http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from South America , Bolivia , Potosi Department , Uyuni en-us Wed, 15 Oct 2008 22:23:21 BST Wed, 15 Oct 2008 22:23:21 BST OK give us a second here. It has been a while and there has been so much that we have done. 14 days we both wish it could have been longer in beautiful Bolivia. And all the while US citizens being choppered out of the country massacres and upheaval. Par for the course really when you have a country that has had more coups and governments that George Dubya has had wet dreams about dropping http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-330172.html Blinding salt plains stunning mountain ranges beautiful frozen lakes dust clouds freezing nights sweltering days amazing wildlife prehistoric cactuses fossilised reefs vehicle breakdowns altitude sickness no roads and basic amenities. These are the words I can only use to describe the most stunning adventure that I have just taken across the dreamy Bolivian desert.Back in San Pedro De http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-320156.html We left Humahuaca in the morning and hoped on a bus to take us to the Argentinian border town of La Quiaca where we would cross over into Villazon on the Bolivian side. The bus journey was a sign of things to come we had booked a ticket but there were no free seats so we spent the 3 hour journey sat on the stairs of the bus. We were definitely starting to feel the proximity to Bolivia.Once we arr http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-313294.html It only snowed for one day The next day it was bright sunshine and nice temperatures. We had quite a few days in La Paz due to the Bolivian voting.......basically everything stops and theyre not allowed to sell alcohol for 48 hours.....rubbish.Anyway the vote went ok and Evo Mendez won which is good......it could have got quite nasty if it had gone the other way.Were getting into the local gr http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-311878.html Well according to us anyway.Anyone who says that the Tibetan Plateau is the roof of the world has clearly never been to Bolivia. Here they skip and jump at heights mere mortals only dream of. We felt that a few days in San Pedro de Atacama Chile situated at a paltry 2400m above the deep blue was high but boy were we wrong. A small change of plans had led to us throwing Bolivia into the mix http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-307568.html The bus to the border town of La Quiaca gave me a reprise of the first half of my Humahuaca Gorge trip and then further altiplano scenes of grazing llamas and scrubby landscape under a deep blue sky as we trundled north. The immigration buildings looked chaotic but the long queues were for people coming south and in short order I was on the dusty streets of Villazon the Bolivian conjoined twin http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-300715.html Thank goodness for our travel mishaps it couldnt have worked out any better Lets starts at the start... We had an amazing day doing a triathalon of the surrounding area of Tupiza cycling jeep and horse riding. We started off cycling in front of the jeep for a couple of hours before we were picked up and toured some of the canyons. We had lunch with our guide in a stunning riverside loca http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-297647.html Uyuni est une petite ville sympa. Cest bien dy rester une nuit mais autrement je pense quon sennuirait assez facilement. Bref ca nous a donne un premier gout de la vie en Bolivie.Le soir on est dailleurs sortis boire un verre histoire de se relaxer apres ces 3 jours de desert ce qui explique les photos dans le bar.Uyuni is a nice little town even though there isnt much to do there. At l http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-280781.html Debout a 5h30 et en route pour le Desert de Sel dUyuni. Un endroit absolument incroyable digne dun film de science fiction. Une etendue blanche a perte de vue avec quelques ilots ici et la. Le desert est donc de sel et de borax ce qui donne la couleur blanche. Il a une superficie de 12000 km2 et est tres sec durant lhiver tres humide au printemps.On y passe quelques heures histoire dabo http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-280529.html Notre deuxieme sst passe principalement sur la route. Le premier arret le matin fut a larbre de pierre El Arbol de Piedra un rocher qui ressemble a un arbre pertifie. Les autres formations rocheuses autour etaient tout aussi etonnantes.Puis on est passe par 4 lacs Laguna Honda Laguna Hedionda Laguna Shiarkota et Laguna Negra. Le dernier est interessant car tres different des autres tres p http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-280527.html Donc apres passe la frontiere qui en fait nest quun abri de jardin au milieu du desert voir photo on est partis voir la Laguna Blanca un lac blanc du au borax mineral.Quelques minutes apres on est alles voir Laguna Verde. la encore la couleur vient des mineraux presents dans leau.On sest ensuite arretes au bao geothermico bain geothermique pour arriver plus tard a la Laguna Color http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-280522.html At midnight on the 9th May we took a bus from Salta to La Quiaca in Argentina the border town with Bolivia. After waiting for half an hour for the Bolivian border to open its an hour behind Argentina we passed into Bolivia and could see an instant difference between the 2 countries although both were absolutely freezing at 8am and about 3400m The women give it away as so many wear the tradio http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-277285.html After a harrowing eve in the cave hostel was exaserbated by equal amounts of caffinated coke as well as alcohol it was a sleepless night to be had by all. Still we were onward by 8am.The Altiplano tours second through forth days consist of driving around in some pretty amazing scenery. Most of it is actually quite otherworldly and I imagine some great star wars type movies could be filmed h http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-275859.html Sorry guys I havent written anything in english for a while now.... As you probably have seen I have got company and its more natural to write in Norwegian. But well try to make all the comments on the pictures in English so that will hopefully give you a little overview I will try to give you a little resume now and then but meanwhile you can enjoy the pictures and read the comments the http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-266040.html Our next adventure. We took ANOTHER overnight bus god how we hate them to Uyuni from La Paz. It was the bus ride from hell. The first three or four hours were on bitumen but then we hit a gravel road full of corrugations The whole bus rattled and every tiny crack seeped dust into the interior of the bus choking us. By the time we finally arrived at 730am in the morning surprisingly havi http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-265153.html Friday 28thWe all make sure we allow an hour for the fabulous buffet breakfast but we can't quite do it the justice we did yesterday We pay up check out and our transfer bus arrives on time. Nice big bus... We wonder why we can't have it for the whole journey but no we're on the public bus for 3 hours when we swap to a train to Uyani. Takes us a while to check the bags in... No one's quite s http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-262010.html Ironic that our last bus journey in Bolivia should be the worst...We asked at our hostel in Potosi for the name of some reputable bus companies which go to Uyuni and chose the one which left at midday. After enduring a breakfast with loud and rude English tourists talking about bodily functions we made our way to the place to get the bus. When a little rattly pile of junk clunked up to the offic http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-261354.html Here we are in Salar de Uyuni. There's lots of salt and it's very white http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-261295.html More bus travel woeWe planned to travel from Tupiza to Uyuni by train but we got so tired of waiting for the ticket office in the station to open that we gave up and booked a bus instead. This meant we left Tupiza at a better time of day but we did sacrifice comfort for timing and price The trip to Uyuni took about 6.5 hours by bus a difficult journey along unpaved roads leaving me bruised and http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-259023.html I left Santa Cruz with Ayaka on friday night and our bus was delayed already. The bus was reasonably comfortable but half way through the night we stopped at a little village and were all kicked off for no apparent reason so I took the opportunity to go to the loo I cant believe I had to pay 1Bs for the privelidge of using a stinking hole in the ground. I spent loads of money on the bus journey http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-254016.html Como dije mi paso por este pais fue muy corto pero intenso. Estuve algo asi cmo 10 dias. Los problemas con el sector agrario en Peru no eran distintos en Bolivia y se hablaba de la inestabilidad del pais y de la posibilidad de que las carreteras esten cortadas. Pero parece que mi buen karma esta volviendo otra vez a mi porque no tuve ningun incidente ya tuve bastantes en Peru noA mis amigos Arge http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-251623.html Estoy en Bolivia y aunque he corrido un poco no queria perder la oportunidad de hacer una entradita para mi blog desde este pais no tengo mucho tiempo asi que va ser muy cortito. Bolivia ha sido corto pero intenso y cuando tenga un tiempito les contare mas anecdotas. Solo queria daros un poco de envidia sana. En una horita me embarco en un tour de 3 dias por el Salar de Uyuni cruzare el Sola http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-250665.html From San Pedro de Atacama in Northern Chile the easiest way to head north is on a 3 day journey across the high altitude altiplano of Bolivia to arrive in Uyuni Bolivia on the edge of the Salar de Uyuni the largest and highest salt flats in the world.Day 1 Crossing into Bolivia and the MultiColoured LakesAfter leaving San Pedro at 8am on Friday morning we quickly arrived at the Chilean exit http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-243533.html finally moved south of la paz to a little town called Uyuni. the trip down from la paz was tough indeed. the bus had to cover probably the worst terrain i have ever seen. this road was nothing more than a dirt track over hills bumps tracks pot holes the size of cars etc. at the end of the 11 hour journey my teeth nearly fell out from all the chattering. my spine would also benefit hugely fr http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-241580.html We are about 1 hour away from leaving for a 3 day tour of the Salar de Uyuni ending in San Pedro de Atacama Chile. Uyuni is an ugly little town but we only spent one night here so thats not a problem.I dont have much else to add expect another entry in 3 days with lots of Salar pictures. http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-227292.html Well we dutifully headed down to the bus stop in Potosi with all our bags at 6pm. And there we sat on the pavement with a growing number of other tourists and some locals until eventually at 7.30pm they said the bus was not coming It wasnt totally clear what the problem was but it seemed there was some sort of blockade and their bus was stuck behind it. There were a couple of other bus co http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-223511.html Well Bolivia was a blur...for a number of reasons Time constraints was the first limitation because we had to be in Cusco Peru in time to pay for our trek to Macchu Picchu so we only had about 9 days for Bolivia. It was a shame to have such little time because it is such an affordable place in addition to having amazing scenery and good hearty food Since we didn't have much time we h http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-216674.html Now i really know why most of people that comes to Bolivia says thats this is the most beatiful country in the world. The last three days was fuking AMAZING the salt plans the desert the mountains all the views that i never tought that exists this is Bolivia.I arrived at Uyuni very tired from the trip from POtos was very unconfortable. Then i payed my 3 days tour and went to Hostal Saj http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-215681.html Bolivia is by a long shot the least developed country we have visited so far. The conditions are rougher lodging is a lot more basic clean flushing toilets are rare hot water even more so food is way more risky and only 10 of the countryrsquos roads are paved.The temporary discomfort is however rewarded with the most unique and authentic culture this continent has to offer. The vast http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-214767.html After a horrendous drive along what felt like mostly rocks we arrived in Uyuni early evening. We've really started to reach altitude now from memory the town is 3600 m above sea level though luckily I've not been overly affected by it.Bolivians seem to love their Italian food as again that's pretty much all we could find to eat. Which is fine just a bit boring so we spiced dinner up with m http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Uyuni/blog-209167.html