head over the horizon to wish us all a muy buenos dias, was a very special feeling. If Cynthia had have been organised with her rucksack then we would have ended up watching the sunrise with a crowd of other people at the hill in the middle of the salt flat!

As the warmness from the sun spread through our bodies, the whiter the salt appeared. It was blindingly white and the next thing to reach for was our shades! It was still bitterly cold but the warm glow from the sun lulled us into a false sense of security and after a good 10 minutes we were all ready to head back to the warmth of the jeep and continue to onto our next destination, Incahuasi Island, the hill in the middle of the salt flat.

The drive across the salt was also something special, there is nothing but salt and the

island for miles around. If it wasn’t for natures landmarks then it really would be off limits as later on Hualdo explained to us that compasses just don’t work here! There is something so extraordinary and bizarre about this place that it sends all magnetic gadgets crazy! It made it all the more fun navigating our way through this salty paradise.

The island looked a lot closer than it actually was, that was the thing about this place, it was so hard to get your bearings. We thought it would take around 20 minutes but it actually took about an hour, there must be something in the never-ending whiteness that messes with your senses, but hey if a compass won’t work then what chance do we have?!!

We arrived at the island and immediately realised why our sunrise spot was far superior.