Does anyone have a camera and an imagination because its Salt Flat time?!

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After our unexpectedly long bus ride into Uyuni we were in no rush to wake up in the morning. In the end into was 10amwhen we unhappily surfaced, still shattered from yesterday. We were awake though, showered short after and fed shortly after that. Now our task was to book a tour of the Salar de Uyuni, better known as the Bolivian salt flats, the place where land speed records are smashed and many out of perspective photos are taken.

The amount of tour operators on offer in the town is overwhelming and all offer the same package, a 3 day trip observing all kinds of natural wonders. I've no idea how over 80 companies compete for all the tourists offering no difference in tours!? We were very tempted by one company, Crystal Tours, offering us a unique route and a good price, but it seemed a bit fishy. The woman selling the tour wanted to know what time we would come back to book the trip and furthermore stalked us for he next 2 hours. She made us feel uncomfortable and based on that reason alone we would have said no. Just to make sure that we were making the right decision we nipped in to an Internet cafe and had a google of their name. It turned out that these guys are probably one of the worst companies to go with, allowing their drivers to carry on employment knowing they have been drunk behind a wheel. We will give them a miss.

We looked for another company with a better reputation and came across quite a few. It wasn't until we met a couple in the street who must have recognised our 'too many companies to choose from' faces, that then recommended a good company to go with, Cordillera Travel. So we went with them, making our booking just in time to get the feedback off another group just finishing their tour with them. They sounded legitimate, even if it did cost a little more. We had our tour booked and the rest of the day free. With absolutely nothing to do in the town we very begrudgingly wasted away the rest of the day. I tried to go on a run but by the time I made it once round the block I realised I wasn't going to get much further, my heart was pounding my chest and the altitude got the best of me. Looks like wasting the day away is the only option. The best part of our wasted day was tea; a pizza from a Boston mans shop. It was honestly the best pizza we have had on our trip and worked well in curing our not often felt boredom.

We were up early and all packed ready to go. We had got a message the night before that we needed to be at the office an hour earlier for reasons unknown. Therefore at 9.30am we were at the office waiting to hear a reason why. It turned out that another couple we were going with had requested to do the route backwards, avoiding the mass of people and finishing on the highlight. It seemed like a pretty good idea to us and the other couple we were we didn't mind either. By 10.15 we were in our trustworthy Toyota Landcruiser, with all our belongings strapped to the roof and we were off.

Our guide, Johnny, didn't speak a word of english and right from the off this was going to be a self guided tour, with him purely as the driver. Between the 6 of us in the car we could piece together what he was saying and understand that he wasn't happy about doing the route in reverse. He wanted to skip out a load of the sights so that we would get to the hotel by a reasonable time. We were having none of it, probably as a group being too demanding and wanting to get what we paid for, no matter what time we finished. We had a disgruntled driver on our hands.

Even with a disgruntled driver we got what we paid for. The first day in the jeep was a long one, racking up 11 hours that day in total but completely worth it. We were driving for 2-3hours at times without a stop, however the stops made it completely worthwhile. The landscape was Mars like one moment and moon like the next. The first port of call was the Valle de Rocas, and as the name suggests was a valley filled with rocks. However the mass of rocks appeared out of almost nowhere, one moment we were in a desert and the next in and amongst some massive rocks. We got a load of photos, had a toilet break and then continued down the road into the afternoon.

It was possibly 2pm when we finally had lunch, we were all famished and all our own food was strapped onto the roof that we couldn't get at until we reached the hostel that night. Clever us! We pulled into a small town and went into what seemed like someone's backyard. The had innards hung up on the washing line drying out before curing, we all just hoped it wasn't that for lunch. Thank The Lord it wasn't, we got sausages, instant mash (which Laura loved), salad and a load of coke. Nothing to shout about but we didn't turn our nose up at any of it. Lunch gone it was back in the car for another big stint of driving.

