An amazing weekend in Salar de Uyuni

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Salar de Uyuni was an absolutely amazing experience. On Wednesday night we hopped on an unheated..... super cold bus for an 11 hour overnight to Uyuni. When we arrived our guide met us, dropped us off in the town square to pick up breakfast and then we left for our day. The first place we stopped was the train cemetary which was a bunch of old school abandoned trains. Then we went out to the salt flats. It was amazing. Nothing but stark white salt for miles and miles with beautiful snow-capped mountains in the background. We took some geeky photos and headed off to the Ojos de Sal or the "water eyes" where the salt meets holes of bubbling water. Then off to the Tunupa Volcano. There was a really small town there where we had lunch and wandered around. We saw llamas, sheep, and flamingos. Between the salt flats and the volcano was pools of water where the mountains and the sky reflected off the water. From there we went to Isla Inkahuasi which is an island in the middle of the salt flats with a bunch of cacti and a wonderful view. We stayed at a hostel made entirely of salt where I got my only shower of the trip. Day two we headed to the Ollague Volcano which is a massive conical volcano which is mildly active and still puffs smoke. We didn't actually go to the peak.... just got to admire it from a distance. Then we saw a string of gorgeous lagoons. Each of the lagoon have different mineral composition, thus different smells and colors. We went to Laguna Canapa, Laguna Hedionda.... which smelt of sulfur, Laguna Chiarcota, Laguna Onda, and Laguna Ramaditas. We saw some cool animals there including the vizcacha, Andean fox, vicuna, and flamingos!! Then we went to a rocky area that kind of resembled a small Joshua Tree minus the Joshua trees which has the Arbol de Piedra or "stone tree". We stayed at the Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Abaroa right next to Laguna Colorado which is a red lake!!! We went out to see the stars that night and it was the most amazing sky I have ever seen. The sky was littered with stars and you could see the dust-like material that you see on pictures from telescopes. It was like looking at a galaxy with your bare eyes. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the setting and shutter speed on my camera to take a good picture of it. The next day we got up at 5:30 to watch sunrise at the geysers. It was small plumes of smoke.... nothing like the geysir of Iceland but beautiful none the less. Then we went to the Polques Hot Springs where we had breakfast and took a dip in the springs. Afterward we started the long but scenic drive back to Uyuni. We passed Salvador Dali's rocks, Licancabyur Volcano, Laguna Verde or "the Green Lake", we again passed Laguna Colorado, and went to another large rock formation area. We took the overnight bus back to La Paz and I am getting ready for my last week in Bolivia. This Friday we'll leave for Peru and a week from tomorrow we'll be hiking Machu Picchu!!! I am really excited for the rest of my trip since it will be something new everyday from here on out. I am also looking forward to coming home and getting to have a non-robot conversation with all of you!! Love you guys!!!

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