Above the Clouds

Well today's (30th July) been full of excitement. Firstly the ATM swallowed one of our cards as there was a power cut mid-transaction which didn't set the day off to a great start but we have spares so not a major problem. Slightly annoyed we set off on our 5 day trek into canyon territory and our first foray at altitude.

We started at around 2500m and slowly climbed throughout the day to over 4000m but that's skipping to the end of the day.

In the morning we visited the Toro Muerto petroglyphs. Strewn across the desert in the canyon are huge rocks from a volcanic eruption around 1000 years ago. On the rocks are carvings which are estimated to be 800 years old. Cats, llama, alpacas, foxes and people carved into around 5000 very large rocks. They were carved by migrating people on their annual journey from the mountain lake to the sea. Our favourite was a drawing that looked remarkably like the Cheshire cat.

In the afternoon we passed a forest of cacti whilst continuing up and up until we were above the clouds, a most beautiful sight.

It was here that our second exciting event happened - we got a puncture. But not any old puncture, one that flattens the tire of a land Rover in less than 5 minutes! So, on this narrow mountain road a new tyre had to be put on.

On we went, on to a narrow dirt road on the side of the canyon with our driver travelling a little too enthusiastically for comfort, but we're still alive...just.

After an couple of hours driving up the narrow road there was a loud crash and something that felt like the wheel falling off. My guess was remarkably accurate with the wheel rolling off the side off the road and the bumper ending up in a tree! Fortunately we weren't at the edge of canyon when this happened and the wheel was easily recovered by Stu.

Unfortunately this meant we didn't get to see the mountain lake but instead got to see the southern sky with absolutely no light pollution, with Saturn and Jupiter both clearly visible along with a satellite tracking across the sky.

After another two hours of slightly slower driving in the dark and regular pauses (to check the wheel was still there!) we arrived at our hostal around 9 pm. Shattered and a little worst for wear from the windy roads and the altitude we went straight to bed.