Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?

After going to bed at 830pm I had half expected to wake up early, but when I hear Sean coming back in from the bathroom, and ask him the time, 130am doesn’t really sound so good. Not particularly when my heart was pounding through my chest at an alarming speed. I decided that it was probably best to get up and get some fresh in air in the hope that some more oxygen might calm it down. But all that greets me on the other side is darkness and the cold.

In fits and starts, I spend the night alternating my broken sleep with walks outside, paracetamol and water, and music on my iPod. Finally, after three scary awakenings, it is morning and breakfast is being served. It is not much – just some stale bread, jam, coffee, tea and a flask of lukewarm water – but it is enough to get us all going for the day.

But obviously our driver Jesus has other ideas, and seems very content to be locked up in the warmth of the family’s kitchen, forgetting almost completely about us. We wait patiently for him, trying not to shiver in the cold, realising that this is actually his family. Our car is then loaded up with him, our stuff, empty bottles, his cousin and everything but the kitchen sink, and we finally head off - the last to leave from our ‘resting’ place.

Our first stop is Arbol de Piedra - strange rock formations formed in the sand by volcanic eruptions. I ask Jesus when we will get to the hotel at the Salt Flats and he says six o’clock, but I can’t understand why when it is only 150km away. But when smoke starts appearing in the front passenger seat and we all have to get out while Jesus and his cousin fiddle under the 4WD, it starts to make sense. Luckily two other tour groups are behind us, on the same route, and they stop to keep us company.

I instantly recognise the English couple from my hostel and I chat to them about the quality of their experience so far (they did the smart thing and checked the tourist office’s comments book before booking). But it is much the same story - no sleep, no real guidance from their tour person, and plain pasta and soup for dinner. I guess it is all a pretty hit and miss experience.

It’s an even rockier ride to the next Laguna Onda, where more bashing of the vehicles’ underneath goes on. Desert mechanics seems to only have two fixes: either that, or pouring water on it, and it is not long before Jesus has stopped again to blow up the tyre by hand. Oh brother!

The next few lagoons, Laguna Heidonda and Laguna Chiarcota, pass by much like the others, our fatigue for them has already arrived, so that when we get to Laguna Cañapa we are all glad to have lunch as a distraction. Getting back on our trail, and car trouble plagues us again, this time the brakes don’t seem to be working and when our tyre gets stuck going uphill, we end up sliding backwards into a rock edge. From his seat in the back, Sean says we were lucky it didn’t roll.

Thankfully though, it’s nothing serious, but it is not too long before the back wheel needs to be changed completely, and the ‘road less travelled’ tactics of our 19 year old driver start to wear thin. It becomes a running joke with the other groups we bump into, with each meeting requiring a list of our new problems.

Frankly I have no idea how Jesus keeps track of where we are going ‘cos we just seem to drift through endless amounts of barren landscape. But our final stop in San Juan de Rosario arrives before we make the last 2 hours to our ‘hotel’ at the salt flats. In the dying light of the day, we pass by the cactus-laden hills and some sad-looking quinoa crops and I can’t help but wonder why farmers here haven’t realised that rocky soil doesn’t grow much. (Except wine of course!)

Finally the Hotel de Sal arrives with its warm insides and hot showers (although the solar-powered lights don’t go on until 7pm, and then get turned off at 9pm, with no warning). We settle down for a dinner of soup, and, well, Spam. Calling it that is perhaps even being too kind. It was totally inedible and tasted rather like cat food, so, after sharing a bottle of wine, and playing a few games of Uno, it is another early night for us - with another early rise ahead to see the sunrise over the flats.