Verenas + Jans Weltreise

From Santiago (350m) to San Pedro de Atacama (2.300m) from there through the desert, salt lakes and geysers, to 4.850m above sea level, chewing coca leaves and meeting amazing Bruno – a doctor of desert in his jogging-dress –click here to read the whole story…

Von Santiago auf 350m nach San Pedro de Atacama auf 2.300m, von da durch die Wüste an Salzseen und Geysiren vorbei auf 4.850m über n.N., Coca-Blätter-kauend trafen wir Bruno den erstaunlichen Wüstenarzt im Jogginganzug. Klick hier, um die ganze Geschichte zu lesen –>

San Pedro is already 2.300m above sea level. Every guideline for mountain climbers tells that you should walk up slowly (not more than 500m per day) to acclimate your body to the level and to avoid altitude sickness.
But clever Verena and smart Jan stayed again only one day at 2.300m and booked a 3-day Jeep tour through the Atacama Desert to Uyuni in Bolivia, going up close to 5.000 meters. At the booking of Colque Adventures we met our jeepmates, Tamara, Lianne, Chris and (Sergeant) Bernie. These guys are from England and Australia and all time in a joking mood. The first day we went up to the border between Chile and Bolivia at around 4.000 meters above sea level (they had their first joint). After that we visited the green lagoon and the geysers at 4.850 meters (they had their second joint). We arrived the hut next to the flamingo lagoon where we wanted to stay overnight (they had their first beer). In the afternoon Chris got a headache and after dinner he felt fatally ill. Our Bolivian guide Walter (real name!) had a look in his face and decided immediately to move to another accommodation with a lower altitude. So we were the first tourists visiting the stunning rocks and landscapes during a full moon night drive. We tested chewing Coca leaves but could not feel any better.
The 2nd day Chris felt much better (and got stoned again), we visited an active volcano and then Verena got such a massive headache that our guide again detoured to a doctor in the middle of nowhere. But amazing Bruno, the Bolivian doctor in a sports dress, checked Verenas blood pressure, diagnosed altitude sickness, gave her some wonder-pills and after two hours she felt like being new born
The 3rd day we awoke at 5 a.m. after a horrible night in a 6 bed dorm. The early hour was to admire the sunrise at the biggest salt lake on earth – “Salar de Uyuni”, which is 165km long. In the middle of this lake, during the sunrise, we climbed an island full of cactuses. We felt like in our ski holidays when we walked around the white ground full of small crumbs. At noon we arrived Uyuni, an ugly town full of nonserious travel agencies and other ominous people. Although we were tired and burnt out from the 3 days in the desert sitting in a Jeep driving always bumpy roads full of potholes, we decided not to stay, but taking the bus to La Paz. The bus started at 8 p.m. arriving the unoffical  capital twelve hours later. So we said good-bye to our crazy friends and travelmates and prepared ourselves for the next horrible trip, because the road to La Paz was also unsealed.

