distant twinkling galaxies that light up and dance across our darkened sky.

Once back at the jeep, Hualdo had a few adjustments to make on his trusty old landcruiser and once these had been completed, we all climbed in once again and headed off into this white wonderland. Driving across the salt plain was one of the most serene moments we’d ever had. Time seems to stand still as you gaze out at all the nothingness. As we glided our way across the salt, we were warmed by the sound of The Scientist by Coldplay booming out of the speakers. If ever a song fitted a moment, it was now, the haunting lyrics and sombre piano seemed to take you to a different level as if lost in time and space, it was as close to perfection as you can get.

After driving for about an hour Hualdo told us to

look for the holes! Of course we did and sure enough we started to see holes in the salt. Hualdo was very careful around these and once they started getting bigger and more frequent, Hualdo stopped the jeep and we all got out. He explained to us that the salt flat was normally very thick (sorry I can’t remember how thick it was!) but in parts it was less than a metre thick. He stamped on the ground and it gave way! Beneath the hole was a salty water and hundreds of salt crystals. It was incredibly beautiful. The water was rancid and funny milky colour but the salt crystals were like diamonds glistening in the dazzling sunshine.

Hualdo also explained with a lot of translation help from Fiona, who was a fluent Spanish speaker, how he first came here when he was 15 and worked in the mines. He said he much preferred this job as life in the mines was hard but he never tired of the place as it was so