This is how we began visiting Bolivia. Our starting point was Tupiza – a small town located near the border with Argentina. This was at the altitude of about 3000 m. During the next four days we went only higher.

     We decided to visit the north-west part of Argentina as all people we’d met on the way recommended us to see it. All we knew before going there was that Salta is a nice town and that the Quebrada de Humahuaca is on the UNESCO list. The fact that we had no idea what a quebrada is made us even more curious.

     “Wow! You’re going on one-year vacations! This is great!” This is often a perception people have about a trip such as ours. Well, it IS great and it’s also very different from vacations.

     Generally we don’t get up too early during this round-the-world trip. Of course, we don’t sleep until noon because that would be a waste of time, but a wake-up call at 3.45 am was absolutely extraordinary. Luckily it was worth it!

     During this trip we follow the summer. Therefore, we’ll not go skiing, snowboarding or ice-skating. But, to our surprise, we managed to enjoy one of the winter sports in a bit different way. It was sandboarding.

     Before we came to Atacama the connotations I’d had with a desert were sand and camels’ caravans. I saw such images when I visited Egypt many years ago and in the movies. On Atacama it turned out that sand is only one of the faces the desert has to show us. There are many more!

     We arrived at San Pedro after 26 hours spent in a bus from Santiago de Chile. The ride was long and the scenery around was very monotonous. Once when I woke up around 5 am I saw a desert and a full moon surrounded by stars. I fell asleep again. When I woke up 2 hours later the scenery looked exactly the same. Only the moon was replaced with the sun.

     For many years weddings had been one of the key attractions taking place in Sewell, a small mining town located in the heart of Chilean Andes. The majority of ceremonies happened during winter because the scenery looked much more beautiful on the wedding pictures when it was covered with snow. To make the event a bit more colorful the rice thrown at the newlyweds was dyed in different colours.

     Valparaiso or in other words va al paraiso. In Spanish that means “go to paradise.” This name originated few centuries ago when the Panama Channel was not yet built and the only way to the western coast of South America was around Cape Horn. After months of travel reaching the final destination was like a paradise!

     Routes passing through three countries. Over 8500 kilometers in total. More than two weeks on the way. Trucks, cars, quads and bikes. 1700 competitors altogether. Men and women. These are only a few facts about the most difficult rally in the world that has over 30 years of history. And why I write about it? Because our ways crossed in Santiago de Chile.