After having lived at above 3000m since Cusco and above 4000m (roughly) since the Altiplano, we thought we´d try and see how much higher we could go. Fortunately around San Pedro there are several vulcanoes that go up to 5500 or even 6000m. Easy fixed.
Finding a guide was just as easy, but he pretty much scoffed at our recent Inca Trail and Cordillera Blanca experience (latter only up to 4800m, defn not high enough), so an “easy one” (5480m going by my GPS) called Lascar was selected. The other cool thing was that each morning it still emits a little smoke and we could see into the crater from the top. The walk started at 4900m so we had a little bit of a head start, but still…
Well, we weren´t disappointed. Physically it was quite a challenge and at a height where I´d say hiking is not really great fun any more (think: one step, one or two breaths, one step, one or two breaths, etc… and add a few breaks and breathless gasps in between), but the views were hard to beat. Apart from being able to see the whole crater(admittedly very smelly, ie sulphuric, ie rotten egg gas), we could see all the way along the chain of vulcanoes that previously we´d only seen from San Pedro and in most other directions. Very, very cool. A few more photos might´ve been taken. Sleep was quite good that night too.
Next time we go up this high will be in Nepal (Annapurna Circuit), so I guess an interesting side effect was that we now know we´ll be able to actually complete it (highest point is at 5419m, ie a bit lower), which is always good to know before you fly half way around the world and hike for 10 days to get somewhere 
First stop in Chile was San Pedro de Atacama. Interesting place after a little while in Bolivia; almost Western and WAY more expensive. Enjoyed the return of some mod-cons though. Landscape hadn´t changed though. It´s in the middle of the Atacama desert (driest place in earth, which helped with the camping of course… nobody enjoys camping when it rains, I don´t care what they say… yes, even if they´re from Scotland) and has all the associated goodies: salt flats, geysers, moon like scenery, etc.
We did a tour of the Moon Valley as it´s known which had some cool rock formations and some great views of the chain of vulcanoes that make up the Andes around there. Sunset was also nice (although a little sandy, got to love wind in the desert)…
Well, despite some earlier concerns as to travel plans through Bolivia (due to violent demonstrations days before we arrived), we´ve now left Bolivia and managed to do everything as planned.
First up was Potosi (altitude 4000m), an old mining town (which used to be the richest and largest city in the world a couple of hundred years ago). Didn´t do the mines; not interested in seeing poor people being exploited while submitting ourselves to some very dodgy mining OH&S standards. Did check out the place itself which was great. Very cruisy and some great views from the roof of the San Francisco convent (you actually get to walk on the roof!).
Next up was Salar de Uyuni, aka the Uyuni salt flats. These are massive salt plains (12,000 square km, ie larger than Holland) which you can drive around in jeeps (or be driven around in jeeps as in our case) and which in some spots stretch as far as you can see. Interesting place when you´re as tanned as I am. Cool also are these “islands” which you can drive up to; literally just hills I guess which happened to be higher than the surrounding layer of salt (up to 120m) and are now little oases with cacti, etc. The one we visited was Isla del Pescadores. Translated means something to do with fish. Interesting name, I´m thinking more to do with the shape than what you´re going to catch off the edge of it.
And then finally (on our way out to Chile), the Altiplano. These plains are at 4000m or more and let´s just say we managed to get away from most of the tourists. Our overland truck happily dragged us over the pass (5000m) and past a whole bunch of absolutely stunning sights that I´m guessing most people don´t get to see: lakes with red algae and mineral deposits with flamingoes (Laguna Colorado), similar lake but with different minerals making it bright blue (Laguna Azul) and not to be outdone a green version for good measure (Lago Verde), all surrounded by vulcanoes, landscapes created by these vulcanoes and other mountains. A few photos might have been taken.