In our last post, we talked a little about the intensity and vast beauty of deep playa. We had encountered many things on our trek, but we were about to encounter an amazing (and our favourite) oasis. But first, we encountered some new, different skeletal structures, unlike any we’d seen before:

We first found this clue, but we were unsure what it meant[1]:

There was also this odd insignia we found attached to many of the skeletons:

S also found that there was an interesting music playing in the wind:

A strange and peaceful place, but a place of transition, not yet a place to rest, so we continued. Next, we happened upon this strange structure, the number of bicycles gave the lie to the population inside, yet we saw few people outside:

Going towards the entrance, we saw one of the inhabitants peeking out, as if to beckon us closer:

Inside, we saw a riot of colour, at the same time as an incredible calmness:

They also had this little windmill and (I think) solar panels, I’m guessing to power whatever equipment they had there. The sound in the video might help you understand the incredible peacefulness of the space, peaceful enough that I didn’t want to disturb it with photos:

They had someone using one of those amazing singing bowls, a number of people lying down and resting or napping around the edge, another person describing some sort of tea or coffee ceremony. The best oasis we’ve ever found.

We took one look back, later, and received a feeling of relaxation of peace:

(Incidentally, in 2013, in a similar deep playa location, we had encountered this person’s art before, and quite enjoyed it.

Stay tuned for next time, when we take a short time out, and go observe an observatory!

[1]I actually had to look this one up. The installation as presented on playa looked (to me) nothing like the online blurb.