Atacama to Paine Day 4

Today we had a lie in till 7am! Following breakfast we headed out to take a 4 hour walk to a thermal hot spring. We started off at a slow pace to allow for the altitude as we had climbed to about 3300 metres, so the going was quite tough.



We followed a river valley which was fed by the spring we would eventually reach. It was a green fertile strip surrounded by rock and more rock.
The scenary was dramatic and we had plenty of time to enjoy it. We stopped at some large cacti to take some pictures, so Curious George made an appearance to share the moment!



After a hot but very pleasant walk we made it to the hot springs where we had a packed lunch and then had a refreshing dip in the very warm water. It was a pleasant few hours, but everyone was pleased to drop to the relatively low altitude of San Pedro de Atacama.



The rest of the day was a chance to catch our breath before we have another early - 4 am - start to go out to the El Taito geysers to watch the sun rise tomorrow. Tough going this adventure travel!