Tatio Geysers

4am, the moon is still strong in the sky, and the buses have started buzzing around San Pedro de Atacama picking up those foolish souls who signed up to go and visit the Tatio geysers.  

Why so early?  Because once the sun crosses the top of the mountains around them the steam starts to show less and less because the temperature starts to climb relatively quickly.  However, bear in kind that these things are at 4300m (14000 feet) above sea level, so it's a little cold first thing in the morning.......

However, the geyser field is quite spectacular.......

Apparently around some of the larger ones in the past peoplemwouldnwalk up to them and there was so much steam they didn't realise how close they were and fell through the relatively thin ground into the geysers - these are pure boiling water so that's not good!  They therefore had the genius idea of marking out paths for people to follow.  Smart folks these Chileans!

It definitely felt a little strange at that elevation, you could tell everyone was a little drowsy from a combination of the early morning and the thin air.  It was worth the trip though, and again, some of the scenery is truly breathtaking!