Advertisement
Published: October 22nd 2006
Edit Blog Post
hoy hoy, Salar de Uyuni
sunrise on the salar with our Canadian conpatriots We cross the border into Bolivia and instantly the mood and scenery are electrified. Everything is more colourful, hectic, brighter, and complemented by a dizzy head from the change in altitude. A few local boys followed us around in our confused state, trying to 'help' us in return for a few Bolivianos or Argentine pesos - unfortunately we had spent all our pesos in the hope of simply getting Bolivianos at the nearest ATM to avoid the exchange process, however its not an easy thing to find an ATM in this part of the world.
We walked up to the bus stop, still blown away by the change in mood and attitude of the Bolivians, it´s palpable. We took the 4 hour bus through some rough country into Tupiza our first real stop in Bolivia. Arriving just on sunset, we allowed ourselves to be carried along by some entusiastic hostel people, who kept refering to us as "friend". While their sales stratagy was highly transparent, their hostel was of good quality and price, 20Bols per night which equates to about AU$3.25, no complaints.
While Tupiza is a relatively isolated village with real village people, you can still find about
Having a Butch moment
Out on the dust track in Tupiza, like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in their heyday 4 or 5 internet cafes with young locals chatting on messenger, It´s a real juxtaposition to see young folks chatting to other side of the world over a web cam while just outside nativo women are lugging great sacks of 'who knows what' or selling their wares at the roadside.
After surviving a chilly nights sleep and wandering around town, digging the vibe, we sorted out a nice touristy horse ride into some good old bolivian country. My horse had some fire to him, chewing up anything he could find on the road side and breaking into a gallop here and there, but Carly´s horse was a damn bully who wouldn´t let my fella get ahead...while painful at times, it was a nice change from sitting on a bus.
Our main reason for being in Tupiza was to start our tour of the famed Salar de Uyuni. An immense salt flat covering a south western portion of Bolivia. After some poor haggling and getting a crew together we made tracks, setting off into the great unknown.
Our crew in total was, I (Greg), Carly (Carly), Emily the Canadian, Ellen Emily´s cousin - the other Canadian, Hugo our
Canyon
Our first big lookout of the trip...Hugo drives away in the truck while we take photos, are they leaving us here...?? No, just a nice stroll for the lazy passengers guide, road master and all-round cherpy guía and Finally Viky , Hugo´s wife, silent passanger and spectacular cook. With these folks we would spend the next for days and nights, experiecing the wonders of the bolivian wildlands and the dangers of bolivian folk music and 80´s trashy love songs (shudder). To all that dare to take this trip, we strongly recommend - bring some cassette tapes of your own music.
In our trusty 4 by 4 We winded through barrenlands, soaking up the seeming emptyness of the whole place, amazed to find the occasional life force of a llama or "jhhamah" as I like to pronounce them.
These cute, camel-like creatures, scurry from our metal beast as we pass them, half galloping off in their awakward way. What amazes me most is their uniqueness, every llama has a different design knitted into its woolly coat, these are no dull sheep my friend, they´ve got some style, and charisma to boot! At one point (a lunch stop) I did a spot of high-altitude llama chasing and I can confirm they are both quick and dilligent craetures. While they roam huge areas for juicy grass by day, at sundown you´ll
Meeting the llamas
Not so shy,some were more interested in their feed than our presence find them huddling up together on a hillside for the unforgiving cold nights. At every pitstop you can find a wooly llama beanie or furry gloves made by the local ladies.
A word on the altitude. Our travels took us to some high country, in fact, the whole tour was all over 3500 meters and up to 5000 meters at one point. This means several things, while the sun is hot, It can be damn cold (at night, below freezing) and its always ultra dry. Also, anything over 3500 meters is altitude sickness territory, which primarily means headaches and insomnia, so its not all fun and games.
Not a worry tho for the locals at Queteña Chico, who were getting into a game of basketball when we arrived at their village, and didn't mind Greg and Emily joining in. At 4050m, it's kinda tough to keep your breath about you just walking around let alone chugging it out on the court...I preferred to chat to some more of the most gorgeous kids on earth, little Lucy and Gisela. All the stickers and bouncy balls that Ellen brought had been snatched up eagerly by the kids at the last
Meeting the locals
Carly getting chummy with a local girl from an isolated village. village, so all i could do was take a picture and show her, which seemed like the silliest thing in the world to her!
Later that day our aching bones were soothed by a natural spring bath at Queteña Grande (a lot smaller the than the name suggests, in opposition to the larger 'Chico'), on the edge of a huge salt lake that looked like a landscape from 2001 Space Odyssey. I have to admit this was one of the things I most looked forward to, and we were not dissapointed - the water was indeed hot and had an eerie green mineral smell, good for the skin lets hope. The water was a big contrast to the atmospheric chill of the barren plains, and not too long after our dip we were passing by frozen lakes in the middle of dry deserts, surely the strangest ecosystem on the planet. The Canadian girls laughed at us walking tentatively on thin ice, they had seen it too many times before, but we were so excited!
Laguna Verde, a brilliant emerald green against the ever-present grey rocks; Laguna Colorado, coloured red with the pink stalks of flamingoes and surrounded with
Thermal dip
Taking in the bliss of a thermal spring furry llamas; Dali-inspired rock formations on a desert plain that stand like sentinels on a lonely battlefield. Bolivia is so rich in minerals that determine the formations of the landscape, that every hour or so the view would change so dramatically that it felt like travelling through 10 different countries in 4 days. At the highest point of the trip (5000m, you can feel the difference like your brain is lifted by feathers) we stopped to wonder at the geysers spewing grey hot sulfur and bubbling like a witch's cauldron, and not smelling too lovely either, with huge poisonous fume clouds drifting overhead.
On our last night on the trip, after a day of desert and dust, we stopped at the quaint little hostal on the edge of the Salar, where even the beds were made of hard white salt. Our little hovel had a sandy salty floor, and a view out into the neverending whiteness of the salt plains. We stayed up playing cards and dice until the power shut off at 9.30, then up at 5 for sunrise on the Salar, other 4x4s in the distance sliding across the horizon of pure white. What a sunrise it
Whats the way to San Antonio?
But more interstingly, whats down that other track? was - and daaaamn freezing too! We reached Isla de Pescado and climbed the path amongst towering cacti, to witness the vast plain that in summer hides under pools of water, and covers an area of 10,000 square kilometres. What a place to have your mornng pancakes!
A surprisingly quick tour of the salar found us in Pueblo Colchani, and then onto Uyuni and the Cementario de los Trenes for lunch. We said bye to Hugo, Viky, Elena y Emilia, and wandered around before our night bus to even higher moments in Potosí....
Advertisement
Tot: 0.106s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 7; qc: 52; dbt: 0.0644s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb