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Published: December 2nd 2013
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We took a 12 hour bus ride on one of the famous Argeninian buses from cafayate to the border of bolivia where we waited for about 2 hours in the que to cross the border once over the border we hailed a cab and went to the bank where we met a Norwegian girl, Camilla and a New Zealand guy, Scott who agreed to share the 2 hour cab drive with us in which ride we climbed approximately 1800m to reach an altitude of 3000 metres. We knew that the altitude hadn't effected us because upon arrival in the little town of tupiza we were famished and grabbed a delicious burger with bacon on it ( first time in South America I found bacon). John and I treated ourselves to a hotel with a pool and just lazed around the pool all afternoon. The first day of the salt flats tupiza tour had an early start with us meeting our guide Milton and our chef Lesley. We clambered into the vehicle that we were to spend the next 4 days in with our new friends, Camilla and Scott, marveling at the sparse desperately breathtaking landscapes and chatting about anything and everything
from rock climbing (Scott's crazy hobbie) to the samer ( Norway's native who have survived in temperatures of up to -40 in winter). Scott demonstrated his rock climbing abilities at our very first stop which overlooked a giant eroded valley of red sandstone. The road precariously wound around the edge of ancient and recent sand slides and I'm sure would not have passed safety regulations in a first world country. Scott nonchalantly walked/ climbed a precipice which overlooked a 200 m sheer drop and was likely to erode at any moment, John scrambled after him and double took and receded when he saw the height of the overhang. We stopped at a small village around 4200 m high for a delicious lentil lunch but the first day involved mostly driving and chatting. The second day of the tour started with a bagel and dulce de leche breakfast, which is like caramel. We had our first flamingo sighting within the first hour. Giant chillean and Jameson's flamingos grace the sides of exquisitely pale blue salt lakes in their 100s'. the lakes or rather lagoonas as our guide called them smell like the ocean despite being more than 4 km above sea
level due to the high levels of salt. Besides the flamingos and a few swat looking francolin type birds not much survives in this extreme dry cold oxygen deficient climate. On saying that however we did see hundreds of lamas, and even chanced upon a lama kraal where we got up front and personnel with these strange mountain goat camels. They sport the most hilarious expressions on their faces as they wander around the barren terrain surrounded by ancient volcanoes. The highlight of the second day was definitely a trip to the hot springs. A beautiful natural pool of clear spring water at 37 degrees Celsius on the edge of one of those flamingo ringed lagoonas with a cold beer in hand was the optimum way to spend an hour. Weird and beautiful landscapes are the norm in this area of the world and we next visited an ice blue lagoona comprised of arsenic overshadowed by the highest mountain in the region, which I think was 6200m. NASA researchers apparently frequently visit the peak of the mountain as the climate up there is the closest to mars on earth. Luckily we merely enjoyed the view and marveled at the barren
harsh beauty of the Martian mountain and its arsenic lake.
Our accommodation on the second night was at 4200m above sea level and not as sturdy as the first night. Scott, Camilla, John and I all shared a room and John managed to get us some extra blankets. The third day of the tour involved a visit to geysers which spurted 200 degree mud and steam into the air, it was so cold at 5000 m above sea level that we warmed our hands on the volcanic steam. We later visited the only remaining smoking volcano in the area and the Dali dessert, which is a landscape of surreal shaped rocks. The car that was driving with us and carrying the crazy Brits, Lucy and her mom, got a puncture so we stopped to help out. The scene at the broken down vehicle was almost more surreal than the Dali landscape with Lucy dancing like it was 1999 to her own silent disco in the middle of a barren stony landscape which ran in either direction as far as the eye could see. We also visited a lagoona which in contrast to the ice blue green ones we had seen,
was blood red. It was quite spectacular. I think altitude sickness finally got the best of me because by the time I arrived at the salt hotel I was man down and could only just make my first shower in 3 days ( the other places had no showers) before going to bed. Good thing I got an early night because we were woken by the melodic singing of Lucy's mom
at 5 am the next morning to view the sunrise over the salt flats. The sky turned from black to orange to red before a golden slit of sun rose above the flat crusted salt pans. Salar De Uyuni is the worlds largest salt flats and blankets an incredible 12,106 sq meters. Our guide Milton told us that a few years ago a tour operator had veered off one of the trails which peppers the white expanse and got lost and then ran out of petrol, as a result they were stranded on the flats for a few days and almost died. The salt flats are the remnants of a massive prehistoric lake which apparently used to cover most of southern bolivia. Our breakfast stop was at isla del pescado which
is an island covered by tricoteuse cacti and fossilized coral. We found the most incredible cave which would have been a divers dream a million years ago. After a breakfast of dulce leche cake we walked around the island writing our names in salt slabs before hopping back into our trusty vehicle for a 40 min drive into the salt flats and a photoshoot. We fooled around on the famous backdrop taking photos of ourselves doing all sorts of things ranging from smashing each other with hammers to kissing massive lollipops. Our final stop before lunch was the ugly train graveyard. The crazy frenchman on our tour made us laugh when asking for his help on a group photo he ran around the yard seemingly taking photos of random objects while we stood lined up waiting for our pic. In the end his photos were brilliant however. Lunch was schnitzels at a market where John almost chocked on a piece of chicken. We sadly said farewell to Camilla and the rest of our tour in Uyuni. John, Scott and me settled into the tour operating company with a couple of beers and 5 hours to spare before our dreaded overnight
bus to La Paz.
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Mom/kippy
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hi Robs and John, had another look at your blog. Such great pictures (loved your trick photos of bashing minutes of each other). I guess you\'re now in Peru? I suppose you\'ve heard the news of Mandela\'s death. We all knew would happen soon, but its still quite a shock - I feel quite bereft. Imagine his -- in Qunu near Umtata. Imagine all those world leaders - the Obamas, Clintons, Dalai Lama, Prince Charles (and their entourages)-- all descending on Umtata! Where the hell are they going to stay? I wonder if the electricity/toilets will hold up? Hope you enjoy Peru/ Macchu Piccu. Margaret asked if you were going to visit Christo and Cata. They\'re in Colombia at the moment. Love Mom