Salle de Uyuni and meeting some girl or other...

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Well, into Bolivia we went. After srrival the first port of call was to be the Salle De Uyni. The largest salt flat in the world (one person told us you can fit the whole of the UK into it - im not so sure - but it sure as hell is big).

Anyway the day after arrival in Uyuni was spent looking for a suitable tour guide to take us into the Salle. We plumped on Esmerelda Tours in the end, and i can certainly highly reccomend this to anyone looking to go out to the salt.

The tour strated at 11am (very sociable hour really) and the first stop was a village on the periphery where locals process salt directly from the Salt Flat and press it and dry it untill it can literally be placed staringht into bags and sold in the shops.

Next we went to the amazing Cactus island which is a totally crazy rock outcrop in the middle of thousands of square kilometers of bright white salt covered with cacti.

The afternoon was spent driving over the salt flas and taking pictures - also the oppotunity to see flamingos (special slat loving ones). Very popular to take perspective pictures here as ther total whiteness is a perfect backdrop.

At night we stayed in a tiny mud hut village on the "shore" of the seemingly sea like salt flat, and then becuase it was a full moon we wandered out in the moonlight for a truely magical vista.

Early start the next morning to climb a volcano overlooking the Salle and see some remains of mummies from way back when. Extremely difficult going due to the altitude (peak height was 5000m or there abouts).

Then it was off back to Uyuni..sorry if i rushed through the details but if you want more facts and figures about how big it is and all that jazz google will be happy to oblige.

Anyway, about this girl. Just after arriving back from the 4x4 trip across the salt flats, we (myself, Ian and Juan who went on the trip together and met on the death train) decided it was high time for a beer. Call it fate, or call it the coincident of all conincidents. Some girl called Claire was sitting in the bar...in the middle of bolivia...totally unplanned...going on the same bus as me to potosi....just at the same time we wanted a beer so did she. wizzy.

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Photos

Guitar grande
How...por que

Our group
And guide/chef, on the mosssssive Salle De Uyuni

Cactus Island
Looking out the the Salle

The Volcano
Big and colourful whilst not going off. Just the way i like them

Oooo..very rockstar
im sure

11 Month Anniversary
In Koala Cafe Potosi Bolivia

Comments

[Miguel]

Looove, sweet looove
very nice and romantic ending to your story. i did a similar trip from uyuni to san pedro 3yrs ago. our bolivian vehicle broke down and had two flats (one wheel flew off at 100km/hr) before noon, but we survived. did you take a naked picture on the salt flats (everyone does)? by the way, salt flat in spanish is "salar". "coco" in spanish is coconut. "coca" is what they chew in the altiplano. i bought a box of mate de coca at the lima international airport duty free shop. be careful not to cross borders with actual coca leaves (esp into chile and argentina) b/c that may get you into trouble. we have a little saying in chile when something is extremely rare or odd, "mas raro que pirata boliviano" (stranger/rarer than a bolivian pirate.....they're landlocked, you see?) enjoy your time. be sure to try salteñas, bolivian version of empanadas.

[Judy]

Yes I'm still watching you !
Hi there Marc, I know it's a long time since you've heard from your Auntie Judy, but I'm sure you can appreciate how annoying it can be for me, seeing someone else having so much fun !!!!! Glad you are surviving in South America, and hope you are managing to pick up some Spanish. See you soon. Judy