We arrived in Vilemar late in the evening and it was already dark.
We parked the truck and unloaded our bags into what Dave described as simple accommodation. The rooms were on the basic side of rustic but the shower wasn't as sophisticated as this and struggled to piddle cold water. The boiler and gas bottle which powered it, complete with a tangle of piping, sat inconveniently close to the falling water and I just couldn't shake the feeling that it - the water supply or the gas bottle - could go off at any minute.
After three days without a shower, I shivered under the flow, periodically breaking the accumulating icicles off the faucet, and then dried in the sub-zero corridor while the remaining water on my still dripping body debated whether to evaporate or freeze.
After breaking the ice in the bowl, I had a shave that would have been less painful if I had used a blow-torch - that being how may face felt for eight hours after the bleeding stopped.
I would like to say that I emerged refreshed.
But I didn't.
After three days without a shower, I shivered under the flow, periodically breaking the accumulating icicles off the faucet, and then dried in the sub-zero corridor while the remaining water on my still dripping body debated whether to evaporate or freeze.
After breaking the ice in the bowl, I had a shave that would have been less painful if I had used a blow-torch - that being how may face felt for eight hours after the bleeding stopped.
I would like to say that I emerged refreshed.
But I didn't.
We slept surprisingly well under mountains of bedding. It was hard to rise into the morning chill at 6am for the drive to Uyuni, but not because we were reluctant to leave the warm nest we had spent eight hours making.
The blankets weighed so much that, combined with the altitude, they conspired to squeeze the breath out of us as we slept.
That, and the drowsy llama that emerged from between the blankets as we made the bed in the morning.
The blankets weighed so much that, combined with the altitude, they conspired to squeeze the breath out of us as we slept.
That, and the drowsy llama that emerged from between the blankets as we made the bed in the morning.
Cameron’s water tanks had frozen in the night and only after two hours on the road did she relinquish the first drops into our parched mouths.
The altitude sickness sufferers rose better, if not fully recovered, but at least had the comfort of knowing that we were dropping from 3,950m to 3,663m by nightfall.
As we left town, even Vilemar with less than 100 residents, exhibited the inequalities we have seen elsewhere. The valley was full of rough built mud brick houses with roofs made of corrugated iron.
On the hillside above the small village was a new and infinitely more expensive building with a pan tile roof and double glazing; the walls were made from prefabricated panels.
The impression was of a single, well-to-do villager who lived alone on the sunny uplands, and a whole village who did not.
On the hillside above the small village was a new and infinitely more expensive building with a pan tile roof and double glazing; the walls were made from prefabricated panels.
The impression was of a single, well-to-do villager who lived alone on the sunny uplands, and a whole village who did not.
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