Tupiza to Uyuni: Not only salt

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The salt flats. That's all I thought we would be seeing to be honest as a Swiss friend and I headed south from Potosi to the small town of Tupiza. We received a few tips from people that this would be a better starting place, as we would get to see more of the countryside and would not come across any other jeeps for the first two days. In hindsight this was probably one of the best bits of advice that I took on my trip.

After arriving in town around lunchtime we were lucky enough to secure a spot in a jeep that was leaving the next day. This was welcomed with relief from an Irish couple that we met in the hostel later on that day who had been waiting 2 days for the jeep to fill up so it could leave. The rest of the day was filled with sampling the empanadas at the markets and trying to dodge water bombs from the local town kids.

Day 1

A sunny morning welcomed us as the 5 tourists, the driver and the cook piled into the landcruiser for our first day long journey. A girl from Leeds made the group 5 and we were all quietly pleased that we got along in the first hour of general chit chat. Both the driver (Javier) and the chef (Maria) only spoke spanish, which my Swiss friend and I could as well, so the other 3 were a bit more comfortable about this arrangement. We all agreed after the first hour that having more than 5 people in the back would be horribly uncomfortable. At the moment there were two in the front, three in the middle and the final two in the back with some cramped legs. Thank God our travel agency had some common sense.

For the entire day we did not come across one other jeep which emphasised to us that we were both in the middle of nowhere and that we were taking a different route compared with the other agencies. The day consisted of rolling hills (that were known to have large mineral deposits including gold), valleys, llamas and lots of cactus. We stopped at two houses in the middle of nowhere where there were actually street signs on one of the houses???? Straight ahead was apparently Av SudAmerica and to the right was Calle Riberalta. I have no idea how you could get lost there....They also had a little museum which included a few dinosaur fossils and eggs. The most attention however was paid to the cuts of meat that were hanging out to dry on the clothesline...as you do on a Monday.

The earth was a deep red colour and would get more and more spectactular as the days rolled on. At the end of the day we arrived in a little town that maybe consisted of 50 people. There was no electricity until they fired up the generator which allowed us to have a hot meal before we crawled into our basic shack of a room. It was quite cosy and was made even better when you looked up into the night sky to see deep into the milky way. We were in the middle of nowhere and loving it.

For all the hard work we had done (sitting in the jeep, eating, talking, taking photos) we were all exhausted and went to bed early in anticipation for the early start we had the next day. A 5:30am wake up call followed by breakfast and then we would be off for the longest day of driving.

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Day 2

A beautiful blue glow covered the surrounding mountains before the sun was allowed to rise. I had woken up significantly earlier than everyone else and spent some time alone (ok, there were about 20 llama's) in front of the house just enjoying the peacefulness. Our wake up call came a bit later than promised the night before and after breakfast we set off around 7am. Looking at the map that we had been given today included alot of highlights including a few lagunas and volcanoes.

Now this is where my information comes up slightly short, I honestly cannot remember the names of all the different lagunas and volcanoes that we saw so will just refer to them in general. Today was absolutely amazing. In the morning there were snow capped peaks in the distance even though we were in the middle of the desert. We came across a couple of laguna's which were picture perfect with volcanoes reflecting gently off the water. Pink flamingos were abundant and were graciously walking across the shallow lagunas with all the elegance that you would expect. The intensity of the red earth contrasted against the bleach white salt on the laguna mixed with pink flamingos and blue skies made the scene picture perfect. We also came across a little oasis that had a creek running through the green grass.

We were heading towards the Bolivian/Chilean Border and so far had only passed one other 4WD since we set off yesterday so the feeling of isolation made it even more exciting. This feeling soon ended but not to the dissapointment of everyone on board. We stopped for lunch at a National Parque outpost which also boasted a hot spring. Sitting in the spring, legs relaxed on the ledge looking out into the desert was the kind of relaxation that I was after (not that I was stressed in anyway to begin with!!). After 20 minutes 3 more jeeps arrived coming from Chile and joined us in the water. Our isolation was over but while it lasted it was pure bliss.

