Tupiza, Sur Lipez, Salar de Uyuni

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Hola todos,

this is one of the most amazing trip I´ve done in my life.

So, it all started the day before, when we left Potosi. Let´s say that we wanted to leave this place as quick as we could to reach Potosi.
We took a bus at 19.30, and I can tell you it was one of the worst trip I had.
The bus was promoted as a 5-stars bus. Well, I guess they were not talking about the comfort but the number of stars painted on the bodyside.... But inside was even worse. The smell was equal to the farm, and not the one growing vegetables, rather growing pigs.
And I have to mention the road, or rather the "gonna a be a road is few years time", because it was like a riding on a motocross field: bumps, holes, bumps, holes, .... Add some stops in the middle of nowhere and we reached Tupiza at 2.30am... what a good timing !
So we headed to the Hotel Mirku, by foot because the taxi did not want to take us. Anyway, it is part of the trip and we already keep it as a funny experience. Even Antoine who gave up his seat...I mean someone was sitting when he came back from the cigarette break !

So, the day after we were just wandering around Tupiza, enjoying the swimming pool at the hotel and the quiet atmosphere of the city (euh the village). And we booked the tour for the day after. We decided to start the tour from Tupiza because the 1st 2 days allow us to see amazing landscapes and to get less people on the way, especially at the salar de Uyuni.

Here we are.
Team: the pharmacists, aka Marvin & Beso, Laurent, Valentin (from Brussels !), Alfredo, our driver and DJ, and Ellie, our cook. Yes, we did have a cook ! Another car, with Italians living in Dublin. Do I have to only meet people living where I lived ??
Ride: Nissan Patrol GR. That ´s actually pretty funny, because 95% of the cars going to the Salar are Toyota Land Cruiser, but we did not get one. The fact that I resigned from Toyota 2 days before is probably a simple coincidence. Or not....

1st day, we did this itineary:
Tupiza -> Quebrada de Palala -> El Silar (close to San Vincente, where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ended their runaway..and got buried) -> San Pablo de Lipez -> San Antonio de Lipez.
This 1st day was just amazing. We were driving on the altiplano, with mountains all around, volcanos, ... The landscape changes every 20 minutes, from grass to mud to rocks to sand and more !!
And I have to highlight Alfredo and his coca leaves. Basically he bought a huge bag of coca leaves and he is just eating them all day long !! He has such a big ball in his mouth !! He helps him being concentrated and this is all what we want. At the same time, he´s DJ-ing like hell ! Marvels from the 80´s. Some are on my FB. And of course music from the Andes.
We stayed overnight at San Antonio de Lipez, 4200m. Pretty rough place, closer to the camping than the hotel. But ok, we played the posh guys for a week, it´s time to experience the real Bolivia.

2nd day, we did this itineray:
San Antonio de Lipez -> ruinas del antiguo pueblo de San Antonio -> Volcano Utunurcu -> (6008m) -> Quetena Grande -> Laguna Kollpa -> Aguas Calientes -> Laguna Verde -> Volcano Licancabur -> Desierto de Dali (named after the similar colors and landscapes used by the painter) -> Geysers Sol de Mañana -> Huaylljara.
Again what an amazing day !! It started in the nubia (deep and wet fog) and then we had a great experience. We got stuck with the car in the mud for >1h !!! At the beginning, we were spectators, thinking it will go easily. But the car had slick tires, so it appeared we were really stuck ! And the ruts were over 30cm depth.With a massive help from all of us, pushing the car (and getting painted with mud). we managed to move the car away and continue !!
This day was just a delight: sooo many landscapes, lagunas, endless plains and mountains. We were driving up to 5000m , and it felt like being on the Moon or Mars. Yeah folks, I´ve been there too !!

3rd day, we did this itineray:
Huaylljara -> Laguna colorada -> Arbol del Pierra -> San Cristobal
The morning started with pancakes !! I forgot to tell you but Ellie is a great chef, she prepares amazing food with limited time/space/tool. Starting on the laguna colorada, totally red, we spotted tons of pink floyds !! Again, great landscapes all around, we went trough some (deep) rivers, and we helped another car to changetire. Because Alfredo seems to be one of the most experienced driver !! How to remove a tire from a rim without tool ? Just drive on it with another car !! We got almost blasé with the landscapes. Tons of snowy mountains and great views.
Arriving in Uyuni, we could take a shower. No, not a real one. But it rained sooooooo much that 5 minutes outside and we were totally washed !!

4th day, we went to the Salar.
Guys, it is just a pity the weather was not better. This is like a mirror. In the rainy season, the salar (which is normally an endless white surface) gets covered with a small layer of water and you get a perfect reflection of the sky. Unbelievable !! We were driving on the roof, so it looked like being on a boat !
At lunch, I left Marvin and Beso because they stayed in Uyuni to grab a bus back to La Paz whilst I was heading back to Tupiza to continue towards Argentina. And it did not stop here !
We got stuck with a river. For 2,5h. Big discussion among drivers to see whether or not we could cross. Because therain was coming so, it was like: cross and sink or stay in Uyuni. After a while, a brave driver went with his Land Cruiser and we all followed.
And then we got short of gasoline. Twice !! Happily there is a real support amond drivers and we could borrow (I mean buy) some fuel from cars coming the opposite direction. We finally arrived at 9.30pm in Tupiza.


Guys, this was a wonderful trip. Kind of extract/summary of everything I have seen before. It reminded me USA, Mexico, Peru, ...
Totally incredible. I truly advise this trip to anyone.

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