Uyuni, Bolivia

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Wow, Bolivia is so much different than Argentina, its strange how they can be right next to eachother but so, so different. Bolivia is the poorest country in South America, therefore very cheap, which I like, but it is also very dirty, which Andrew does not like.

I met 3 Germans at the Argentina-Bolivia border, we were all headed for Uyuni, and after a bumpy 8 hour bus ride, which was nothing like the buses in Argentina, we had arrived. We were all planning on doing the 3 day tour of the area surrounding Uyuni so we decided to do it together. In our group there was also a French couple, who were very nice.

The 3 days went something like this...

Day 1:
The first day was very fun, probably the best out of all 3, we were paired up with Wilson, our driver....yes I know not a very authentic Bolivian name. We headed out for the salt flats just outside Uyuni, I cant describe what it was like, pictures wont do it justice either but they will be up in a few days and you can take a look. We stopped at an Island they called it, because it was a small chunk of land in the middle of the salt flats. There I had my first taste of Llama, a bit chewy I must say, nothing I would try again but not that bad. We got to our Hostel later that night, it didnt have electricity so it made everything a bit of a hassle, but doing everything by candlelight isnt too bad. The tour provided the food... which was interesting, the used match in my soup was a nice touch. After dinner I went outside and looked up at the night sky, amazing, I have never seen so many stars in my life, thousands and thousands of them.

Day 2:
The second day was interesting also, we went to several lakes where flamingos were all over the place, I had never seen a wild flamingo, just ones in the zoo, and those plastic kind on peoples front lawns. After that we took a rough ride through the desert in our 4x4 Toyota, we went to the famous petrified tree, well famous might be a bit of a stretch but it is well known in Bolivia. On day 2 we got up to 4400 meters above sea level, I seemed to be okay with the altitude, short of breath once in a while and the occasional headache but certainly nothing too bad. That night we stayed at a hostel smack dab in the middle of the desert, it was so so cold at night, I wore 3 shirts and 3 coats and I was still freezing. So for all of you that think I am lounging around in 30 degree weather with a cold beer think twice! It had to be around -15.

Day 3:
The day started off very cold, like the night before, and I woke up with a splitting headache, due to the pillow, if you can call it that, which was as hard as a rock. We hopped in our car and drove to some geysers, they were awesome, smoke billowed out of the massive holes in the ground, I walked into the middle, surrounded by smoke, Im sure the people that grew up in the 60s can relate. The steam smelled bad, like rotten eggs but I didnt care, I already smelled bad enough after not showering for 2 days. After that we went to some hot springs, which were abourt 35 degrees, a nice change from the freezing cold weather. It was all nice until a German guy (not one I was travelling with) from another travel group decided that he should dis-robe in front of us and slap on his Speedo. And if that wasnt bad enough for about 5 minutes after he got in the hot spring he moaned, like...well you get the picture. The hot spring was 5000 meters above sea level, I didnt have too hard of a time but one of the German guys I was travelling with had a rough time. At around 7 we got back to Uyuni, tired and hungry we all went out for pizza then got to sleep in nice warm beds.

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