New Year in Oruro

South America » Bolivia » Oruro Department » Oruro
January 7th 2010

Published: January 7th 2010

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Dave125

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So after our trip up Huanya Potosi it was time for a New Year celebration. We jumped on a bus early new years eve and were bound for Uyuni but decided to break the trip up and stay in Oruro for New years as we heard we could get a train to Uyuni.
We arrived at lunch time in Oruro and found a nice little hostel opposite the train station to stay for 2 euro a night.
Once settled in we headed over to the train station to buy our tickets for new years day but unfortunately the station was closed till 11 the next day. Insterad we wandered around the town which turned out to be quite a ghost town. The four of us decided to buy some wine and head out for dinner which was pizza and beer. After dinner we headed back to the hostel for some celbratory drinks and watch the fireworks from the hotel, quite a few landed near the windows in the hotel. Bolivia is quite an unorganised country and was wise to stay inside while the fireworks are going off.
The next day we got up and qued at the train station for our

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tickets which turned out to be quite an ordeal. First we were given a ticket and we could wait nice and quietly and then once the doors opened it was a free for all. We had to barge and push our way to the top of the que only for the security guard who didnt have a clue what was going on to tell us that there was no more tickets left for Uyuni. We were quite frustrated by this and refused to believe him as he was extremely ignorant so we bypassed him and went straight to the top of the que where we were told we could buy tickets for the train. Once our tickets were purchased we headed off to pack our bags and buy some snacks for the train.
At 3.30pm we were headed for Uyuni. The train was the dustiest train I have ever experienced but was nice and fun and we had plenty of room. The views from the train were amazing. The scenery changed every hour from pure desert as far as the eye could see to beautiful lagoons full with pink flamingos!!
We arrived in Uyuni at 10pm and then had to