When I woke today up, the thermometer showed a minimum of -4°C in the front part of the tent.
The ride was mixed between cycling and walking. The road is not in good condition and I guess since long not prepared. I arrived at the Laguna Leija for lunch and could enjoy the manific views:
The laguna had a yellow touch and the mountains ( the volcans Lascar, Agua Calientes and Pili) were covered by some little snow. Just amazing!
When I passed the lake it slowly started to smell sulforous…I will not know if it is from the Flamingos or from a sulfur source.
I followed the road, covered a lot of part with sand and arrive at the salar the Agua Calientes. At that time I understood that the warm bath I was dreaming of was a mirage/ fata morgana: the name is only from the mountains… So I decide to save my energy and not go very close to the salar, especialy because the road was really sandy.
In the evening I found a place to stay. While I was flattening the ground I saw a car coming..the first of the day! Can’t I be alone?? But after a second glance I saw that it was a normal car, not a 4×4. And yes, it stucked in the sand 500m from my place. So I walked over there to help them. May be 50m before I arrived, the driver could get back using the reverse gear. The women came in my direction and asked me if I spoke english with such a french accent that I had to switch to french.
They were coming from the new road 23 and were trying to go back to San Pedro. I strongly suggested them to drive back as the road I had rfrfoken was nothing for that car and because they were at half fuel. And in that region, nn has coverage with the cellphone!
They wanted to try it. So I auggested them to send me an email if they did it as I could send help in the case I wouldn’t get it. I told them that if they had to regress, they could stop at my "house" and we could share something to eat. I went back to my place, put the tent and started to cook.
Now the wind is getting very strong…and what do I see over there on the road? The French are back and stacked again, nearly on the same place. Well, they know they can ask for help. I will just get out again shortly to fix the tent stronger as the wind is so strong that one of the wall is pressed to much. So memorize once more:
1) throusers
2) open primary "door"
3) shoes
4) open secondary "door"
5) run to the bicycle
6) detach the trailer from bike
7) take a spander
8) bring trialer and spander to the other side of the tent
9) fix it as strong as possible
10) is there a stone somewhere?
11) regress quickly to the tent!
And all without falling over the tent fixation (the cooool one made of steel, which can really hurt).
Well… Memorize step 1-11 again and don’t forget the fixation!
Go!
Ahhhhh…how well does it feel in the sleeping bag!
Gud n8
PS see the difference due to the glasses….