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Published: August 7th 2007
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Sunrise, lake & Flamengos!
What more could a girl want? Laguna Colorado So after a hot agonising bus ride of tossing and turning to the Argentinian border town of La Quica, Arin and I made it over to Villazon "Yay" (Bolivian side of the border) very early in the cold cold morning! I ripped open my bag and pulled out all my thermal underwear, scarf, beanie and gloves and proceeded to wear them all, as well as any other warm clothes I could find in my bag! The border crossing was uneventfull, the immigration officer seemed more interested in a TV soap than my passport, then he said "Australia?" with a grin, "Si" I replied, he then just nodded to himself and returned to his soap. That one word was the most he said the whole time I was in the office. Weird.
So much to Arin and I's dismay, the train to Tupiza (where we had planned to start out salar de Uyuni tour) did not leave untill 3pm. Standing in the cold waiting was NOT an opion as our sleep deprivation was setting in, plus there was not much to do in the border town of Villlazon. So we booked a room in a hotel for half a day, had a
Salar de Uyuni!
But there was no Australian Flag jeep, bought our train tickets and the next thing we knew, we were on our way to Tupiza on a dusty train carriage watching "Desperado" in Spanish (no subtitles). Just when we were getting settled, this guy in sunglasses comes up and starts chatting to us, asking about our plans, what we were up to, if we would like to hang out with him and his friends. Arin and I were like "ok" , he said that he had this really cool recomendation for a hostel, and we should join them! I was a bit wary of a guy who is so keen for company, I wondered what might be wrong with him. Later I realised that this was just the ever present friendliness of Marco, one of "The Boys" I would spend a lot more time with in the future. As we arrived in Tupiza we ditched "The boys" and looked for our own accom, being guided by a 10yr old boy keen for a tip, on the way up one of the streets two men wall down the street with a coffin hoisted on their shoulders! Plus it was dark, whether there was a body in it or
Laguna Verde
The colour is made by the minerals on the floor of the lake not, it was freaky as Arin and I looked at each other with concerned faces.
So, the next day we headed off trying to find the best deal for a Salar tour, and ran into "The Boys" as we were paying our deposits, turned out they booked with the same company, leaving the same day! Sweet, it was going to be fun! Plus we were invited to go horseriding with them that afternoon, we accepted, our social planner was empty, and I was keen for a ride. That afternoon was a long one, 5 hours on a horse, not just any old horse but an asshole of a horse. At this point I should probably introduce "The Boys", Marco, Maarten & Wouter (Dutch), Luca (Swiss) and Darin (American). Darins and My horse were the trouble makers, they bit Arins and Wouters horses constantly, sometimes leading to kicks and bucks, plus they decided to canter away from they others, whilst we hold on for dear life. Just when I thought they couldn't go faster, they slid into a gallop and bits of stone flick up from the hooves of darin's horse hitting me in the teeth and eyes. Still holding
on (and unable to pull on the reins for fear of falling off) out 11yr old Guide (yes, 11yrs old) comes to our aid and eventually they stop, but my heartbeat contines to race for the next 10 mins. 5 hours on a horse in one afternon was more than enough, man was I sore, plus I had a rash on my bum from my underwear rubbing on the crappy saddle (Yes I was also wearing pants). The scenery was beautiful however, as we rode through areas once travelled by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids.
To make a Salar de Uyuni trip you need; 4 days (3 nights), Jeep, Driver, Cook, 6 passengers or less and a hell of a lot of warm clothes. On our first day we gained some altitude, driving up into the hills behind Tupiza, I was shocked half way through the day when lunch came, it was SO GOOD! There was no way I was going to loose weight with all the great food "Mama" Lucy had prepared for us. Tomali's, softdrink, fresh bread, hot chocolate, cake, Dulce de Leche, french fries, pancakes, meatballs, steak, rice, mashed potato, cheesy brocolli, pasta salads, Oreo's
etc. I had heard rumours that Boliva did not rate that high in the food department, but nothing I was tasting came close to that statement being true. Plus I was hoping to catch some sort of tummy bug so that I might drop a few Kg's! Not a chance on this trip, Mama Lucy got very offended if you didn't eat and often encouraged us to eat more. In my jeep there was me, Arin, Wilfur (driver), Mama lucy, Peter (who's real name was Jon, but we called him Peter???), An Argentinian girl and Two Uruguayan guys. "The Boys" were in another jeep with a Korean Lady whom they tortured and gave completely different English translations to the Guides words, making up stories.
We spend out first night at 4285 metres, I woke up in the middle of the night sweating (thanks to my efficient sleeping bag) and panting like I had just ran 100 metres. I was just lying in bed, resting, and already the altitude had affected my body! After an early rise and breakfast we were back on the road again, shivering, chewing as many Coca leaves we could shove in our mouths.
I wont
Locals get animals ready for bed
Somewhere between Villazon and Tupiza you with the details of every day's events so I will just give you the highlights.
* I learned how to play Texas Holden poker and hearts and came very close to winning both.
* Wilfur (The Driver) tortured us with a CD containing songs like "Lady in Red" and "Careless Whisper" before he listened to our plea's and eventually put on the Rocky soundtrack (The only other English CD in his collection). Nothing like a bit of "Eye of the Tiger" and "Living in America" to spice up a jeep trip.
* After sharing our Music woes with "The Boys", they informed us that they used their iTrip and listened to some 90's hits from the likes of Ace of Base, Venga boys and La Bouche! I dont know what would have been worse.
* We stayed in a salt hotel on our third night, the floor was crushed salt and the bed bases were salt too.
* I got to play nurse while eveyone was drinking beers in the Hot Springs. An Irish chick had come down with altitiude sickness and I had to pretend like I knew what I was doing. In the end I knew
Shithead and I
My insane Horse for the afternoon, prior to misbehaving. that I could just return to the basics, Airway, Breathing, Circulation and Coca!
* I didnt Shower for 3 days!
* We visited many Volcanos, Rocks and Lakes.
* Flamengos STINK really bad!
* Everything was covered in dust somehow, it managed to get everywhere.
* I was introduced to the world of Knitted finger puppets!
After arriving in the town of Uyuni at the end of the tour, I said goodbye to Arin and decided to continue travelling with "The Boys" onward to Potosi!
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