The next stop was much more impressive, the geysers. We had seen geysers in New Zealand and could have happily bypassed them, or so we thought before seeing them. We couldn't get all that close to them in NZ, but in Bolivia where there are no such words as health and safety you could jump in one if you so wished. We didn't get that urge luckily. There was one going off constantly a good 10m into the air but the rest were more sedate, spurting out a constant cloud of gas making the whole area look like the opening scene of Stars in your Eyes. And then there were the mud pools which were that hot that the mud looked like water boiling away, it was constant. We were in the middle of a volcanic zone, although all Volcanoes were dormant the geysers definitely were not. Apparently a guy a few years back had fallen into the mud pools and got third degree burns, but they hadn't done anything to stop it happening again.

After 5 minutes we found ourselves back in the car and driving again, this time it was to the Salvador Dali rocks, big stones coming out of the ground, not one touching the next and spread over a vast space. We had talked Johnny into taking us to the Laguna Verde, which he wasn't happy about and because we were going there it meant we had no time for the rocks. So it was a case of photos from the window and on further to the Laguna Verde. The sun was already low in the sky at the rocks and all our hope of seeing the lake in the light if day slid away. By the time we got there 30 minutes later it was on the verge of darkness, the green of the lake was nowhere to be seen. Even still, there were flamingoes down in the water, worth takin photos of and the sunset over the horizon was pretty special. He gave us ten minutes there and it was plenty, when the sun goes down in the desert it gets cold, very cold.

Our last stop before getting back to the hotel was the hot water pool. 2 out of the 6 of us got in, Laura and I being part of the 4. The idea of stripping down to shorts in the freezing cold and getting back out with no towel put us off. The stars out here though are phenomenal, they were so bright and so many. I doubt we will ever see stars like them again. With a beer for the road we were back in the car and a 8pm heading back to the hotel.

We were back by 9pm and more than ready for tea. 20 minutes later and we were fed, and well fed. We started off with soup, which hit the spot after the cold outside followed by Spaghetti Bolognese and bread. Anything would have tasted good but this was especially good. And the it was time for bed. We were warned about the coldness of this hotel, with it being at over 4000m, so we prepared well. Our beds were fitted with 3 blankets each, still not enough to keep the cold out. So we put on our layers, long johns, a shirt, a hoody and a coat, all in the name of warmth. It then took us 20 minutes or more to stop shivering and nod off to sleep.

It was neither a good sleep nor a bad one. We all woke up with the altitude headache and sore nose. It feels like a mild hangover but disappears a lot quicker. By the time we had our breakfast the symptoms had gone and we were once again ready to get in the truck. We were the first ones out of the hotel, and ready for the day ahead.

Today was to be easier than the last, a lot less driving and much more time out of the car. Sounded good to us. Our first stop of the day was at the Laguna Colorada, a red lake filled with flamingoes. It didn't disappoint at all. We arrived there just as the morning sun was making itself known, illuminating the lake and casting a reflection of the mountains into it. It was stunning, and the lake was blood red, that could have been seen at any time of the day. The best part however was the mass of flamingoes around the edge, hundreds of them. Laura and I spent at least 40 minutes taking all kinds of photos, and getting ones of them flying, eating and fighting.

From there it was to a rock named the Arbol de Piedra that had been carved into a top heavy shape through the wind and sand storms. It was nothing more than a stopping point to stretch the legs and grab a photo or two. The rest of the day was filled with Laguna's of all different colours, yellow to green. And within the Laguna's were more flamingoes, the last lake having the highest concentration of them. The were right by the side of the lake and we could be within a few meters of them. There were at least a thousand all in this one area of the lake, different sizes and shades of pink. By the time we had finished our tour of the lakes we were flamingoed out! Still a very cool bird.

