Hotel Playa Blanca Uyuni

... Bolivians don't like Chilean vehicles in their country probably because they work. We have heard lots of tales of cars breaking down in the desert, of flat tyres being inflated up with bicycle pumps and 4x4s being crammed with up to 8 people. However, in our car there are only 4 of us: James, Debbie, our guide Edgar and a driver. Bolivian luxury.

As the early morning passed 4x4’s start to disappear off into the desert. The vehicles are laden with people ...

... edible.


Our first stop was Laguna Blanca and Laguna Verde. Both were fairly spectacular, and got Claire's camera up and running early on. Following this, we made our way to some geysers, and a hot pool of water, which we swam in for a bit (and nearly died of cold when we got out of). We
were struggling a little with the temperature - it was a clear sky and lovely sun, but due to the height we were at (at times, close to 5000m), it was very cold as ...

Uyuni

Mit dem Bus nach 6h (214 km) in Uyuni angekommen es war schon gegen eins ab** die Hotels sind darauf eingestellt. Schlafen, aufwachen, frühstücken, Tour suchen. Habe im Bus einen Kanadi** und einen Iren getroffen und wir haben beschlossen die Tour gemeinsam zu machen. Haben uns dann für einen V**anstalt** entschieden d** uns zusich**te das max. 6 P**sonen plus Fahr** im Auto sind, was sich spät** leid** als unwahr h**ausstellte.
Also 7 P**sonen heißt 3 auf d ...

... in the distance. We took lots of photosand had a bit of a wander. About forty-five minutes later we reached a huge national park flanked by a lake absolutely packed full of flamingos. We scampered off and took lots of photos of the pink, thin-legged critters. I tried chasing one but it was having none of it and wouldn`t let me get too close. We stopped here for lunch; Vico had taken the hint by now and had prepared an entirely ...

... going in the middle of the room; we sat at a table right next to this and began to defrost.After I had ordered a desayuno ingles (typical), I began throwing on more layers until I was sporting two pairs of socks, jeans, a long-sleeved t-shirt, three t-shirts, two jumpers, a scarf, a hat and a coat. Only then did I feel warm. The fire was an absolute blessing and soon all of us felt better. We managed to eek out our time here until shortly after 9am, when we assumed the agency would be ...

... it in advance and still their spots were taken when they arrived in Uyuni. That's Bolivia for you. One thing to note while looking for a tour company is that all the tours go to pretty much the same places. The only thing unique they offer is transportation, so check out the vehicle and the amount of people they plan to cram in it. They all pay cooks at the hotels to serve you food. They stay at the same ...

... thinking ‘oh no we better not be one of those groups that has loads of problems…

Off we went and within a matter of 15 minutes we forgot bout our jeep as it bumped and romped over the bad roads, because the scenery was just magnificent, we were traveling by canyons which were surrounded by mountains that had been eroded by acid rain, so they had the most beautiful formations and the colours were amazing as well, because of all the different minerals.

Salar de Uyuni, Potosí, Bolivia willandmir