After a two-and-a-half-hour (and 3 stops!) flight from Santiago, we arrived in Arica, a sleepy town in the middle of a desert. From here, our journey started in the extreme north of Chile where Lauca Park is located, a gem that is still unknown to mass tourism. As usual, we turned to a local agency to organize our transfer to Bolivia by land. Our day started very early; at 7:00 am, we were already in the car.
The Lauca park offer Its splendid panoramas llamas, alpacas and guanacos graze in the wild, surrounded by marshland and clear lakes. Among these, the Chungarà stands out, with its crystalline and blue cobalt blue waters – at 4500 meters above sea level – shows the reflection of the true attraction of this park: the Parinacota volcano.
With its snowy cone and its 6,362 meters of altitude the volcano stands out among all the surrounding mountains.
Close to the lake basin, the pretty village Parinacota is worth the visit: here, you can see the ancient and traditional local architecture including houses and the church, painted in white.
Pictures of Parinacota village
Not far from here you may also find the Jurasi thermal baths (actually a thermal open-air pool) used to cure rheumatisms. I did not have the courage to take my clothes off, but the fearless Ale, as usual, did not miss the chance.
In the same area of the thermal baths, we stayed in Putre, a thriving village which is a perfect example of the Aymara culture. Populated by 2000 people only and located at 3600 meters above sea level, it is a good place to rest during your exploration for the region. Arid landscapes, blue skies and colorful graffiti on houses enrich this town.
The Las Vicuñas National Reserve is dedicated to another mountain herbivore, the vicuña, whose wool was used by Incas for the production of regal garments. In this area sits El Salar de Surire, home of pink flamingos, with its ponds and expanses covered with a salt crust.
After finishing our tour, we said goodbye to this beautiful park by having our highest picnic ever, at above 4.000 mt. We will never forget the quality of that lunch with those splendid views in the background. When it was time to leave, we simply waited for the bus that would have taken us to La Paz in Bolivia. We had no idea how to get it, whether there was a stop or not. But our guide was with us, and we felt comfortable.
While we were waiting, we decided to take a walk around the surrounding area and, of course, right in that moment, a bus approached our location at full speed. Suddenly, our guide started shouting: if the driver had not seen us, he would have pulled straight. So, we started running and waving our arms like crazy to show our presence. We got on the bus. Andean music started playing at full volume. This was how our Bolivian adventure began.
