Boliviaotearoa - land of the white substances part II

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Friday 6th of Feb we arrived into Uyuni to start our salt flat tour the next day. This time the person from the tour company was there to meet us and walk us to the office to give us our chat. She reccomended a hotel around the corner which was 30Bs a night without a private bathroom, which normally is fine. However, when I went to use the shared bathroom there was no loo roll so I went down to the old lady on reception and asked for some. Turns out you have to provide your own and only get toilet paper if you have paid for a private bathroom!! That did not rate with us so we asked for our money back and went to two others, one where you had to pay 8Bs for a hot shower, the other was a bit expensive and ended up in a really nice one opposite the tour office. I think it might have still been under construction cos the back wasn't completed. The rooms were great, and with unlimited hot water in our private bathroom for 60Bs. So I did some washing while lorna went straight to bed.

I was still feeling not very good, had a kip after the laundry and woke up feeling really hungry. But that didn't last very long as I was sick 3 times and then felt a bit better. So we went to one of the many pasta places and I got pasta and tomato sauce which stayed down and wasn't too bad. I had wanted tomato sauce and pesto but the waiter wouldn't let me have that because apparently it wouldn't taste very nice! The customer is always right does not translate or compute into Latin America : ) Did the usual walk around, which didn't take very long and bought a pair of the gringo pyjama pants things. Uyuni is there soley for all the folk doing the salt flat tours, some of whom don't even end up sleeping in the town. It is possible to arrive early in the morning, get yourself on a tour leaving that morning and get a night bus the evening you arrive back.

Sat 7th our tour didn't start until 10:30am so we actually got a sleep in! Went out in search of breakfast and got saltenas which are way nicer than empanas. Got a chicken one and a meat one - chicken ones were much nicer. Tummy was still a bit dodge so looked for some more ginger ale but couldn't find any. While waiting outside the tour office for our jeep there was an older kiwi couple and their daughter I got talking to, and they were travelling round in between their daughter finishing highschool and starting uni.... Some of us ended up working two jobs in that time! They had 4 koreans in their car and asked if they could swap cars, but was a different company and theirs went to Chile instead of staying in Bolivia. Our car had 2 spanish speaking couples - 2 from Argentina and one from Ecuador and one from Chile. There was no chat in the car was so cr@p! Even between themselves there was no talking. They just put their ipods in and that was that. Figured was going to be a great 3 days.

Our first stop was to the Train Cemetery which was kinda cool. Had old dead trains just sitting beside the train tracks with bits of trains and train associated stuff strewn about. You could climb on top of the trains and walk along the roofs if you so desired. Our next stop was a salt museum, made from salt and with big statues like llamas and birds and a clock carved from blocks of salt. There were stalls outside with salt made things and I so wanted to buy the dice but duno what would happen if you spilt liquid on them so didn't - just took a photo instead cos that last longer. After that was the Salt Flat Hotel that used to be a hotel but got shut down due to poor sanitation! Oh by the way our guide spoke only spanish so I may have to make some things up if it isn't in my book! Everything was made from salt, the table and chairs, the walls, the bed bases, the floor was crushed salt etc. (Been to the beach today (9March) in Montevideo, Uruguay and have sand down my top which is uncomfortable, and have mozzie bites I am scratching which makes typing harder!)

Our lunch stop was at Isla de Pescado (Fish Island) which has hudreds of cactus on it, some really tall, so while the guide cooked our lunch we explored the "island" and tried to take some of the fun salt flat photos, which didn't work out so well!! Lunch was beef steaks and salad, sat on rock seats. After that we had another go at photos which worked out a bit better this time. I was doing a handstand on a tub of pringles and overbalanced and fell on the not very soft salt and cut my wrist and grazed my back. Talk about rubbing salt into a wound - it stung! Our group weren't trying anything fun so I got one of the girls to come in a photo with us - the sitting on hands pose. We got to stop a bit further along and take a few more photos with me and my vegemite jar.

After the salf flats we were driving along on dirt roads, and the van was really hot inside but we couldn't have the windows down cos then the dust would come inside the van which made us cough. I was stuck on the sun side in the morning and the afternoon so had to fashion myself a scarf protector which kind of worked! Looked good too!

There was a big thunder and lightening storm late in the afternoon which helped cool things down a bit, and made a sand tornado. Our lodging that night was in a salt building, again salt walls, table and chairs, carpet and bed bases. The walls tasted really salty! Didn't try the flooring. There were 4 aussies staying here as well so I joined up with them for some english converstation and they taught us Texas Hold'em using M and Ms for currency. I did quite well and won 3 in a row so had a good collection of M&Ms by the time tea was ready.

Sun 8th was the day we got to see the different Lagunas. We first stopped at a rock place with views of Ollague volcano, and then a lagoon with flamingos in it. After lunch at another lagoon we drove through Pampa Siloli, a desert of volcanic ash and gravel, which made the car even hotter! We had to ask to stop for fresh air and it was so nice and cool outside we didn't want to get back in! In this is the Arbol de Piedra (Stone tree) which is an 8m high rock that the wind has made into a tree shape. The last stop of the day was Laguna Colorada, which is a red lagoon from the algae that lives in the water. Our hut that night was very basic and it was colder here.

The next morning we were up before dawn to see the Sol de Manana geysers, which are at 5000m and it was very noisy. Not like Rotorua, you can walk right up to the geysers and jump over the top of the smaller ones through the steam. Breakfast of pancakes was beside Laguna Polques before we went to Laguna Verde, a green lake from the arsenic and other minerals in its waters. We returned to Laguna Polues and everyone had left so we had the hot springs to ourselves for a bit before other groups came back. Nearly wasn't going to go in, so glad I did was like a big bath. And since you had to pay for showers along the way (which I hadn't since it was only 2 nights away) was nice to get a wash of sorts. We stopped for lunch at a tiny wee place that had a great hail storm while we were waiting for the food. After that was the Valle de Rocas (Valley of Rocks) that had big random shapped massive rocks. Was nice to break up the driving and get some air. Our last stop was San Cristobal where instead of a pack of stray dogs there was a pack of stray pigs! Mummy pig was very big and then two boy pigs and a bunch fo piglets. One of the boy pigs was trying to make more piglets and one of the shop ladies started throwing stones and them and shouting at them. Really wanted ice cream so paid 1Bs for a tub of weird ice cream that I think I had one bite of each flavour and chucked it out. That's what you get for 10p.

There had been a big waterfight going on between the girls and boys when we left, that was still in full swing when we got back. As we were walking to a different hotel one of the boys threw a water balloon that just about splashed on me so I swore at him in Spanish and he backed off. The shop keepers were all having a go at the kids as well, cos the water was going on their merchandise. Some of the boys had water pistols while the girls would use plastic bottles, all had water balloons.

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Photos

Beside the R and R
in my gringo pyjama pants