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Published: November 14th 2008
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I couldnt really understand what was going through my mind when I decided to hand over the cash to the tour agency operator "cheap and nasty" tours. Bells were ringing relentlessly in my head and I was even hearing the voice of the robot from Lost in space saying "Danger, danger Will Robinson" But I just wasnt listening, surely I should have investigated this further, asked more questions and found out more information but they were good sellers convincing me that this trip would be the best ever.
In a matter of hours me and six hour couragous crew members were off on an expedition none of us would ever forget. The captain at the helm of the rusty old Toyosa was Osario, a silent, short and uninformative Bolivian man dressed in dark, dirty grey pants. He was assigned to be our guide for the next three days on this remarkable journey through the southern Bolivian deserts.
After welcoming us aboard with a slight turn of his head and a semi devious grin, our first stop was on the outskirts of town at the old train graveyard, a dumping ground for the old Bolivian trains of yore
which had some of the first Bolivian Trains. My first impressions were however that the trains here didnt look much worse off the the one I took a day prior to get to Uyuni, perhaps I was lucky even to make it to the town in the first place.
We headed westward towards the vast salt plains of the Salar de Uyuni. This is harsh territory with little water in the area not much life can survive here, however there are of course a plethora of artisans selling various knick knacks and have proven that even in such remote areas they seem to able to find some way to survive of their meagre, cheap merchandise. Temperatures can be extreme here but are quelled due to the remarkably high elevation with most of the Salar being over 4000 metres in altitude. The big industry here is you guessed it, salt! Many work long hours shovelling the ample amount that exists here to be ready for processing and export to other parts of the country and elsewhere.
The air was dry and tepid, the sun blazing done burnt the skin rapidly at this altitude and drained our energy
levels fast. We pressed forward in haste, the captain steered us towards the Island of Inkawasi, we could see it off in the distance, the only mound visible in a sea of white glaring snow-like salt.
It seemed as if there was no end to this eerie plain, stretching out in all directions with what seemed to go on forever. The island was a welcome retreat. Cactii scattered across the dry,dusty ground felt alot more familiar. From the top of the island you can see the changing waves of colour of the salt flats, shades of blue change to grey and even yellow curiously appear as the clouds drift past the fervent sun . The owner of the of the only local eatery was just happy to have some customers, he didnt seem at all interested to see or explore this dramatic lunar landscape, he was content to simply have food on the table, that was enough.
We arrived late in the day at our first resting point, the little village of San Juan which probably had no more than a few hundred inhabitants. Our accomodation was a quirky house that was entirely made of salt
Transportation
Uyuni, Bolivia even the beds were made with salt and the floor was just salt too. There was a small herd of Llama nearby and curiously enough one seemed to go missing just before dinner was prepared and we were served a mysterious meat no one could identify, of course there were no salt shakers to be found.
We arose early the next morning to embark on the long journey to the next destination known as lake Canapa. For breakfast we were served old bread and cheap coffee without even any plates to eat them off. We were growing slightly suspect of our illustrious guide seeing as other groups were getting pancakes and we knew the mighty Toyosa was packed full with loads of eggs and various other food we suspected him to be hiding from us.
Fortunately, the Toyosa was equipped with an excellent sound system complete with CD player and stereo speakers. Unfortunately, the captain was equipped with only one CD of Bolivias very own version of Depeche mode with 80s classic synth pop hits such as "I am going, I hope you are happy", "We are so happy" and "I wish we could be happy"
Its a wonder how these amazing gems didnt become worldwide smash hits!
The laguna itself is quite a beautiful sight, we had left the salt plains far behind and had entered a land that looked alot more like mars with grand mountains, volcanos and deep red rock formations. The lake that surrounded the mountains was teeming with pelicans this time of year and its great to see that life can exist even in these remote locations. By the end of the day we had arrived at Laguna Colorado, a vast lake that varies in hues of blue and red from algae that grows on the surface. The sun was slowly setting and the cold air was arriving, the 4300 metre altitude meant the air was extremely cold and dry. By nightfall, it felt as though the temperature must have been about minus 15, the stars outside were amazing yet impossible to see for long before all extremeties started to freeze.
The group was famished and upon receiving our soup dinner all our eyes lit up, apparently one of the other groups had not received enough food and were asking for some of ours but we all
Salar Sunset
Uyuni, Bolivia blatenly refused. GET YOUR OWN DAMN SOUP!! we shouted in unison! How tough times can turn humans into savages. By the time all the soup was devoured, we started giving each other the evil eye to see who would score the last piece of bread. I was starting to understand why we were not provided with metal cutlery as things could have become alot more nasty. Luckily we smuggled a few cans of beer on board and this kept crew moral resonably high and made us feel more human again.
We were forced to arise the next morning at four to see some geysers a few hours drive away. Afterwards, we were served breakfast again tastless bread and we were wondering what was going on. Tensions in the crew were becoming high again as we were all out of beer. We asked our captain politely what was the story and he stormed off and came back with a bottle of yoghurt and didnt give us a second look. We were all fed up and started to devise a cunning plan to hijack the Toyosa and take the captain hostage and steer the rusty old vessel back to port.
Llamas
Salar De Uyuni We started to fantasize about making one huge omelette the size of the whole table, even just the thought of it made me salivate. Although after breakfast we were treated to a natural hot spring bath which made things quite alot more palatable, maybe he knew we were onto him.
We were on the road again, we past some strange rock formations that our highly educated Captain said inspired Dali to paint some of his most famous paintings and it is a quite a interesting story however he did know it so we could only stare and wonder.
But by the middle of last day, the captain decided to stop off at his home town of Zoniquero to offload some mysterious packages. We knew what was going on, with the sun beating down on us nothing more to see and the CD entering its 300th playback it was getting too much. My teeth were grinding at the sound of those endless cheap synthesized sounds and terrible vocals. We clenched our plastic forks hard and were ready to pounce, but we retracted at the last moment as the realisation came over us that none of us actually
Volcano
Salar De Uyuni knew the way back to Uyuni, the endless desert with sandy, dirt roads going in all directions there was no way we would be able to find the way back without him, we had to grim and bare it and admit defeat at the hands a food swindling captain.
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Seth
non-member comment
Nice
wow guys, fantastic blog! We are always looking for knowledgable contributors. www.aussietravellersforum.com.au Not just for Aussies, share your view of the world :)