San Pedro liegt bereits 2.300m hoch. In jedem Bergführer steht, dass man langsam aufwärts gehen soll (maximal 500m pro Tag), um den Körper an die Höhe zu gewöhnen und um die Höhenkrankheit zu verhindern. Wir jedoch blieben einmal mehr nur einen Tag in San Pedro und buchten eine 3-Tagestour mit dem Jeep durch die Atacama Wüste nach Uyuni in Bolivien, mit Höhen von knapp 5.000 Metern. Bei der Buchung trafen wir unsere Weggefährten, Tamara, Lianne, Chris and (Sergeant) Bernie. Die vier kamen aus England bzw. Australien und waren eigentlich immer gut drauf. Gleich am ersten Tag fuhren wir hoch an den Grenzübergang zwischen Chile und Bolivien auf 4.000m. (wo die vier ihren ersten Joint hatten). Im Anschluss besuchten wir die grüne Lagune und Schwefelgeysire auf 4.850m (wo die vier ihren zweiten Joint hatten). Als nächstes kamen wir zu unserer Unterkunft am Flamingosee (wo die vier ihr erstes Bier tranken). Nachmittags bekam Chris ziemliche Kopfschmerzen und nach dem Abendessen war er todsterbenskrank. Unser bolivianischer Guide namens Walter (kein Witz!) schaute sich Chris kurz an und beschloss sofort zu einer Unterkunft, die 800m tiefer lag, zu fahren. Somit waren wir die ersten Touristen, die sich die Felsen und die Landschaft während einer Vollmond-Fahrt anschauten. Wir probierten uns am Kauen von Coca Blättern, jedoch ohne Erfolg.
Am zweiten Tag ging es Chris gleich viel besser (ruckzuck war er auch wieder stoned), wir besuchten einen aktiven Vulkan und dann bekam Verena auf einmal so starke Kopfschmerzen, dass unser Guide erneut einen Umweg machen musste, um irgendwo im Nirgendwo einen Arzt aufzutreiben. Bruno, der Wüstendoktor im Trainingsanzug, checkte Verenas Blutdruck, stellte ein paar Fragen auf spanisch, die wir sowieso nicht verstanden, diagnostizierte Höhenkrankheit und versorgte Verena mit ein paar Wunderpillen; zwei Stunden später fühlte sie sich wie neu geboren.
Am dritten Tag wachten wir um 5 Uhr nach einer ziemlich üblen Nacht in einem 6er Zimmer auf. Es war deshalb so früh, weil wir den Sonnenaufgang über dem “Salar de Uyuni”, dem größten Salzsee der Erde, miterleben wollten. Inmitten des endlosen Salzsees befindet sich eine Insel, die voll von bis zu 12m hohen und über 1.000 Jahre alten Kakteen ist. Es fühlte sich an, als wären wir im Skiurlaub, während wir über den weißen, allerdings weniger kalten Untergrund stapften.
Um die Mittagszeit erreichten wir Uyuni, ein hässliches Touri-Nest voll mit unseriösen Touranbietern und schlechten Hostels. Obwohl wir von den drei Tagen, der Höhe von 4.000m und der Jeeptour über üble Pisten ziemlich erledigt waren, beschlossen wir keine Nacht hier zu verbringen, sondern abends den Nachtbus zur 12 Stunden entfernten heimlichen Hauptstadt Boliviens, La Paz, zu nehmen. Wir verabschiedeten uns von unseren verrückten Freunden und bereiteten uns auf die nächste Horrorfahrt vor, denn die Straße nach La Paz ist ebenfalls größtenteils nicht geteert.

San Pedro is already 2.300m above sea level. Every guideline for mountain climbers tells that you should walk up slowly (not more than 500m per day) to acclimate your body to the level and to avoid altitude sickness.
But clever Verena and smart Jan stayed again only one day at 2.300m and booked a 3-day Jeep tour through the Atacama Desert to Uyuni in Bolivia going up close to 5.000 meters. At the booking of Colque Adventures we met our jeepmates, Tamara, Lianne, Chris and (Sergeant) Bernie. These guys are from England and Australia and all time in a joking mood. On the first day we went up to the border between Chile and Bolivia at around 4.000 meters above sea level (they had their first joint). After that we visited the green lagoon and the geysers at 4.850 meters (they had their second joint). We arrived the hut next to the flamingo lagoon where we wanted to stay overnight (they had their first beer). In the afternoon Chris got a headache and after dinner he felt fatally ill. Our Bolivian guide Walter had a look in his face and decided immediately to move to another accommodation with a lower altitude. So we were the first tourists visiting the stunning rocks and landscapes during a full moon night drive. We tested chewing Coca leaves but could not feel any better.
The 2^nd day Chris felt much better (and got stoned again), we visited an active volcano and then Verena got such a massive headache so that our guide again detoured to a doctor in the middle of nowhere. But amazing Bruno, the Bolivian doctor in a sports dress checked Verenas blood pressure, diagnosed altitude sickness, gave her some wonder-pills and after two hours she felt like being new born .
The 3^rd day we awoke at 5 a.m. after a horrible night in a 6 bed dorm. The early was to admire the sunrise at the biggest salt lake on earth – “Salar de Uyuni”, which is 165km long. In the middle of this lake we climbed an island full of cactuses during the sunrise. We felt like in our ski holidays when we walked around the white ground full of small crumbs. At noon we arrived Uyuni, an ugly town full of nonserious travel agencies and other ominous people. Although we were tired and burnt out from the 3 days in the desert sitting in a Jeep driving always bumpy roads full of potholes, we decided not to stay, but taking the bus to La Paz. The bus started at 8 p.m. arriving the capital twelve hours later. So we said good-bye to our crazy friends and travelmates and prepared ourselves for the next horrible trip, because the road to La Paz was also unsealed .

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