We met Chris at the bus stop in Sucre, an Englishman who thought it’d be worth taking anti-malaria tablets throughout his whole trip, “just in case” he was bitten. It led him to feel sick most of the time despite there being no malaria in the areas he went. Claire and I shared a laugh, bloody English.
The bus was pretty shit to Uyuni, consisting of several unnecessary stoppages and no food. We arrived in the dusty and ugly town of Uyuni a little after sunset, checked into a rather average hostel, before sitting down to tasty pizza then hit the sack.
The next morning we managed to book onto a salt flat tour with a recommend agency called Cordillera. In our group were two really nice Brazilian couples; Tom and Caroline, and Bruno and *Sadie* (forgot her name)
We packed our bags onto the Toyota Jeep and had our first stop at the train cemetery. These trains were used originally by the Spanish invaders to transport the silver found in Potosi. Nowadays the trains sit abandoned in the middle of the desert, and are used as a sort of adult climbing frame.
Next we drove to the salt pyramids, where Bolivians pile the extracted salt ready for shipping, then we saw the Ojos de Salar (eyes of the salt flats), where oxygen and water surface from deep beneath to form a bubbling oasis. The postcard salt flat photos were next and we spent time jumping and running off into the distance whilst the other took photos.
We had our lunch on Cactus island in the middle of the salt flat which consisted of dubious meat carcasses and cold veg but some beautiful views.
After lunch we took a walk around the island taking in the superb views in every direction, then we drove on across the endless white mass and after an hour or so the earth became browner and our driver got us stuck in the mud. The men on the trip collected rocks and helped Pepé (our driver/cook/guide) get us out of the predicament. Finally we were unstuck and headed back to our first nights accommodation, I sat upfront and was able to choose the music, and after an hour of classic soul group singalongs we arrived at the salt hotel – its walls, beds, tables and chairs were all made of salt. They served us fried chicken and fries and we and the Brazilians chatted and laughed over a free bottle of red wine, which Claire actually liked.
I woke up to find I had a bad case of diarrhoea … perfect timing I thought. Day 2 we came across various beautifully coloured lagunas complete with flamingos and salt tornados, inactive and very active volcanoes, coloured mountains, and strange rock formations left from glacial times. By the end of the day, my stomach had worsened but Claire was on hand to feed me drugs and make me drinks of herbal tea. She ate tea and then appeared to catch the same bug as me. Suffice to say we were up all night.
Day 3 – We rose early to catch the last of the nights stars, then drove to the geyser field as the sun rose. Whilst not as impressive as the Icelandic Geysers, they were set among one of the most surreal landscapes I had ever seen. No trees or vegetation could be seen, only rocks laid across a reddish earth. It felt like we had landed on Mars. We were then treated to a dip in a natural hot tub, with views across another picturesque laguna.
Once dried off, we drove past several other brightly coloured lagunas and reached the Chilean border. We left Bolivia and drove across the first sealed road in 3 days. Overall, the trip was stunning beyond our expectations and made better by being in such a decent group. We were however slightly glad to be leaving Bolivia and it’s poor hygiene/sanitary behind!
If you like Piña Coladas... 