What I Learned At the Salt Flats of Bolivia

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So my last week has been spent traveling from Cochabumba to the Salar de Uyuni, it was an amazing experience and here is some of what I learned.

1. That I can survive a 10 hour, window seat bus ride in below freezing weather with only a teeshirt, jeans and a fleece. When I left Cochabumba the weather was amazing and warm, forgetting that the Lonley Planet guide decribes Uyuni as ¨frigid¨I didn´t pull the additional layers out of my backpack, and boy did I pay for that mistake.

2. That I will never again ride a bus in South America without a blanket and at least two additional layers.

3. That pan (a large roll with a little cheese on top) and a package of chocolate chip cookies can make a very tasty and filling dinner and breakfast - when you are 10 hours on a bus you don´t really have a choice.

4. That I am forever grateful for paved roads. After an overnight bus ride and three days crammed in the back of a jeep on pothole ridden dirt roads my bum is not happy.

5. That no matter how slow somethings are done in Bolivia when it comes to a tourist willing to spend their money these people know how to move. Our bus coming from Cochabumba broke down in the middle of the night and instead of arriving at 12am as scheduled we pulled into Uyuni at 6, and right there waiting for us (I meet another girl on the bus and we decided to look for a tour to the Salt Flats together) were multiple tour guides offering to take us to a hostel trying to get us to take their tour. We managed to find a guide that was leaving at 11 that morning and after a few hours sleep in a hostel they picked us up and we were off.

6. That one of my favorite things about traveling so far has been all of the people that I have had the opportunity to meet and get to know. In just the short time that I have been here I have meet people from 12 different countries and 7 different states. It really has been amazing to be able to talk to so many different people and I am forever thankful for the ways that they have expanded my worldview.

7. A quick lesson in automechanics Bolivian style:
When you hear a strange noise coming from the tire in the middle of
the mountains
Step 1 - Remove tire, determine noise is coming from the brakes
Step 2 - Remove brakes
Step 3 - Return tire to original position, tighten bolts
Step 4 - Place brakes inside the car
Step 5 - Vamos!!!

8. That all the salt that is harvesting from the salt flats in Bolivia is done by hand. They dig it up by hand, they shovel into trucks by hand, they refine it by hand and all day long ladies sit in front of a pile of salt and package each bag by hand. Crazy!

9. That there is a place in the world where you can sleep on a salt bedframe and where all the floors are made of salt, you feel so very dirty when you leave. Think a day at the beach.

10. That God is so big and so amazingly creative. Who would have thought that a place so barren and void of almost all wildlife and plant growth could be so pretty? This is truly one of the most beautiful places I have seen.

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Photos

Cactus Island
In the middle of the ¨desert¨there was this small island that we hiked around on for a little while

Day Two
We visited a couple lagoons that were filled with flamingos

Day Three
We were forced out of bed at 3am but were rewarded with this sunrise

Comments

[JB]

What I learned from Molly's blog
Never travel on a bus in South America! I will take that one to the grave! What an amazing place Molly! It looks so beautiful - thanks for sharing!

[mike forrest]

still so happy for you
keep it up, molls... this is exactly why i am so glad you are where you are - and quite jealous as well. breathe deep these few weeks away. and feep the travelblogs coming!

[John Bellig]

Met Mike
Mike was at our house last Tuesday evening for a meeting of the 20 something class. He seems like a very nice individual...when he said Mike, I said are you related to Molly? He said "no" ...let me go on for a few seconds and then said that you weren't offically related. Good guy...it sounds like you are having a wonder trip and traveling like I never would....I am too old.

[Minna]

Wow!
hi molly! it seems as though you are having an amazing trip! the pictures are so beautiful and boliva seems like a wonderful place to travel in. I can't wait to go there and experience it all myself! please email me some tips on where to go and where to stay etc. I am still having a great time here in Peru and I really love working as a teacher, the kids are adorable! take care and keep on enjoying life! love, minna

[Marie from Austria]

dreaming about this time
finally i started to re-read the notes i took during my travel. thinking about everything without this overwhelming feeling that paralyses me.. it s meee on this pic "time to walk" :) be prepared to a longer mail in the next days!! ;)