Salar de Uyuni

I was pretty nervous about crossing back into Bolivia due to the change in the immigration rules. I was unsure whether I would be allowed back in, and if I was allowed whether I would have to pay an extortionate amount for the privilege! My fears abated as we approached the border crossing though, literally a shack in the middle of the desert with one guy manning it! He just asked if it was my second visit, stamped my passport and that was it. In fact the biggest hiccup of the whole crossing was the bus transporting us across the border breaking down twice in the middle of nowhere! Thankfully the driver was able to fix it ok, and a mechanic turned up much faster than the AA would in Britain.

At the border our 4 x 4´s were waiting to take us on our 3 day trip across the Salar de Uyuni and Reserva Nacional de fauna andina. Our driver was called Davide and we nicknamed our vehicle Jerky which lived up to its name as we had a flat tyre about twenty minutes into the start of the trip. We only got one more flat tyre throughout the entire trip which was not really bad going considering the state of the ¨roads¨.

The crossing took us past some of the most beautiful scenery and landscapes imaginable. Incredible lagoons like the green lagoon which looked like it had a tide, just like the sea. The smelly lagoon was filled with flamingos, it is amazing to see these creatures in the most desolate landscape imaginable. The lagoon actually did not live up to its name, it was not that smelly! What was smelly though was the geysers, the sulfur smell was completely overpowering. I could even smell it later that evening. Though late in the afternoon, the geysers were still bubbling away quite powerfully.

Other sights to see in the salt flats include the stone trees, which are just enormous rocks randomly placed in the desert. The active volcano that straddles the border between Chile and Bolivia was beautiful, you could just see the little puff of smoke coming out of the top of it.

There are a few cute little towns along the way including San Juan where the drivers stocked up on flags and decorations for Bolivian independence day which was yesterday. The island of Incahuasi which is filled with hundreds of really old cacti, it was a really nice little hike to the top of the island, and gave great views of the salt plains all around us. Another little town was Colchani which had a really cute artisan market, selling lots of handmade goods.

Obviously the highlight of the Salar trip is the photo taking out in the middle of the Salar. Everyone was trying to come up with new and original ideas, but it is hard when so much has already been done. We took quite a lot of good ones which I cannot wait to upload at some point (this blog will at some point get photos, it just takes too long to upload them here!). You could literally stay there all day just thinking up more ideas, it was great fun.

I did not really get too badly affected by the altitude. We climbed to almost 5000m during the crossing and on the whole stayed over 4000m for the majority of it. I did not really feel too much apart from a bit of shortness of breath when doing any hiking or activity. The only real time it hit was the first nights sleep in a hostal which was at 4800m, I think once you relax and try to sleep, it really affects you. I was struggling to breath through my nose, and our room got about half an hours sleep the entire night, none of us managed to get any sleep.

The weather was absolutely perfect throughout, it was warm during the day, and the sun was quite strong because of the altitude. The temperatures did not really dip that low at night either. It had been minus 30 there the week before, but it was only around minus 15 during the nights, so we were pretty lucky. I was prepared for extreme cold, but in fact it was never really that cold, during the nights I even had to take some of my 6 layers off because I was so warm.

The first hostal we stayed in was pretty grim, but not the worst I have stayed in. This was the night none of us got any sleep in our room though which probably affected my lasting impressions of it. The second night we stayed in the salt hotel which was completely made out of salt, all the furnishings, beds, tables, chairs, everything was made out of salt. It was such a novelty, and was ten times better than the previous nights hostel. It was not even that cold there, and the rooms were pretty comfy so managed to get a bit more sleep than the night before.

The food we had throughout the entire trip was amazing. They happily catered to my vegetarianism throughout. The food was actually some of the best I have had throughout my entire trip. Really great omelettes, spaghetti, soups. It was just delicious, and the cooks went to an enormous amount of hard work to look after us all.

There was an incredible amount of wildlife to be seen there despite its isolation and barrenness. In addition to flamingos, there were herds of llamas, alpacas and vicunas (Finally saw some in Bolivia, this is obviously where they are all hiding.), foxes, vizcachas (like a little chinchilla).

The Salar was one of the most beautiful places on earth and one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced.

We ended the tour in the town of Uyuni, there is not much to see here, it is a bit of a backpacker haunt due to the Salar crossing. I did a fair amount of shopping so now have even more to lug around than my already overflowing backpack!

I was supposed to be going to Potosi today but unfortunately that is now off the itinerary due to ongoing strikes and road blocks. They have been protesting for over a week and it is showing no signs of halting. Unfortunately the only way to Sucre is through Potosi so that is looking unlikely also. However, we have managed to find a bus out of Uyuni this evening to La Paz. We might catch a flight to Sucre on monday, although expensive, it is looking like the only reliable way to get there. I am absolutely gutted about missing out on Potosi, as going into the working mines was one thing I was really looking forward to doing. Sadly this type of thing is common in Bolivia, and I have probably been fortunate not to experience it up to now.

Hopefully if all goes well I will be in La Paz tomorrow and then able to get to Sucre which is supposed to be Bolivia´s most beautiful city. Fingers Crossed.