The crazy journey north to Uyuni

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After having met so many people on our travels who spoke highly of Bolivia and the Salt Flats we decided to do a mini detour and go north from Argentina to south west bolivia then work our way down chile to our final destination Santiago. We were somewhat stressed at the journey, Bolivia being as it is there is very little information online and no such thing as bus timetables. We knew that we had to take the bus to the argentinian border town then physically walk across to the neighbouring bolivian border town called Villazon where we would get either a bus or a train to the town we had to get to - Uyuni. We had differing information about how to best get there and even at one point were close to not taking the trip as it seemed like we were just walking into the unknown and with it being easter wondered whether there would even be tours running. Online there were only 2 hostels advertised, one of which was only available for 1 night so we felt we might just be treking all the way there only to have nothing awaiting us. However on our last night in Salta we met agirl who said she just turned up there and found lodgings no problem and that there were plenty of operators running so we decided just to go for it.

Crossing the border was relatively stress free, our bus got in at 7am and it took abiut 10 mins to get to the border. Aside from a hell of a lot of skipping in the queue and a couple of people being denied entry it took us about half an hour to get our stamps and were on our way. As soon as we crossed the border and started to walk up the hill the altitude seemed to hit us really fast. We really struggled for breath and both of us got headaches which were there for more or less the same day. Gary said that people eat coco leaves to get rid of the sickness so we got some of them. Not entirely sure it done much though. You literally bought a bag of leaves, chew them and eat a kinda ash block with a flavour (something to do with it being alkalne and it not working without it). Perhaps you need to eat more than I did, it helped a bit but probably not as welll as my paracetemol!

After carrying the bags up the hill to the bus station our lives were made significantly easier when a girl at the bus station asked where we were going and immediately issued us with a ticket for a bus departing in an hours time. We were told there was no bus and just a train departing at 1530 so we thought we had won a watch. They said we could leave our luggage in the ticket booth and against my better judgement I agreed, paranoid that it was all some set up and they would steal our stuff. Turns out they were just being friendly and our bags were exactly where we left them when we returned after a wee jaunt around the town. I imagined the town to be a dump, but it was actually quite nice and clean. Despite being such a short distance away from argentina you definately knew you were somewhere quite different. Women wearing the typical bolivian clothes with children strapped to their back were everywhere, old banger taxis offered lifts and everything was so cheap. I got a lovely banana and papaya smoothie from a woman and i think i worked out it only cost me 30p. Going to the toilet for the first time was a definite wake up call, sewerage here is basic and after paying a fee to enter public toilets and being given a scrap of toilet roll you fill up a bucket of water and flush the toilet.

Our bus was actually on time which surprised me. Once we got our luggage on stepping up onto the bus involved me having to put one knee up and pull the rest of my body up the step was so high, probably half my body height!Getting up the stairs we were met with what was probably a good bus 40 years ago but was pretty run down, but not the worst thing ive seen. SlowlySlowly but surely folk piled on the bus, Before we knew it there was a never ending stream of small bolivian people piling on the bus with half of their belongings in tow. One woman in particular had about 20 bags with her, going back and forward and ramming the bags in any free space she could find, all the while she had a toddler strapped to her back with some kind of sling contraption, absolute chaos! After bumping the babys head a few times she got all her bags on and we set off. Gary had an old bolivian woman sitting next to him on the floor for company, every available space on the bus was used. Roughly ten minutes after setting off the bus stopped by the side of the road, after a minute we looked outside to see what the comotion was and there stood about 8 bolivian military police rummaging through th baggage compartament of the bus while talking to the driver.The guy sitting behind me seemed to be suspicious in some way and got off the bus after one policeman came on board with a torch and walked up and down. He produced a bit of paper so i can only imagine it may have had something to do with all the bags being imported, who knows!

Little did we know but after being stopped and turning left onto a dirt track, that it would be the last time we would see a proper road for the next 250km. I should add that the whole journey took over 9 hours to go this distance so you can imagine how th bus crawled.The first two hours of the journey seemed to be us climbing the never ending mountain in front of us. It was literally like driving through the grand canyon on a 20 year old double decker bus, neither of us could really believe it. I think during those few hours we passed at least 3 broken down busses full of gutted bolivians and i gave up looking out tyhe window because the situation was so rediculous. After this treck uphill the road finally levelled out and we came to a small settlement and parked up for a toilet break, but of course this is bolivia so there was no toilets. It was basically a case of fining an unocupied bush and doing your buisness there. After this gary insisted on eating from some makeshift diner at the side of the road which was a barbecue piled with Llama meat and some pots of rice and beans. I decided to pass while gary got his grub (He paid for that later that night). I got some kind of jelly ice pole which was lovely then we were back on the road. Garys pal in the isle had decided to get the meat and rice feast too but waited till she was back on the bus before tucking in with both hands, literally. Further along the route we came across another broken down bus and the driver let a few of them on till the next town for 10 bolivianos, just when you thought there was no more space! We were half expecting someone to come on with a Llama or a Camel next.

Further up the road the bus slowed down so that we could cross a river! We creeped up to the bank and the whole bus lunged forward on to the river bed before bouncing back up the other side, the whole situation was extremely amusing by this point as we had almost gotten used to the crazy bolivian way by this point. We arrived to our destination around 4ish to the town of Uyuni. As soon as we got off the bus we were greeted by people trying to sell tours and accomodation so I felt somewhat releived that we werent totally done for.

We first went to the hostel we had seen online but it was fully booked. Slight panic set in as we could see a good few other travellers doing the same thing who werent far behind us. We went into the next hostel as one of the guys infront went in, it turned out they had a 3 person room so we shared with him,, a guy from Israel. The room was much better than I would have expected, basic but comfy beds and clean, with our own touilet which actually had a flush. I think Gary drew the short straw in getting the bed next to the window - which didnt have either curtains or could shut properly! IT was bitterly cold at night - just as well we had loads of blankets.

Once we had dumped our stuff we decided we needed to go ASAP to Red Planet Expeditions, the tour operator to get ourselves booked on a tour. By pure chance the Israeli had just came back from their tour and recommended it too and told us where the office was. We went along but as expected the next day was full. There was space on the Saturday but this quite suited us as we were quite tired and could have done with a wee lie in rather than immediately heading off. Plus, we were in Bolivia and liking what we saw. She told us that if someone pulled out she would come to our room but we kinda wrote that off as a possibility. In the spirit, we went to a backpackers pub nearby called the ëxtreme fun pub". The name made us cringe but we thought it seemed like the best option. A few (and i mean only a few) cocktails later we were absolutely steaming drunk, I can only assume due to the altitude as it hit us so fast, part of the pub was made out of salt so it was like a sandy floor and we were even doing cartwheels! We got a burger from a van and went to retire, passed out quickly.

... Only to be awoken by the woman from the company saying we could go on the tour! Feeling the dryness in my mouth and my head pounding we both knew the answer - no, we would just go the following day. I felt a bit bad but we couldnt put our plans on hold an they woild have no problem filling the space. That day we done little, walking about the town, eating, sleeping and watching films. Uyuni is very touristic and much mre expensive than it should be being in Bolivia but for us it held a certain charm and we left with a good feel for bolivia and its people.

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