warmth would come from body heat. The calamina roof (corrigated metal) groaned as the wind raged all night long. It sounded as if a piece tore loose off in the distance and crashed through the encampment.

Rita brought bread, jam, margarine, and hot drinks (the usual breakfast fare) long before sunrise. We were rousted out into the cold and off at 5 o'clock. There were two reasons for this early departure. We were going to drive to Laguna Verde and then all the way back to Alota during this day, but more importantly, we had to get to the Sol de Mañana for the sunrise. There is much geothermal activity in southwest Bolivia, and in fact, there is geothermal activity all over the Andes. However, we were entering a zone of particular activity and the first stop was the Sol de Mañana, a place of geysers, fissures, steam vents, and boiling mud pots. In the early dawn, the Sol de Mañana looked like hell. The steam rose above the small valley and darkened it in the predawn light. Then, when the sun crept over the horizon, the world brightened to an obscure, translucence in which the vague silhouettes of people moving about appeared to be primordial hulking beasts.

	No, this is not the Sol de Mañana, this is the Termas de Polques, thermal springs, the next stop on our route.

It was still early morning and very cold. The lake had ice on it. But the water pouring from the spring was very hot. We hung around unsure. Some of us, like Loes, took off boots and dangled feet in the water. Getting in the water was not the problem; it was the thought of getting out again that deterred us. Then Krikke went in, then Loes and I, then all of us. It was great!

We ate an early lunch and then went on to the final destination, Laguna Verde...and yes, it's really green. Behind it is Licancabur Volcano (5960 mt.) on the Chilean border.


Our arrival at Laguna Verde was somewhat sad. The ten of us had really jelled. We got along great together; it's hard to imagine what a trip like this would be like if we hadn't. Now Lucinda and James were leaving us. They were crossing into Chile on their way back to Nottingham. To the left - Mick, James, Lucinda, Graham, Krikke & Loes, Anne, I, and Licancabur. In the center, Rita and Criso. On the right is the Border crossing - a few adobe huts on a desolate windswept plain.


After returning to the Laguna Colorada for lunch, our route back to Alota took us near a borax lake and high up through some mountains. Then we skirted an outcropping of large, jagged boulders and rocks all the way to Alota. Anne tried to push one pebble over without any luck.		On the journey, we passed a small village named Villa Mar. It is built into the rock. It is hard to imagine where the name Villa Mar came from, it means "ocean town."

Bolivia, 2001