Salt Flats: the big white blob on the map
Trip Start
Sep 04, 2008
1
15
33
Trip End
Jan 11, 2009
Uyuni,
Bolivia
Monday, October 20, 2008
The tour of the Salt Flats was due to kick off at 10:30am. Waited outside the (locked) office and met the other members of the group: Tony & Michelle, a couple of 25 yr olds from Upminster, and Nuala & Els - both from Belgium although Nuala is actually Irish. Then there was Jose, our driver, who looked a lot like Richard Pryor, and Evra, our English-speaking tour guide. There is so much flannel and false promises when you book these tours I was relieved that our English-speaking guide really existed and turned up that morning. Tony & Michelle had been particularly jerked about: they were supposed to go on the tour with a different agency the day before, but no guide or jeep ever turned up. They got their money back, too late to join another tour, and were bumped onto this one. They got seriously ripped off - I don't know by how much but they were really annoyed when they found out that the rest of us had only paid 650 bs (about 55 quid) for the trip. They were also told it was all-inclusive, which it wasn't: we had to pay extra for entrance to the National Parks and for hot water showers. Perhaps this was why the office was locked before we set off from Uyuni?
The tour was amazing. It was a three day tour of the Salar de Uyuni (Salt Flats) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salar_de_Uyuni. First thing we went to the Train Cemetery just outside of town. I'm not sure why there are lots of dead locomotives there... Then we drove onto the Salar, a huge flat of salt. In the winter it is covered in about 40cms of water; in the summer that evaporates to white salt which Uyuni then mines. It is stunning, white for miles - you can see it as the white blob on the map that goes with this blog. The whiteness eliminates all perspective from photographs so there was a chance to take some funny pictures.
Then we drove on to Fish Island, so called but it looks like a fish with the desert mirage. It is actually a blob of volcanic ash from the nearby, still-active volcano. There we had lunch. I had told them I was veggie and planned only to eat the blandest, most boiled food in an effort to knock the Bolivian Belly on the head (yogurt theory still unproven). The salt wrecks the cars here; all the tours go with Toyota as they are mechanical, not electric, and are easier to repair on the road.
After that we headed on to the hostel. We were supposed to stay in a Salt Hotel, a hostel made of salt bricks, but when we got there it was full. Uh oh - full? You mean, we hadn't booked? There are perhaps a hundred people a day that take these Jeep tours of the Flats. Once the sun goes down the Flats are extremely cold. I had heard about the dangers of taking a shoddy tour (apparently 18 tourists have died on the Flats this year; collisions with a roof full of gas tanks, jeeps that have broken down, not enough water etc) so we were a little worried. But hey! - I'm writing this now so must have turned out OK, eh?
After a night in another San Juan hostel we set off on Day 2 at 8:30am. The Salt Flats were behind us, we drove up near the volcano. Then on to the first Laguna to see some flamingos. On our way to another Laguna we stopped to see some of the local rabbit-type animals, cant remember what its called. Then drove onto the Laguna Colorado, the red lagoon. The scenery in Bolivia is so beautiful, it outweighs the crap cities by far. But we had reached an altitude now that was so windy and cold! We literally jumped out the car, took a few photos, and then dived back into the jeep. Then around Laguna Colorado to our second hostel. We were the first to arrive this time - I think last night had given our guide a bit of a worry. This hostel was going to be COLD and we had to be up early the next day - I had my four-season sleeping bag and thermals at the ready. The sky was so clear, we could see the Southern Cross and the Milky Way.
Another two jeeps of tourist turned up: Now, I'm in my 30s now and not that bothered about drinking the night away (unless it is in Cusco with Tom obviously) and the other 4 weren't that interested either. Which made it frustrating that the other group, or at least a few them anyway, did want to drink until dawn. Didn't sleep too much I can tell you. We had to be up at 4am to catch the sunrise...
So WE were up at Minus Two Degrees to see the sunrise. I'm not sure the other group made it, which is a shame - to come all this way and be asleep/hung over through one of the highlights... We had to be up so early so it was still cold, to see the steam from the geysers. South America isn't too bothered about Health & Safety, you could walk right up to (in to?) the geyser holes. The landscape looked like Mars, really red, so beautiful. But so blimmin cold, my hands and feet went numb. Then we drove to the hot springs for breakfast. Only Tony and I went in the hot springs, everyone else just stood around to watch. The water was great but I did feel a bit like a zoo animal on view, especially as more tour groups arrived. Pancaques for breakfast (and more yogurt) for breakfast, yum! Evra not only was an excellent guide but an excellent cook considering what he had to work with. Then on to the last lagoon, Laguna Verde. It is green because it is leaden with arsenic.
We were at the Bolivia/Chile border by 10am. After a bit of a wait our transfer to Chile arrived...
I'm sorry to say that I can no longer get photos off my memory card onto the Internet, the Internet Cafe bod here says that the card is corrupt. It works in my camera, just not through a card reader. I will try in the next few days to get the pictures on Flickr via CD or camera cable...
