We went up 4500 m high - the Geyser tour

The last day’s tour was the most stressful for me. We planned a trip up to the mountains to see the geysers. They are above 4500 meters high, so it is strongly recommended to take these tours after at least 2 days of acclimatization. There is less air up and people can easily faint or throw up. One hand I was grateful that I went with four of my male colleagues, in case something happens. On the other hand I did not wish to throw up in front of four gentlemen. 

The other thing that made me worried was that the tour started at 4am because we had to arrive to the geysers before sunrise. It is the best time to see them as the geysers have a stronger and whiter steam in the cold temperature. This meant -10 degrees in the early morning.

So I stepped out of the hostel at 3.30am with 6 pullovers, 3 socks and 2 hats on me. And we went up to the high mountains in total darkness. By the way, they say that the best place on Earth to watch the sky at night is the Atacama desert. I could clearly see the milky way and the thousands of stars in the dark. 

After 2 hours we arrived. The geysers were working constantly, letting out the steam in the early morning. Deep under the surface there is a volcano, on top of that there is water. So the volcano heats up the water and the steam releases from the ground. It was extremely cold so I preferred standing next to a geyser which blew the warm steam on me.

Geysers in the early morning look thicker

Frozen smile on our faces

Waiting for the sunrise

As the sun came up the steams started to disappear

I was feeling little dizzy. The altitude makes you feel tipsy. A bit difficult to coordinate. A bit out of control of your body. But we chew those coca candies which they say, is very good for the altitude.

The next stop was a natural thermal bath. Maybe I mentioned before that I am a freezing person. Water starts at 26 degrees for me, so I was fine entering the 35-40 degree warm bath. It took me a while to undress in the early morning chilly tempretarure, but I finally managed it.

Coca leaves are illegal in Chile, but Coca candy can be found

The team of survivors: Delaney, Minesh, Me, Bill and Alfredo

Warming up my frozen bones in the thermal bath

The last destination was the old village, Mochica. The little village is laying amongst the mountains with breath taking panorama. It was established by shepherds in the 16th century, who brought their animals in the mountains. I liked the old houses. On every roof there was a little wooden cross. They said it was against the bad vibes. According to Minesh, we had the best empanada here. Fresh and tasty, filled with goat cheese. Yummi!

Machuca's church

This cross on every roof protects against bad vibes

Mochica house

Empanada filled with goat cheese was one of the highlights of the morning

About Tiny Girl With Big Bag

Hobby writer and autodidact photographer whose passion is to travel and get to know new people and cultures. She has been on 4 continents and 30 countries, and the outcome is this travel blog where she shares travel stories, thoughts, tips and photography always through a subjective eye.

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