Sad to be leaving Bolivia.
Crossing the border into Chile was a very informal affair. Having no border control it seems Chile prefers other methods to keep out unwanted visitors.As the road ascends to 4700m away from Laguna Verde it splits into numerous branches and vanishes in all directions across the desert. If you choose the right road you´ll have to negotiate the minefields left over from the War of the Pacific.
Bolivia has been the best, most beautiful leg of the journey so far. 887km across dunes, deserts and volcanic badlands and the largest salt lake on the planet. We only managed to find 230km of proper roads and didn´t see another soul for 9 consecutive days, we crossed the highest passes and slept through the coldest nights.
Bolivia is a truly wild country but has hidden gems around every corner. We´re not really sure why it has such bad press, maybe it´s American propaganda as part of the war on drugs, but we experienced nothing but kindness and hospitality often from the poorest of people.
Once we´ve negotiated the minefields we plan on heading through San Pedro de Atacama to Iquique, northern Chile´s surfing hotspot to lie on the beach for a week. We´ll then head back (by bus) to Salta (northern Argentina) to resume our original itinerary, as planned before we got distracted by Bolivia.We´ve also resolved to stop selecting the most difficult routes we can find and stick to roads... at least for a while until we´ve made up some time.
