an unrelenting sun. It is said that
there are parts of the Atacama Desert
that have not seen precipitation for
the past 400 years, or at least as long
as history has been recording such
things in this part of the world.
As terrifying and remarkable as
the landscape was, we were safe in
the knowledge that our bikes, BMW
GSs and Triumph Tigers, were reli-
able and we had our Compass Ex-
peditions support crew as backup if
anything went wrong. We also knew
that there was a very comfortable
hotel at the end of our amazing days
ride, in San Pedro de Atacama.
A day of sight-seeing in and around
San Pedro saw us soaking in natural
hot springs flowing from deep under
the desert to form an oasis of cascad-
ing pools, exploring the hippy town,
its markets and fine restaurants.
In the evening, we ventured out to
watch the sunset over an incredible
otherworldly, landscape and sip Pisco
Sours.
From San Pedro we headed further
across the Atacama towards Bolivia.
The roads were well made, some-
times winding through dry valleys,
over passes through rugged ranges
or later in the day across featureless
plains surrounded by snow-capped
peaks and distant volcanoes. There
was no shortage of photo stops to try
to absorb the sensory overload. Our
overnight stop was the remote border
village of Ollague at the base of the
Ollague Volcano.
We had been warned that tonight’s
accommodation would be “rustic”
and yes it was a basic homestay with
bunkrooms and shared facilities
but the spectacular location, pictur-
esque “wild west” looking village and
excellent home cooked dinner more
than made up for the lack of “star
rating”. In fact, the simple chicken
soup served for starters that evening
was hailed as the dish of the tour, so
far … and we had been eating very
well indeed. We did not even lack for
Pisco Sours as emergency supplies
of Pisco and Pisco Sour pre-mix were
produced from bags and top boxes to
see us late into the evening.
As we had been climbing most
of the day, we had reached a height
where altitude sickness started to
affect some of our jolly crew. The
next morning, we were up early to
cross the Chile / Bolivia border and
there were a few green faces in the
customs que. Luckily the support
van was carrying oxygen bottles for
just this situation and a few minutes
of oxygen boost to the system made
all the difference and allowed us all
to proceed towards one of the many
TRAVERSE 44
highlights of the tour, the impressive,
Uyuni Salt Lake.
While we were at altitude for quite
a number of days throughout the tour,
this was the only point where the
oxygen was required. Although we
all felt the effect of the altitude with
shortness of breath, lethargy and
the occasional headache, we mostly
managed to keep things rolling along
by staying well hydrated, laying off
the Pisco Sours (to some extent) and
with either modern medical means or
the local equivalent of a cheek full of
coca leaves.
Once we entered Bolivia the roads