Amazing Uyuni!
Trip Start
Jun 01, 2008
1
18
22
Trip End
Jul 27, 2008
Uyuni,
Bolivia
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Well, we磛e moved on from La Paz. We had a 4 hour bus trip from La Paz to Oruro and then caught the train down to Uyuni (another 8 hours). A long day of travelling resulting in us arriving at 11pm in a cold hotel in a dusty town! The new group is.........interesting.......! The bus trip was awful. We磛e never been so embarrassed by the behaviour of people in our group.....swearing, bragging, putting down the country and people.....awful.
Anyway, we stocked up on 閟sentials磇n Uyuni - Snickers bars, water, lollies and assorted other goodies. From here we were to embark on a 3 day 4WD trip through the Salar de Uyuni (salt flats) and then on into the Bolivian desert and down to the border with Chile and the Atacama desert. After a warning from our tour guide we hired sleeping bags (it gets cold down there.......yes, we know that but how cold?). Mmmmmm, we were to find that out!!
The Salar de Uyuni was amazing. We had 3 Landcruisers, drivers, a cook and the 15 of us, gear all piled on top. The flats stretched for absolutely miles, brilliant white landscapes with just 4WD tracks showing. First stop was the train cemetry just out of Uyuni (mmm, there are possibly better attractions around). We also stopped at Fish Island for photos and lunch. In the Salar there are a number of islands (literally, islands in the flats). This one was beautiful and allowed for thousands of 碿actus创 photos. From there we stopped for 创trick创 photos at a particularly white and pristine spot.
Amazing who you find in the Salar......!
Here you can do amazing things with Pringles boxes, wine bottles and other assorted accessories!!!! Incredible stuff!!On through the flats and into the desert with it磗 beautiful colours, scenery, geysers, mountains and volcanos. First night camp was a 创building创 or as our guide Zaida called it, a 创construction创, in the middle of nowhere. No electricity, no heating, and numerous beds in large rooms. Luxury. Well, it was really compared to the next couple of nights........! Rosemary our cook was sensational....cooking nutritious meals by candlelight with a single gas stove.....incredible!!
Over the next few days we saw some incredible scenery, slept in temperatures of -21 deg C (bloody hell, that磗 cold)!! AND put up with most members of our group whingeing and moaning.........wimps! One of the 4WD磗 was breaking down consistently...nice in the middle of nowhere (and trust us, there was no-one around!). There's something about driving along dirt roads with not a soul in sight listening to the dulcid (?) tones of Michael Jackson and other assorted 80's survivors .........we're just about over Bonnie Tyler and her 'Heartaches'..!
Anyway, the trip was incredible and something that many people who come to Bolivia don磘 do (they usually do the salt flats only) so we磖e pleased we did it. Mind you we were pleased to get back to Uyuni and something which remotely resembled civilisation!! From here, on to Potosi - nothing like watching 12 year old children working in the mines with a life expectancy of 10-20 years!!!
Cheers
nic & Pam
