tolar12

tolar15

tolar10

antonio09

tolar03

antonio05

tolar02

antonio08

antonio11

antonio10

rosa3

tolar01

tolar13

tolar19

tolar20

antonio15

tolar14

rosa2

antonio01

antonio04

rosa1

tolar11

antonio14

tolar17

tolar09

tolar08

antonio17

antonio06

antonio16

antonio12

antonio07

antonio13

tolar18

tolar05

tolar04

antonio02

tolar07

antonio03

tolar16

tolar06

rosa4

rosa6

rosa5

We set off on the 22nd in the evening for the road of the" train of the clouds". What a shame it does not work anymore; it is in a western film landscape that the rails follow the cruves of the mountains or that steel bridges go across tiny but deep rivers...
The accommodation we find in Santa Rosa de Tastil is the opportunity to have a big laugh: the standard is rather basic but the bed welcome. We go to the local pub and find Katie, a 7-year-old gir playing with a baby-gaot as if it was her doll.

The next day is the occasion to achieve something great: climbing with the beetle (without any trouble) to a pass at 4900m! The passengers suffer more than the car of the lack of oxygen (thanks to the direct injection engine!). We'll spend the night in San Antonio de los Cobres where I organise the expedition for the next day by buying 2 jerricans of 20l each to increase our autonomy.

The next morning we set off for Tolar Grande. We choose to add 70 km to our itinerary to go up to the border, at Paso Sico, to go across to Chile to have my passport stamped; unfortunately there are no border crossing facilities on the Chilean side and we would have to folow a track for 160km to go to San Pedro de Atacama to do the paperwork. Bear in mind that I cannot go back to Chile with the car. So we decide to go down to Tolar Grande and come back to Jama the following day where we will alledgedly find customs on the Chilean side…

We head towards the South but on the way, we hit at high speed gravels that lorries have accumulated in the middle of the road in the shape of a little hill: we stop and check the damages… ALERT! The collision has caused a hole in the fuel pump and the fuel is leaking rapidly… we are 40km from the nearest inhabited area!

I put my finger in the hole and send Vincent to go and get a mechanician with a car that passes by just 5 minutes later. Gonzalo tries without success to fix the hole when Vicnet is back 1/2h later with Sergio and Lauro. The latter will not be more than 1h to fix the problem with hypoxi. In the most remote areas, difficult life conditions have created a kind of solidarity between the people who share this harsh place. I thank the Humanity of our saviours by offering my hat and get back on the road to Pocitos, the mining village where they work.There is no accommodation and we have to cary on our journey up to the village of Tolar Grande.

By pure luck the hostel, run by the municipality, is warm and cosy. Despite our efforts it is soon turned into a gipsy camp, especially when we decide to do a barbecue in the fireplace…

After a quick visit to the salar of Arizaro the following day, we follow the road back adn discover landscapes that we could not see the previous night. Amazing! When we are leaving the "Colorado" or "the 7 curves", I decide to draw a giant "H2" on the side of the mountain. I enjoy travelling but I must remain focused on my target: hydrogen.

And then, later on, in the middle of a salar, 30km away from any house, the beetle coughs a few more times before stopping: the engine stalls  5 times without warning and forces us to wait for 10 minutes to cool down every time.

When we eventually reach Susques, everyone is relieved but knacked.