You have to navigate like you're in

You have to navigate like you're in a boat," Gustavo explains. "We can use the volcanoes as landmarks, but inexperienced people get lost out here all the time."

The Landcruiser hits 80, then 100, then 120km/h as we roar over the salt flats in search of our camp. It's out there somewhere in the endless whiteness. Fortunately, Gustavo seems to know where. After we've been driving in a straight line for about an hour and a half, the silver of the campervan glints in the distance.

We're in the middle of nowhere. There's not a breath of wind or a sound. There's not a soul as far as the eye can see, and the eye can see a very long way out here on the salt flat.

Our abode is a silver Airstream campervan from the United States. Inside, it's more luxurious than most hotels, with two beds, a toilet, shower, living room and kitchen. The kitchen is superfluous, however, because hidden behind the curtained window, on the salt behind us, is a cook's tent from which all of our meals during the next 24 hours appear.