Blogs from Uyuni, Potosí Department, Bolivia, South America - page 3

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South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Uyuni April 26th 2014

Days 65-67 Today was a 5 hour 200+ km trip to Uyuni for a first night base & a 3 day stay within the region before crossing into Chile. Uyuni is the main stepping off point for excursions into the beautiful & remote landscape of far South-West Bolivia especially the Salar de Uyuni (salt flats). Arriving in Uyuni feels a bit like reaching the end of the road, which in many ways is true. This remote small town sits at high altitude on the edge of the high altiplano (plateau), a wilderness that extends for hundreds of kilometres towards the border with Argentina and Chile. As such the town has a bit of a wild west feel about it but also has more Land Cruisers than Toorak. Uyuni is the starting point of a 3-day 4WD ... read more
Perspective illusion
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South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Uyuni April 23rd 2014

From the day I left El Chalten back in March I'd been looking forward to the trip across the Altplano from San Pedro in Chile to Uyuni in Bolivia. I'd booked the trip before I left the UK because I'd heard that entering Argentina without proof of exit could present problems. Booking in advance had also helped to focus my planning by fixing some dates at around the halfway stage of my trip. The Altiplano would therefore be something of a watershed moment - not just in relation as to where it fits in to my itinerary but also in crossing this great natural barrier: I would be leaving behind the southern part of South America and moving on to a new country and culture. It's possible to cover the 530 kilometres between San Pedro ... read more
Laguna Verde (I think)
Another Day Another Thermal Pool
Lago Colorado

South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Uyuni April 23rd 2014

After having met so many people on our travels who spoke highly of Bolivia and the Salt Flats we decided to do a mini detour and go north from Argentina to south west bolivia then work our way down chile to our final destination Santiago. We were somewhat stressed at the journey, Bolivia being as it is there is very little information online and no such thing as bus timetables. We knew that we had to take the bus to the argentinian border town then physically walk across to the neighbouring bolivian border town called Villazon where we would get either a bus or a train to the town we had to get to - Uyuni. We had differing information about how to best get there and even at one point were close to not taking ... read more
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South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Uyuni February 16th 2014

With an 8:30am pick up and only a 15 minute drive from San Pedro to the border, it wasn't long until we had said goodbye to Chile for the final time and hello to Bolivia. With the Bolivian border being little more than a garden shed with a flag, it was a pleasant five minute border crossing (unlike the 4 hrs Chile/Argentina crossing). Once we passed the border, it was then time to change from minibus to 4x4, which we would be travelling across the arid Bolivian desert in over the next three days. With images in our head of being stuck on a three day tour with a bunch of Argentinians or even worse...Germans, it came as a pleasant surprise when we discovered our 4x4 buddies were two Aussies and an English girl. However, with ... read more
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South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Uyuni February 11th 2014

Christmas and New Year... South American style Christmas Eve began with an early start and a spectacular drive across the Altiplano - a vast expanse of bleak wilderness, framed by majestic volcanic mountains and virtually devoid of wildlife and human settlement. Due to some of the dirt tracks of part of the journey and therefore the low speeds we were driving, we were able to sit on the roof for periods of the journey - breath taking. We arrived at our refuge in time to cook our 'Christmas dinner' only to realise that all the meat had been left in the fridge in Uyuni. Vegetable curry it was then!! At least secret Santa wasn't put off the food as he arrived to hand out the presents...but only if we all sat on his knee first and ... read more
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South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Uyuni October 4th 2013

Currently in Pisac in the Sacred Valley in Peru!! (Oct. 13th, 2013) Well, we have finished our tour of the Salar de Uyuni (Salt Flats outside of Uyuni) and i have to admit that it was totally fantastic!! Everything was just perfect! I hope to give you some of the details in the following... So, our arrival in Uyuni was not very fun since Lisa was not feeling very well. The train from Oruro was fun and an interesting experience. About an hour´s out of Uyuni, we actually derailed in the desert!! And the train employees worked for about an hour and a half to (eventually) successfully put the engine back onto the track! It was amazing and I wished that I could´ve seen what they were doing but we weren´t allowed to exit the train. ... read more
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South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Uyuni July 22nd 2013

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 ... read more
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South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Uyuni June 24th 2013

20th June and we set off from Tupiza at 8am on a 4 day adventure through the wilderness to finally end up at Uyuni. We were very lucky that Dan and Danielle from San Diego had already signed up to do the tour that we were looking to do, as you need a minimum of four people. Very lucky that they were such a lovely couple (comitting to 4 days in a jeep with strangers is a risk), we ended up having a blast. The first day was driving through some amazing countryside, our Toyota Landcruiser was very comfortable and warm. Our driver David was wonderful and safe and the cook Irma had the most infectious laugh, we spent most of the time giggleing after her. The highest point we got to was at 4855m a ... read more
Aguas Calientes
Laguna Colorada
Highest Geysers in the World

South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Uyuni June 2nd 2013

(Post by Mike) It was with a bit of sadness but also excitement that we packed up our bags and prepared to leave La Paz for the second city of our trip: Uyuni, right next to the largest salt flats in the world. We first headed out to buy some last wool equipment for the trip (gloves, scarves) - Uyuni and the surrounding salty desert are known to drop to -20 degrees Celsius during the winter season. At the airport in La Paz, we got to enjoy a little taste of home at a Subway franchise. I learned that Bolivians enjoy a much tastier Steak & Cheese sub than we do in North America - they get real meat chunks! Overall, flying was much superior to the 12-hour bus ride to Uyuni... our trip lasted 45 ... read more
Colored lakes
The Uyuni Desert at Sunset
Michael the Conquerer

South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Uyuni May 8th 2013

As i mentioned in the last post, Uyuni is full of rubbish, but there is one area where there is cool rubbish, the train cemetery. It's about two kilometres out of town, and is home to 100's of old bits of locomotive's rusting away. We got into Uyuni around 2pm, and seeing as there is sfa to do in town, we decided to head out to the graveyard late afternoon, after a well needed shower, and after watching Barca get destroyed by Bayern Munich. We went with Dot & Too, and the Moncica's, two fun loving, and slightly nuts Swiss women, who we met on the tour. They are two middle-aged flight attendants who travel together each year to far flung areas of the globe, this time doing Bolivia and Peru. The Monica's managed to negotiate ... read more
Train cemetery
Train cemetery
Train cemetery




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