Salar de Uyuni - 17.03.09

Having weighed up the various options we decided that the best mode of transportation was the bus to Oruro followed by the 7 hour train ride to Uyuni, which was infinitely more comfortable than the bus. We arrived at about 10:30pm and were instantly surrounded by people selling their tours into the Salar and so having sourced the best deals and found a hostel we headed to the local burger stand for dinner.

The following morning we joined 11 other people outside the offices of our chosen tour company waited patiently for the 'jeep' that would be our transport for the next 3 days. When our not to old toyota landcruiser arrived we weren´t too disappointed and we piled in with 4 other tourists, the driver and the ´wife´(cook). We considered arguing the point of having to carry the cook on the basis that having one less person would make it slightly more comfortable for the rest but held our tongues on advice received previously by a Swedish couple we met on the Inca trail. They had successfully disputed the cook point only to find themselves firstly surprised when the girls in the group were asked to do the cooking and secondly disappointed when, after they refused, the driver had to do the cooking. As they sat looking at the lavish meals prepared by the cooks in other groups, they had to be satisfied with filling but not particularly tasty meals put together by the driver. And so we departed with 2 chilean boys and a swiss boy who were travelling together and a danish girl Tim and I had met on the bus from Puno and had been hanging out with since.

The salar itself was pretty impressive. It´s hard to make miles and miles of clear white salt sound impressive but as you drove through this desert you really couldn´t help but be transfixed by the view. Our first stop of the day was the Cementerio de Trenes which really was just a great big area of land packed with decaying and rusting trains. And as uninteresting as that sounds for the non-train lover, we actually had loads of fun clambering on the trains and taking photos - it was kind of like being in the playground at a big McDonalds, with loads of exploring to do! Having entertained our childish side here, we moved on through the salar next stopping at the Salt Hotel. The book tells us that this is now an illegal structure because of the pollution caused by people staying there (there are no toilets etc and damage was being done to the salt flats) but I was assured by the people running the place that it is okay to visit the place as a museum. Still, I felt slightly uncomfortable and so only went inside for a second.

Next, we moved on to a place called Isla de los Pescadores which was incredible. It was just a small mountain in this sea of salt with these incredible cacti growing all over it. Here, we also had lunch and were quite pleased to have the cook with us! We continued on through the salar eventually arriving at our resting place for the evening, which was another salt hotel, apparently legal because it is built outside of the actual salar. It was kind of cool to stay somewhere where pretty much everything was made of salt... beds, tables, chairs ...

For us, days 2 and 3 weren´t really as impressive as day 1 because they consisted mostly of lots and lots of driving with stops along the way at some pretty cool lakes and lots of flamingo spotting. Whilst it was still nice to see the lakes and flamingos and other bird and animal life, they were things we had already seen many times so became less impressive. Our final visit on day 3 was at a place called Laguna Verde. I can´t actually tell you anything about the lake because when we arrived it was covered by low cloud and lots and lots of snow! Instead, we had loads of fun building snow men and having snow fights.

There really isn´t much to hold your attention in Uyuni so after arriving back from the tour we got on the first bus out, headed back to La Paz. Now, our decision to catch a bus out was made reluctantly but as the train wasn´t running again for a couple of days we really had no choice. Throughout our travels we had heard many stories of this bus ride including waking up at about 3:00am with the bus on a rather precarious angle and the bus driver telling all the passengers to move to one side of the bus (to stop it falling into the river as he seemed to have misjudged the bridge) along with other stories of passengers having to get out of the buses to push to bus along as it got stuck in the mud. We didn´t experience anything quite so adventurous but again, the difference in bus travel was highlighted.

As we arrived to the street where the buses depart from we were pretty pleased with our choice of bus as we saw a double decker cama bus with our companies logo on the side. Tim wandered off to load the bags and I surveyed the scene. And it was a bit like forgetting to read the small print ... in front of bus 1 was bus 2 and the comfort of bus 1 was not to be ours. We seemed to be the overflow passengers who got to travel on the less than salubrious older brother! Still, it had seats and it wasn´t raining so we set off feeling confident that we would make it in one piece. Shortly into the 12 hour journey we began to understand the difficulties that may face the drivers. There really isn´t much of a road and what is there is quite possibly the bumpiest ground I have ever driven on. Fortunately, I find the bumpy movement quite relaxing and so was soon fast asleep. That is until amid much noise, shouting and light I awoke to find that the bus ceiling had fallen in on me. All that was left were the precariously hanging lights and electrical cords waving above my head. Having extracted a promise from Tim that they wouldn´t fall on me in the night and electrocute me and figuring there wasn´t much else to do, I wrapped myself tightly in my coat and hood and scarf and went back to sleeping soundly until we arrived in La Paz. I have discovered that this is actually the only way to do bus travel in Bolivia - the alternative to sleep is heart attacks and anxiety as you wonder if the next corner could be your last!

Anyway, we eventually (several hours late) arrived in La Paz safe and sound and only slightly shaken up where we spent a day recovering before heading our into the jungle.

Stay tuned for the next installment ...

Take care

Tim and Tracey