Report from Laguna Verde, 4200m, Saturday.

Thursday night.

The stunning ochres, mustards and yellow shades of the Atacama faded into a dark mud colour as the sunset apporached. Our plan to travel to the Maricunga flats and do an acclimatisation climb from there seemed to be going well. Then, 5 km off the metalled road, we had a flat tyre. Once this was fixed, it was decided that it was too risky to continue without a spare. The return to Copiapo was not even 5 mins old when our other rear tire went bust. Out came the Nera Worldphone and a call was patched to a local mechanic cum mountain guide who turned up at 10.30pm with extra tyres.

We decided to press on after this, fortified with an impromptu dinner fixed by the roadside and 2 spare tyres. The eventful night ended at the carabineros' outpost where we bivvied for the night. The following morning (Friday) the front left tyre was almost flat. 2 hours was need to rig up an airhose and nozzle so that we could inflate long enough to get to Laguna Verde (the Green Lake). The ride through the desert, to be brief, was impressive - scrublands, small dunes, salt flats and occasional white-topped peaks at a distance.

We pulled in at Laguna Verde at about 1.30pm. The stunning turquoise colour of the waters are due to the high mineral content. At 4,200m and miles into the Atacama, this must surely be one of Chile's best kept secrets. Geothermal springs feed the lake and som e hotwater has been sluiced into a shed - a hot mineral bath at 4200m - what luck! Ting Sern has been having a tummy bug but will probably shake that off by tomorrow. He's been perked up by an extra dose of Brands Essence of Chicken.

Saturday:

We head up to the Atacama hut at 5,200m tomorrow (Sunday) and after that the Tejos refuge (5,700m) before a summit climb on Ojos on Tuesday.

For now, the bright green lake and the 6,000m peaks around us keep us distracted. The Worldphone battery has conked out so we hope to send this mail directly powered by solar cells via a lead acid battery

This is David, checking out