The last stop of the day was at a lava field, with the volcano in the background. The volcano, although dormant, was still spewing out steam from geysers at the top and the lava field in which we were stood went on for miles, it must have been a big explosion to leave this much lava behind. We had 30 minutes walking around the left overs of the explosion, exploring the cracks and crevasses of the dried lava river. It was here where we saw one of the weirdest animals we've seen yet. A rabbit come wallaby, with the identical head of a rabbit, the tail of a dog and the running style of a wallaby. Something went wrong somewhere to create these. We were then on our way to the next hotel in San Juan, The Salt Hotel.

We pulled into the front of the hotel, which looked nothing like it was made from salt, we had been done here. We then entered it and saw that the floor was covered in big salt crystals, the tables and bedrooms made of salt blocks and everything inside was salt. We tested it just to make sure it was salt, it was. We had a few hours before tea so filled them with a trip around the town. There were more llamas than people in it, but you could understand why not many people would want to live in this very isolated and baron place.

Tea was llama steak, cooked so well that Jaws would struggle to get through it and the equivalent of a potatoes wort of chips each. It was disappointing in comparison to the night before. Every other group had wine on their tables all provided by the tour companies, we had none and we were sure that Johnny had drank it the night before in a strop. So we bought a bottle or two and ended up playing a few international drinking games for the next few hours. We knew we needed some sleep as we had a 4am start the next day.

The 4am was almost enough to make us cry, but it was balanced out by what was to come that day, the Salar de Uyuni. This was the highlight of the trip and the reason why we were up so early, so that we could get there in time to see the sunrise. It wasn't without a minor drama, Johnny had decided not to get up after telling us all that we NEEDED to be gone by 4.30am. So we went around all the staff dorms and made quite a lot of noise outside until we saw him awake, no apology just a 'vamos', lets go. It was 5.15am when we left, he had some ground to make up and a car full of unhappy customers.

6.30am and we were there, parked in the middle of the worlds largest salt plain coming in at over 12000 sq km. everywhere you look you see white. We then waited and watched as the sun crept up above the horizon, making the clouds above glow red and casting shadows of ourselves over 50m long. The mountains went from grey to red to grey all in the space of 30 minutes. We were mesmerised. We also thought we saw a rocket being launched in the horizon, going straight up into the sky, but it took 5 minutes of watching before the disappointment hit us, it was just a plane.

We were happy to get back into the car after the sunrise, we were all frozen and the heaters were welcomed. 30 minutes of driving later we were thawed out and still making no dint on the size of the salt flat. We were heading for the fish island, that really should be called the cacti island because its filled with cacti and not fish!! It is a big stone island right in the heart of the salt flat, that is covered in cacti, some of which are over 1000 years old. An hour and a half on the island and we had seen 360* views of the salt flats, going further than any eye could see, seen cacti over 9m tall and had ourselves a coffee to warm up.

The next stop was the one everyone looks forward to the most. The chance to make photos that are extremely hard to do anywhere else. Its not uncommon to see people pretending to be eaten by another, or to see a group all jumping at the same time with cameras all on a self timer. We were no different from the rest but we did try and think of some original photo ideas, the chances of that happening were slim. It took us 5 minutes to realise that getting a good perspective photo is hard, really hard. You have to align the people, get the shadows out of the way and then get someone to take the photo for you. For the next 2 hours we mastered the art of the photos and by the end we had a handful of keepers.

The salt flat experience was almost over, with a stop off on the way back at a genuine salt hotel, made illegally on the flats themselves and another stop at a town that heavily relied on the tourists buying their hand made salt products. The final stop before making it back into Uyuni was at a train cemetery, where the old steam trains had been left to rus once he newer ones came about. From there it was 20 minutes back into the town and the tour of the otherworldy landscape was over. Bolivia so far has blown us away with its diverse landscapes, cheap food and in general very welcoming people.

The next part of our adventure involved a 12 hour bus ride (which we were more than dressed appropriately for) to La Paz where we were going to get another bus into the Amazon Rainforest. For me this is one of the things I've been waiting for since day one.

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