Storm clouds then rolled in from the west creating a dust storm and making the driving slightly more challenging as we came closer to the border. The next laguna we visited was by far the most beautiful. A small puff of cloud hung above the volcano as we approached to give the look of giving off a bit of steam. The volcano looked over the crystal blue laguna to present us with a perfect picture of the Bolivian altiplano. As this was the most southern point of our journey we now proceeded north with the geysers at 5000m the next stop. Everyone in the car was a bit worried about the altitude but because we would only be that high for a short period of time and we weren't climbing a mountain I assured them that we would be OK.

We saw the geysers from a distance away with some gas rising into the air in the distance. I hadn't actually seen anything like this before and the first thing I noticed was the smell. Small holes in the red earth were filled with a bubbling grey liquid which let off a gas into the air. Apparently the temperature of the liquid was extremely high so we were all cautious when walking around them. Funnily enough it was quite picturesque with the dry white rock surrounding the grey pools of liquid with steam rising above the red earth. One of the girls felt a bit light headed with the altitude but everyone else seemed to cope. By the time we reached our little house for the night everyone was pretty exhausted and fell asleep after Maria cooked up another great feast.

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Day 3

Today was our earliest start yet and we were all feeling exhausted (because sitting in a jeep all day is strenuous work obviously...) Everyday we all changed the seating arrangements just to make sure no one was getting too comfortable and everyone shared the uncomfortable seat for one day. My Swiss friend was quite small anyway so she loved the little space in the back where she could practically lay down and grab a little sleep as we churned through the dust. Our first stop this morning was at the biggest laguna we had seen. The colour of the water was influenced by the reflection of the sky and the red volcanoes surrounding it so it made it quite unique. Many pink flamingos were present on all parts of the lake and just added to the scenery.

From here on I really did think we were on another planet. The rocky red soil underfoot; intimidating volcanoes and the wispiness of the clouds high above in the stratosphere all made for an eerie setting that seemed ever distant from 'the planet earth'. Our jeep felt so small in this large landscape and we all truly felt we were miles from civilisation. This was changed when we reached Piedra rock which is an interesting shape formed from hundreds of years of erosion. A few touristy shots were taken just to remind ourselves that we are on holidays and we need to be ridiculous sometimes.

Our last laguna's were seen in the afternoon before we arrived at a 'gimmicky but practical' guesthouse made entirely out of salt. The beds, bricks, tables and chairs were all salt based. We all had no trouble seasoning our dinner and played some cards before we all crashed out pretty early. We could see the salt flats due north and as our guest house was on its perimeter. Our plan was to be in the middle of the flats for sunrise so another early start was planned.

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Day 4

Driving across the salt flats in the pitch black with our lights off isn't really as dangerous as it sounds. There is nothing in front of you, no wildlife, no people and no other cars coming the other direction(well you would hope not). Even though it all looked the same it took us 15 more minutes to arrive at our destination where we would watch sunrise. Stepping onto the flats and feeling the crunchiness of the salt under your feet was a good feeling. It was cold though. And as I found out a bit later it was actually really cold.

We all enjoyed the beautiful colours of the sunrise contrasted against the barren zig zags of the flats. Everyone was doing there touristy shots so I decided to get naked and run around a bit. The ground was freezing on my feet and also in other areas if you get me. However some of the shots were brilliant so I am not ashamed to post them on this forum. We continued for the next hour until we arrived at Isla Incahuasi which is an island in the middle of the flats containing lots of really really old cactus. The viewpoint from the top of the island was the best bit. It was really strange looking out into the distance and seeing white all the way to the horizon.

Finally we reached the end of the flats at the point where they mine the salt for industry purposes. The reflections off the water with the salt piled up into perfect pyramids made for a nice picture. We were all keen to have a shower after the 4 days and probably not realising how bad we all smelt we went our own ways in Uyuni. On the 2nd day I said to myself "This is one of the most amazing places I have ever been." On reflection I still believe it. The strange landscape, dizzying altitude and sense of remoteness all add up for a wonderful experience. Enjoy

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Photos

The most stunning Laguna on the trip with a volcano
Was right on the border of Bolivia and Chile