Vinny & Dogs Epic Trek Part 11: La Paz and the Bolivian Salt Flats

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Following my time on Easter Island I ended up spending a day in Santiago walking around and seeing some of what it had to offer. I stayed near the city center in a small hotel. It was pretty nice for what I paid for it. While I was walking around during the day, with my camera taking photos of some of the churches, a number of people told me to watch myself with my camera. They all indicated there were bad people around who would try to take it. I didn´t have any problems, however I paid attention to what I was doing and who I was around before blasting out some photos.

That next morning I flew to La Paz, Bolivia, which is the worlds highest capital city. It sits at 3660 meters (thats almost 11000 ft to Americans) Needless to say, upon arrival I could feel the lack of oxygen in the que waiting my turn to get my entry visa and pass through customs. When I got to the guard, he told me to go to a different counter. At that counter I had to fill out additional paperwork, because I was American, and pay 135 USD. I wasn´t too happy about it, but was prepared to be gouged, as a mate I met along during this trip told me what to expect. After passing through customs, I got to the hostel, which also happened to be a micro brew.....(I am always planning ahead!!!) and noticed, even walking up a flight of stairs, I was winded and feeling lightheaded. I got to my room and sat there for a few minutes to catch my breath.....before I knew it I was fast asleep on the bed with my jacket tied around my legs as I was chilly. I woke up in the evening and headed to the bar at the top floor, had a burger and beer and went back down to hit the sack. I woke up the next day feeling better, but still walking around for a while left me a bit breathless, not to mention the city is built on hills, so every which way you walk, you are either walking up or down a ridiculously steep hill. That day I decided to go to the travel agency and see what they had to offer. They offered a 3D, 2N trip to the Bolivian Salt Flats, which again, had been recommended to me by numerous fellow travelers. It consisted of taking the overnight bus that night to Uyani where the trip would commence from. I made all the arrangement and met the bus that evening. It seemed as if the whole bus was backpackers on prolonged travels. I was again, the only American on board (which I have come to accept on most excursions) and we headed off. The first half of the bus trip was fine, on normal tarmac. About halfway, which was about 2 AM, we hit the rough stuff. Rough doesn´t seem quit enough to cover it. Imagine taking a rutted up road and putting rocks allover it and then driving a bus across it with little if no suspension. It felt like I was in a clothes dryer on tumble! To top it off, I was in the last row next to the toilet and the door kept getting stuck, so whenever someone was trying to come in or out they would bash me in the arm with the door or fall into my lap as the door gave way. Numerous times people would get locked inside and knock for me to help them, as they woke me on the way to the bathroom, so they knew I was awake......I kept telling people not to lock the door, but they opted to lock it and get stuck.

I arrived with little to no sleep on the bus and was rearing to go.....sort of! We walked to the travel office and waited there while the drivers were on their way. Most of the drivers drive the same sort of beat up 4WD late model Land Cruiser with a roof basket with a blue tarp on top, which is where they stowed our gear. After packing up the jalopie, we started the tour at a place called the Train cemetary. Litterally it is a bunch of dilapidated train cars in this vast open area just outside of Uyani. We found it to be something just to occupy some time on the trip, as every other vehicle with people in it were there as well (literally there were about 50 cars doing the same trip). We drove on to this small village, nothing more than a tourist trap, which had about 15 shops to buy trinkets and ´Bolivian handicrafts´aka...tourist crap! Again we saw the same people as the vehicles followed the same route and stopped at the same ´attractions´. We headed out to the Salt Flats. They were a vast open area of nothing but salt, as the name implies. There was no vegatation and nothing on the horizon except more salt. It is the worlds largest Salt Flats covering a modest 4,085 square miles of land. We stopped and took some photos and then headed to a hotel made out of salt. It was nothing more then a building which happened to be made from salt blocks carved from the ground, with some tables and chairs around also made from salt. Following that, we drove for an hour or more, with nothing changing in the landscape, but how many vehicles we saw. We finally made it to a small island looking area of rock with a tremendous amount of cacti on it. We got out and the driver began to prepare lunch while we walked around. There was literally nothing to see but the same people from the other stops and some rocks. On this patch of rock there was little to no shade and the sun was fairly brutal for everyone, espesially being out in the middle of nowhere with the sun blasting you with its rays. Following lunch, a number of people took the iconic photos of a coke can and the person moves about 35 ft behind it so it looks like you are standing on the can, or the can is bigger than you...I am sure you have seen one of these photos. Our vehicle´s occupants laughed and mocked them for doing it, as we stated we wouldn´t do the same as everyone else. Following an amazing lunch of llama and salad, we headed to our accommodations for the night, which also happened to be a hotel made from salt, which we called the Salt Palace. While we were enjoying a frosty cold beer, we noticed a number of locals playing football (soccer to Americans) and headed out to challenge them to a game. Another vehicle had joined us at the hotel, so our team consisted of a Swiss guy, a Scot, An Irish guy, two English blokes and of course the token American, yours truely! The Bolivians had 5 guys as well and we decided to play for beers. The game consisted of two 15 minute halves. We were up and playing strong for the first 10 minutes or so and racked up a 4-0 lead. But the altitude and lack of playing in years for most of us caught up to us and they scored 2 before the break. We had about a 2 minute break and then resumed. Did I mention the altitude caught up to us? Well they went on a scoring frenzy and racked up a few quick goals and before long we were down 6-4 then 7-4 and 8-4 before we mounted our last stand where the final tally ended 8-5. Looks like we owed them each a beer. As we walked off the pitch we were all sucking wind and feeling a bit drained. They all chuckled at beating the gringos.....I am surprised no one died or passed out during the game.

The following day we made for the hills via the desert pass. We drove through an area which was overgrown with scrub brush and cacti, with few animals roaming free. We went to various lagunas with a number of flamingos in the water. It was very picturesque to say the least. (I will post some photos when I get a decent internet connection). Again the driver cooked our lunch and it was damn good. He spoke no English but was good company as we all joked and sort of understood each other. (I sat up in the front and every time he turned on the car, which he used a screwdriver, he looked at me and smiled) The others spoke more Spanish than I did, so they translated for me. The next night we ended up at a different hotel, more of a dorm room, where the 6 of us stayed. We ended up with the equivalent of four bottles of wine with dinner and only went to bed because we ran out of booze (not to mention we had to get up at half 4 to see the sunrise and get to the next stop). We joked and had a go at each other as we all lay in our beds before we drifted to sleep. The following morning it was up before the sun to get packed and moving. We made it to the geysers, just a bunch of smoking hot springs, as the sun rose. We stopped and took some photos, before heading to the next stop, which was the hot springs themselves. We could get in the springs in one area to swim if we chose, but then would have to change out in the open and it was a bit chilly. We all chose to get in and the water was amazing. Sort of like a kiddie pool with hopefully less piss (that joke was referenced more than once while we were in the water!). We then headed to the Chilean border to drop off those who were heading south. The English couple and I were heading back to Uyani where I was to catch my overnight bus back to La Paz. The rest of the day was a off road rumble across the barren desert to Uyani, which culminated in picking up a hitchhiker in the middle of nowhere and dropping him off an hour later, in the middle of nowhere. We arrived back in Uyani around 530 PM and I made my bus back to La Paz, which was an adventure in itself.

Upon arriving back in La Paz I checked back into the hostel where I booked a room before I left, and they told me I didn´t have a room. I showed them my receipt and they ended up paying for me to go to another hostel for the night. I returned the next day and relaxed a few days before heading to Cusco, Peru which is where I am currently. I should be undertaking a trek of some sort, which ends at Machu Picchu within the next few days. I will let you know how it ends up!

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