From San Pedro to Uyuni

So like many other tourists we decided our best way in to Bolivia from Chile was to book a tour with one of the many companies to Salar de Uyuni (the famous Salt flats). There was a bit of trouble booking tours at this time due to border problems - apparently the Chilean Tours had been entering the Bolivian parks without paying fees or taxes, and so the border closest to San Pedro had been closed. We eventually learnt that this meant leaving earlier, and driving an extra 5 hours to the next border, cleverly still avoiding the taxes. Crafty! So we booked with Cordillera Tours, who despite being slated by so many unhappy travellers on the internet, we thought were excellent. The drivers were professional off-roaders; we felt entirely safe the whole time, the food was excellent and fresh; the accomodation we stayed in was clean.

 

The tour involved the large group of us splitting in to groups of 6 which would be the people we spent the next four days in the car with. We planted ourselves with the only other English speakers (an excellent Australian couple who we hope to play Goon Sack with one day in Brisbane) and a brother and sister from Brazil (again, brilliant people - Edne had the best tattoo we have ever seen!). The driver must have had quite a tough time as Edne was the only Spanish speaker between us, though he played some classic 80´s jams for us along the way. 

The trip does not really take any more words - we drove each day to spectacular scenery, saw countless flamingos and llamas in the most gorgeous landscapes imaginable. 

The first night we stayed in a Hostel near the most beautiful sight I have seen to date. The Laguna Colorada, a lake with the most breathtaking palate of colours. We stopped here for about half an hour, and both Dave and I were awestruck at the sublime view.

 

After an evening of drinking Pisco Sour in our dorm room, and a morning of struggling to adjust to the altitude, we were off again for more phenomenal landscapes and a meet and greet with llamas, followed by our first glimpse of a Salt Flat. That evening we stayed in a hotel made of salt - the walls, beds, tables and chairs were all made with bricks of hardened salt, and the floor was you guessed it...salt!

On the final morning we awoke early and were taken to Salar de Uyuni to watch the sunrise, which was beautiful although absolutely freezing. Then we were taken to an island of cactai in the middle of a salt flat, where we walked up the hillside to spectacular views. After a breakfast here we went to the Salt Flats to take some of the predictable perspective photographs...and a couple of just stunning ones. 

After a quick lunch with the llamas (I´ve tried to put a video of this up below) we were transported to Dave´s favourite place of the tour - the train cemetary. This is a place where many of the old mining trains have been abandoned after the collapse of the mining industry in the 1940´s. Some of the train parts have been modified to create parts of a playground which would never comply with the health and safety standards of the UK, but which makes them even better. The cemetry is in the middle of nowhere, and people are allowed to climb all over the skeleton trains, exploring anywhere you can physically fit in to! It was a fantastic stop. 

   

The jeeps then dropped those of us who wished to stay in Bolivia in the town of Uyuni, and we were left to our own devices once more. We checked ourselves in to a hostel for the night, dumped our bags and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in ´The Extreme Fun Pub´with our tour group (most of whom were off to La Paz that evening). The pub was as it sounds; with incredibly cheap alcohol, drinking games imposed by the bar staff upon us, phallic drinking vessels and a cheekily named list of cocktails which Dave wouldn´t go near but I happily sampled. My favourite was ´Llama Semen´ (I can confidently say it was a Pina Colada, and no llama had been anywhere near it).