Today we are travelling from Coquesa to Tahua. Coquesa is a small (make that tiny) village on the shoreline of the Uyuni Salt Lakes. Surprisingly green, it is able to support a sizeable population of llamas. It is also home to a series of caves that house mummified remains of indeterminate age. One of the caves is accessible to tourists, and the others are walled up and protected by the local community. The cave at Coquesa is not for the faint-hearted or the claustrophobic. It is entered through a 1 metre high doorway, and has one family group and other assorted mummified remains. One of the mummies still has hair. Luisa and I try to hike up to the viewpoint to look into the caldera of the Tunupa volcano, home to the Coquesa mummies, and some very odd looking white-faced llamas with short ears. It is starting to rain by the time we make it halfway, and we are not properly equipped for cold, wet conditions, so we turn around and head back down again. I jokingly tell Luisa that the conditions will be clear by the time we reach the village again, and it turns out to be so – the weather around the volcano changes so quickly that the caldera is again visible from the village by the time we arrive for lunch.
Tunupa is a stunningly beautiful volcano, and I spend most of the afternoon trying to capture the colours it displays. I have quite a few opportunities to do this, as Luisa and I decide to walk to Chantani, the next village along, which is about 3.5km away at an altitude of around 3700m. In Chantani, there is an amazing one-man museum with the collection of a lifetime spent fossicking for pottery, dead animals, beads, and stone utensils. Across the road is a sculpture garden, with local volcanic rock and coral used to create sculptures of llamas, condors and even the occasional elephant. It also has the cleanest baño I have found outside of a hotel so far in Bolivia. I tell Luisa that the owner should put up a sign that he has the cleanest baño in the area, and make some money by charging to use it. Compared to the latrine on the hiking path up to Tunupa, it is heaven-sent.
Tonight’s accommodation is at the Tayka Salt Hotel in Tahua, which has spectacular views of the other side of the Tunupa volcano. Sunset is again disappointing if you look towards the west, but the light on the caldera of the volcano is spectacular, particularly with the backdrop of the nightly thunderstorm.
