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Published: February 2nd 2007
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Mmmm I´m hungry
Sorry Mrs Archibald but Peter may not be coming home. People get crazy on the salt flats when hunger takes a hold.... The tours across the salt flats from San Pedro to Uyuni are supposedly renowned for bad food accomodation drivers getting drunk or falling asleep and for generally being pretty shit despite the amazing scenery. But dont worry our tour didnt live up to any of our expectations and was absolutely brilliant with great food and our driver was an absolute legend.
The tour started at about 8 ish in San Pedro from here we had to go to immigration and get stamped out of line, here however things got interesting with Peter turning to Triona and saying ¨oh shit im going to spew, ill be back in a minute¨ With this he wandered off and spewed in the middle of the desert so much for the driest place on earth! Back in the line things got worse and more feelings of illness occured with a second attempt to make San Pedro the 2nd driest place on earth very much on the cards we told the guy we werent going. However with superhuman strength and the realisation that we might not get our money back Peter decided to go on the tour and after being stamped out of Chile feel asleep
geysers
These geysers were 4900 m.a.s.l. We were so excited that we ran around taking photos until altitude took its toll and we crawled back to the jeep on the bus for the hour trip to the boivian border.
The border crossing into bolivia was pretty interesting with what one could only describe as a slanty shanty being the border control point. So we got stamped in and went of to meet our driver. This is where we first met Eleas, the guy was about 5 foot 4 and for the next 3 days was going to be our guardian as he manouvered his landcruiser across the desert to Uyuni. The only way to describe the trip is as amazing the scenery was incredible and there is probably nothing like it anywhere else on earth as over the 3 days we saw alot of cool shit!!!!
Note - The scenery on the trip is almost impossible to describe with the sense of isolation being absolutely amazing so have a look at the photos and get over to South America.
DAY 1 - After the spewing etc etc etc we started off and saw several lagoons and I hear you ask what is so special about lagoons these lagoons however where the most amazing colours most of them where formed millions of years ago and leaching
Laguna Verde
Peter in front of the green lagoon of minerals has made them go white, green, blue and some of them where even bright pink. Most of the lagoons are toxic however they are also home to hundreds and thousands of flamingoes, which dont seem to mind. The day also took us to some amazing geysers just under 5000m which was literally breathtaking. The first day finished with the best lagoon of all as it was several different colours in one and was also full of flamingoes.
Day 2 - This was the longest day of the trip with us seeing more lagoons and being further isolated and amazed with the sheer scale of the places we went to. We saw a 4000 year old plant that only grows 1mm a year and we also saw a rock that looks like a tree which was wierd to say the least. After crossing desert for days it was also crazy when we pulled into a beautiful green valley full of llamas. We also spoke to some guys who said that we should ask our driver if we could sit on the roof of the car when drove across the salt flats to which eleas replied, no problemo.
Laguna Colorado
This was the most amazing lagoon ever. It has blue, white and red water plus is covered in flamingoes! Awesome! Day 3 - This day was spent entirely on the salt flats which cover over 12000 sq km and true to his word Eleas let us sit on the roof while he drove across the salt flats the only problem was that is was freezing on the roof but it gave you a real sense of the size of the place and also how small you actually are in a place like this. The salt flats are also a great place to take photos however Triona got a bit excited and Peter only just survived being eaten alive. Triona has since apologised but the scars still remain. After the salt flats we went to a train cemetry where thousands trains sit in the middle of nowhere just slowly rusting into the ground the oldest beingt from the 1800´s.
The problem with the salt flat tour is that it is nearly impossible to describe or even to show in photos the only way to see what its like is to do it!! However many people we have spoken to have said that it has been one of the highlights of thier trip and to be honest it was absolutely amazing.
Its going to fall over
Weirdest rock in the world! Created by wind erosion for those who care. It has been nicknamed ¨tree rock¨ as it looks a lot like a tree.... After the tour we arrived in Uyuni a small town near the salt flats where not much seems to happen and most people try to escape asap. We only stayed one night and then caught the train at midnight to Oruro this is better than catching the bus which is meant to be super bumpy and generally like going to hell however the train is packed and you can barely sleep. We also had the pleasure of having a guy vomit near us luckily he found a bag but it was still rather disturbing.
Upon our arrival in Oruro we quickly tried to get out and luckily got a bus to La Paz the capital of Bolivia as soon as we walked in. However the driver tried to run us over as we put our bags in the bas which Peter thought was very funny and the bus was more than slightly dirty which made the trip all the more interesting. The trip was pretty good however Bolivians are very intelligent people and the direct bus stops at all the towns to pick up people and charge them a few dollars (bolivianos) which the driver and his 14
Valley of the Llama
After travelling through the desert for the past few days. It was surreal to come across a bright green valley full of llamas. year old conductor pocket while the company pays for all the fuel so a 40 seat bus squeezes on 70 people and everyone makes a profit, now thats business sense!!!!!!!
La Paz is a really cool city it is super steep which makes it interesting getting around at 3600 m higher than Mt Kosiusco and Mexico City but it is also the trademark of every photo or story about Sth American cities with it being basically one big street market with people selling everything and I mean everything.
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Kieran
non-member comment
awesome
that top photo is freaking awesome!!@#!