HOW HIGH CAN WE GO?

Monday, March 8, 2010

A large thermos with strong Coca tea, has been prepared by Suzanna. We have plenty of Aspirin and dark chocolate and an overnight bag with some warm clothes. We’re ready for our trip to Lake Chungara.

It’s already 20 degrees Celsius outside, with a perfectly blue sky. The traffic in Arica is calm. We have no problem finding the road that will lead us east, through the coastal mountains. Of cours ethe GPS always comes in handy.

As soon as we leave Arica we enter a 5 kilometer stretch of Jojoba and Oregano plantations with on the south several groupings of Geoglyphs. In this area many of them represent ritual scenes of fertility. All along Rio Lluta are farms and plantations.
In Pocomchile we stop at the St. Jeromine Church, Originally from 1685, rebuilt by the Spaniards. This is claimed to be the first church in the Arica area.


We see the valley disappear behind us and before we know it we have reached an altitude of 4,000 feet. We are climbing so slowly, that we hardly notice that we are already at such a high altitude.

A 5 kilometer detour takes us to the agriculture village of Molino, boxed in between the sandy mountains. The main crop of corn and the harvest seems to be in full swing.
Another crop of Alfalfa keeps this valley in a beautiful bright green colour.

Even though the view is something else from up high, I really don’t feel all that comfortable so high up and will need to start thinking about it less and try to enjoy more. But considering being almost at the top of the world and seeing these tiny vehicles down below us, where we have already been, I just can’t help it. And we still have a long way to go.

At least once we are up the Alto Plano, it is less noticeable, because everything is flat.

At a hight of 5,400 feet a Borax plant arises in the distance, Something new for us to look at. At a higher elevation we see large field of Candlestick Cactus, which apparently only grow between 2,500 and 2,800 meters (7.500 - 8,400 feet).


Ah, there is life in these mountains, We stumble on a strange looking place, called Mallku owned by Alexis and Andrea. As we browse around the large collection of rocks, shells and other curiosities. Alexis tells us how the world is broken and that people need to pay more attention and enjoy life. Stop the MacDonalds and the Coca-Cola and the mines. It is time to smell the roses and look after our planet. He goes on to tell us that his grandparents and parents were all teachers and shows us a series of diplomas on every topic you can think of.
We sit down with him over a cup of Matte de Coca and don’t seem to be able to get away from him. As we are ready to leave, he continues to talk about what’s wrong with the world and goes inside to get a stack of satyric drawings.
“He’s right” I think, but how difficult is it to get away from all of this? Him and his family did it.

His wife Andrea joins us, a very beautiful, calm woman. She hardly participates in the discussion,, but pulls a small box from the shelf and takes out a gadget. She places the clip over my finger and measures both my Oxygen level and blood pressure. She shows me how to breath deeply, close one nostril, inhale, hold and exhale through the mouth. Oxygen level reaches 99% “Perfect” she says with a smile. “100% percent Oxygen is exactly what you need”. Ramiro does not do as well, he barely reaches 91%. “Keep practicing together and you will be able to do it.” We leave with hugs and exchange e-mail addresses.

We move on, but feel that we need to give a little more time to the adjustment of the high altitude and stop at a truck stop along the road at Zapahuiro for lunch.
As we place our order, we notice how everything here seems to go in slow motion.  As we wait for our food, I watch the lady at the counter open a just received box of small bags of potato chips. She opens each of the packages, takes out the games pieces and with transparent tape closes each of the bags again.
I suppose she gets away with it, until someone complains. Ah, what a wonderful country Chile is. Free for all!!

The higher we go the more the scenery changes, there are millions of rocks from a nearby volcano scattered around and lots of shrubs, indicating that there is more moisture here. In the distance we see the snow capped mountains of Bolivia. Clouds are forming over these mountains. We may get rain tonight.

Close to 2,300 meters above sea level, we see the  village of Putre,  at the edge of Lauca National Park. We will spend the night here to allow our bodies to adjust.

This small, prehistoric village from 1580 has less than 2,000 inhabitants.
It was originally established to serve the transportation needs for the Spaniards to Potosi in Bolivia. It survived for many years on this industry and later on the gold rush that went through this area. Currently its main revenue comes from agriculture.

We find a nice lodge, owned by an Italian couple and have plenty of time to explore this old town. Many of the doors and windows on the houses have been preserved. There are a few artisan shops and I buy a nice handwoven table cloth.
The village is extremely quiet. There is no traffic to speak off. The goats and sheep have the entire road for themselves.

There is always an old timer willing to talk about the history of their home town and so we learn how this church, built in 1670, was destroyed by an earthquake and rebuilt in 1871.

In the distance we hear the thunder over the mountains and rain drops start falling. It feels good actually and makes the air smell fresh.
We have difficulty with the altitude and feel drowsy, Ramiro falls asleep as soon as he sits down. By 9:00 pm we’re in bed. There is nothing else to do, not TV and we want to get up early tomorrow.