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After lunch some more people were showing signs of altitude sickness. Our guide had warned us that we must eat as this helped prevent the sickness. However we would all feel like sleeping. Not me I was not going to miss a bit of it. According to our Guide we were now reaching the third biggest desert in the world that ran along the roof of the Andes. To me the differing shades of sky and desert were fascinating and every so often a Indian would be walking along in the desert miles from anywhere.

In this picture you can see the tornados skimming over the desert.

We came across this town in the desert. What do they live on.

We arrived at the salt lakes “Salinas Grandes”. There were people who lived here and sold home crafts.

The guide demonstrated how the salt from the area could be extracted. The method used was to cut a hole about 300 cm deep and allow the saline water to seep into the hole this would filter the dirt from the salt. Its hard to come to terms with the fact that this salt is in fact sea salt. The Andes thousands of years ago were covered by sea and as the Andes were forced up by the Pacific plate it trapped the sea. The water then evaporated leaving the dried salt on top with saline water trapped underneath. The guy that lives in the shed trying to sell us stuff must have great difficulty in getting drinking water as this area is very dry in summer and covered in snow in winter. Height above sea level about 3000 +meters.

We start our last big haul. At these heights the trucks engines gasp for air and the lack of oxygen sap’s the trucks power.

The marker tells us 4170 meters above sea level and only another 30 meters above sea level to go. The air here is cold.

We have reached the top and are starting our decent. Hope the brakes work.

Heres a goat farm. Still well above 3500 meters sea level.

Its hard to comprehend how high above sea we are.

Heres a truck travelling from Chile. We have seen a couple broken down but no accidents. It is surprising when we consider the age of these trucks and the terrain they are travelling over.