Bolivia - Salar de Uyuni

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22/7-2013: Got up at 5 to leave San Pedro. We headed towards Bolivia at 6:30 and on the way we had the most amazing view of the Andes. Just before the boarder to Bolivia we saw a beautiful laguna with a couple of alpacas and a lot of flamencos around.
It was really easy to cross the boarder and before we knew it our time in Chile was over. First stop was a viewpoint to see Volcano Ollaque from the Bolivia side. We also saw Laguna Negra where we stopped to have lunch but the wind was really hard so we had to eat in the car.
Next up we saw Valle de Rocas, a valley full of volcanic rocks. All sights where really beautiful and all along the way we could see dessert with the mountains in the background.
On the way back we saw a lot of lamas - they walked right next to the car so we got to see them all up close.
At night we arrived at the "city" Mallcu Villa Mar where we had to stay for the night. The hostel had two bathrooms for all of us and no hot water for showers, the room was really simple with only five beds lined up on a row and it was freezing cold.
In the evening we had soup, spaghetti with tomato sauce and a small dessert but we couldn't eat everything - one of my friends had really bad altitude sickness. A teacher and three of his students came and played local music for us.
Me and my friend ended up sleeping all curled up together in a sleeping bag plus the blankets provided, with several layers of clothes and beanies on.

23/7/2013: Not a good night of sleep, I woke up short of breath many times with my heart pounding and the last couple of hours I had a bad headache. My body is still getting used to the altitude.
Got up at 7:30 and had breakfast and packed. Then back in the jeep to go see more sights. First stop was a rock with old Inca drawings called 'pinturas rrupestre' on it which was located really high up so it had an amazing view.
Then we went on to see some volcanic rocks called 'italia perdida' which was really beautifull, tall red rocks all over. Next stop was another valle de rocas where all the stones looked like faces.
After this we had lunch at a small pueblo in the middle of nothing. On the way back to our hotel we stopped at Pueblo San Agustin where we saw a small church.
We stayed at the Salt hotel for the night. All the bricks and furniture are made of salt and the floor was covered in salt flakes - practical for dinner timer.
We had a nice dinner, the guides told us it was flamenco meat but im pretty sure it was chicken!
I finally had a nice hot shower for 10 bolivianos which was totally worth it. Most of the day I had a headache but it stopped, maybe because we moved down from 4.100 to 3.600 meters altitude.
We had to go to bed at 9, because they turn of all electricity at night.
23/7/2013: Got up at 5 to pack and get ready at 6 with breakfast and everything so we could catch the sunset. But as we all know, time in Bolivia is relative and our sweet guide Gabriel apparantly didn't want to get up early so we left half an hour late.
Luckily we made it to the salt flats of Uyuni before sunrise and we witnessed it in the middle of the white neverending dessert, words cannot describe this place.
It looked amazing and even though I had seen pictures before it took me by surprise, it's so big - feels like it never ends.
We went to an "island" called Isla Pescado which was old corals from when the flats used to be a sea. It was covered in cactusses and had some amazing views. One of the bigget cactusses was 12 meters high and 12.000 years old, but died in 2007.
Later we went on further into the middle of the salt flats where we took crazy photos and jumped around for several hours. It's crazy how the place affects your mood, the brightnwess brings happiness.
The dessert is 100 % salt, first layer is 8 meters deep and then it changes between water and salt in layers. The salt dessert itself is 13.000 square km! So the feeling of it being neverending is almost true.
We had lunch in the middle of the salt in a circle and chilled on the flats before going to see Ojos del Sal, which is water that bubbles as the salt 'tries to breathe'. Later we visited the first salt hotel ever built.
After that we went to see the place where they actually load the salt on trucks and we all got the honour of loading a little while asking the nice lady some questions, she worked there from 6-7 and had worked there for 15 years, she was old and it was obviously a really though job but she had four children and she had to pay for university for two of them.
We visited a small pueblo that sold souvenirs and then the train cementary in Uyuni. The train cementary consists of some old trains that have been parked there since the route closed 70 years ago and is now a playground for adults.
Then back to Uyuni where we had dinner with Manuela who we had been with us in our jeep all tour, before catching the nightbus at 8 to La Paz. We ran into Wesley and Italian guy that we had already met in Isla Damas and San Pedro.
Uyuni seemed like a nice little town, and it was nice finally to see some life after 3 days in the dessert.

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