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Salar De Uyuni
Salt flats for miles and miles Could this be the coldest we have ever been???
When we woke up on our night bus to Uyuni to find ice covering the windows we thought it might be bad! Saying that we were in good spirits (Rich, Catrin & Amy - a friend we had met on the Inca Trail), all looking forward to the big game - Liverpool v Milan - later that day.
After a good breakfast, and confirmation that there was cable available in town and a TV to be set up in the lounge later, Rich and I went off for a bit of a gander while Amy caught up on her sleep (the bus had not been the smoothest of journeys as ever).
When we got back to the Hostel, the TV was ready and waiting but to Rich's dismay there appeared to be no ESPN - the channel that he watches religiously every time we get close to a place that has it. Dont worry, the hostel guy said, it will be on Fox Sports. Ahhh panic sets in, Rich also knowing full well that Fox only show the South American national games. And switching on Fox didnt help
Salar De Uyuni
The happy couple take time out on one of the many salt mines used locally to make sooo many things matters with re-runs of Boca & River Plate seeming to be the order of the day. Flicking through all the other channels, the only mention of Liverpool seemed to be on a very random Bolivian channel that spent the majority of its airtime showing dodgy adverts for Nestle dog food. Even Rich's loyalty to Nestle didnt help at a time like this.
Next stop - internet cafe - where we spent ages trying to find the TV listings in spanish - Catrin massaging Rich's shoulders sympathetically... www.foxsports.msn confirmed what we knew to be true. Liverpool would not be shown live, but the next evening when we would be firmly out in the middle of nowhere on the Salt Flats. DISASTER.
Rich, still with hope, then found the TV listings for the dodgy bolivian channel which again showed nothing for Liverpool. Dejectedly we went back to the hostel, hoping that for some reason a miracle would happen and indeed the game would be on the TV.
And would you believe it, the dodgy bolivian channel came good. Despite listing something else random, they were in fact showing the full run up to the game and the match live.
Salar De Uyuni
Our amigos for 3 days - Miriam, Amy, Catrin, Olivia, Danial & Rich An ecstatic Rich ran out to buy the beers... which he used to drown his sorrows after the game finished.
Anyway to the real point of this blog. We embarked on a 3 day off roading tour through the Salar de Uyuni, a massive salt pan, and the Eduardo National Reserve, a national park full of volcanoes, different coloured mountains, lakes and expanses of desert.
The salt pan was no doubt the most impressive of the sights. There is one small area which is mined and processed for consumption but other than that it is just a superb natural wonder. Rich just wished that driving the 4x4 was part of the tour...
Both nights we stayed in very basic accommodation - basically 4 brick walls, a few tables and chairs, and beds. The major ommission being any source of heating. With temperatures able to drop down to -15, it was just a case of putting on every layer possible and jumping into your sleeping bag with everything still on including hats and gloves...
Bearing in mind the cold, you might think we were fairly mad to venture into the hot springs on the last day. In
Salar De Uyuni
Miss Hicks admiring the marvels of the salt flats from Isla De Incahuasi fact there were only 6 people out of all the tours who did it. Not wishing to miss out on this 'once in a lifetime opportunity' we braved stripping down to our bikinis and shorts and ran into the pool. At 30+ degrees it was gorgeous, but getting out with wind whipping around us at gale force proportions caused a few expletives ;-)
At the end of the tour, we got dropped off into Chile at San Pedro de Atacama - a bit more of your traditional desert eg sand and stuff as you'll see in the next blog...
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Amanda
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loved little Richard
Again some amazing photos from you guys. I can't believe that you will ever want to come home.