Blogs from Uyuni, Potosí Department, Bolivia, South America - page 23

Advertisement

South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Uyuni October 25th 2005

So we picked everyone up in the morning. They say the experience depends a lot on your group, and i think i got lucky. There was me, a really nice girl called Terri from Colorado who had just finished law school; a couple, Marie and Bertrand from Lyon in France who'd left uni a few years ago and were in between jobs, and a couple - Tim and Eva. Tim was from England but he had lived with Eva in Hungary for the past 11 years. We drove out of Uyuni to a train cemetery, then on to the Salar - the highest and biggest salt flat in the world. We saw locals collecting the salt, then visited a hotel made entirely of salt - the beds, the chairs, the tables, everything! The salar was just ... read more

South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Uyuni October 4th 2005

Arrived in Uyuni early in the morning. The bus trip was relatively relaxing and I slept OK. I now had time to kill before my three day tour began. Uyuni is a railway junction in the middle of the deserts of SW Bolivia. The railways have declined in use, but now the town does a trade in taking tourists to see the incredible scenery nearby. I walked just outside the town in the “Train Cemetery’ where I got some nice photographs of old trains and carriages that have been dumped here. At about 11, we left on our tour. The first day was the incredible Salar de Uyuni. This is the world’s largest salt flat and is a huge expanse of white salt. Quite an incredible place! You just drive and drive and drive over this ... read more
One of the few trains a day to use this line
Amusingly shaped cactus
Salt ready for extraction

South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Uyuni August 30th 2005

Zdravime vas pratele. Cesta autobusem do Uyuni byla zajimava.Zaplatili jsme priplatek 40 bol. za lepsi autobus..)))) u ktereho neslo zavrit okno, prasilo se a byla uvnitr pekna kosa. V 1hod rano jsme dorazili do mesta Uyuni a ubytovali se v hotelu El Salvadore.V pokoji je prijemna teplota 0 stupnu, topeni zde neznaji, tepla voda ma kolem 15 stupnu.Ve spacaku a pod dvemi dekami se ale vyspat da...) Za dnesek jsme jeste stihli nakoupit par kousku obleceni a dobre se najist v misti restauraci El Cactus.Dale jsme si koupili 3-denni vylet do pouste Salar de Uyuni, coz je nejvyse polozena solna poust na svete. Dneska si urcite dame jeste cajik (pro zahrati, jiz zaslo slunce a je tu uzasna zima-asi tak -10 st. ) a hura do hajan.Zitra v 10:30 vyrazime jeepem do pouste. ... read more
Hola amigos

South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Uyuni July 14th 2005

Firstly, the CD player and CDs were great, but the batteries ran out after two album´s worth. I was barely out of La Paz! I just don´t understand. They say very clearly that they are "Panasonic Super Hyper". Panasonic are a good brand, right, and "Super Hyper" sounds like loads of power? And such a good deal at 30 pence for four. (The other two were in the hold of the bus, inaccessible.) Luckily, we changed at Oruru so I bought 12 more batteries. This is OK, as yes they´re very cheap, but I´d rather not have to carry around an extra bag for my electricity supply. Now, I´m trying to conserve power by holding the CD player out in front of me so I don´t have to turn the antishock on. I look like a ... read more

South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Uyuni May 27th 2005

We crossed the overland border from Argentina into Bolivia on 27th May 2005. I always find land border crossings stressful as there are always 100's of people milling around, a good number of them waiting to scam you in some way before you've managed to work out the correct exchange rate! Then having to negotiate the immigration procedures in a foreign language and endure the eternally rude immigration officers. On the Argentinian side there were indeed 100's of people, forming a huge queue, and nearly all of them with huge sacks of produce on their backs. Ignorance is sometimes bliss so we strolled past everyone and were ushered straight into the immigration office where the officers actually gave us a smile! On the Bolivian side not a single person hassled us and we had a quiet ... read more
Isla de Pescado
Children sledge down a mound of salt, using plastic bottles!
Child at Hotel de Sal in the Salt Lake

South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Uyuni May 24th 2005

I am sure I have the dates wrong, should check my passport. Anyway, took the train from the Argentina border to Uyuni. There was a definite change once we crossed the border. At the border there were hundreds of Bolivians carrying huge bags on there backs across the border like ants. the train trip was uneventful, the scenery was nice but it became dark shortly after the train departed. The Train arrived in uyuni about 3 am, and it was cold. Even though it isn't too far from the equator, it is on the Altiplano, the Himalayans of the western hemisphere. Spent a cold night, hard to breath, and woke to a sunny cold day. went around to book a trip for the solar tour and ended up booking with a British couple and a coule ... read more
the border
train
train 6

South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Uyuni May 4th 2005

The border crossing at La Quiaca/Villazon is amazing! From the bus you have to get a taxi to the border which is a street with a bridge. On one side you are in Argentina and the other side Bolivia. The locals just pass between the two sides as if it is just any other street. It is so unobvious that it is a border crossing that we had to ask where to go to get our exit stamps. There is no queue to enter Bolivia. On the other side of the street there is the Argentine Customs going through the luggage checking for coca leaves. Obviously they do not do a great job as there are coca leaves in Salta - but there goes. I was traveling with a Belgian from the hostel in Salta as ... read more
Salvador Dali Mountains
The Rock Tree
Hand Painted Coca Cola Sign

South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Uyuni April 20th 2005

Fra La Paz dro vi med en meget daarlig nattbuss til den gudsforlatte byen Uyuni, lengst sor i Bolivia. Uyuni er utgangspunktet for turer i den naerliggende saltorkenen, som hevdes aa vaere den storste i verden. Orkenen er fyllt med alleslags merklige landskaper og er tross sine elendige reiseselskaper og ekstreme kulde et populaert reisemaal for backpackere. Vi la ut paa tur i en meget sliten Jeep sammen med en tsjekker, en slovaker, en israeler, en sjafor og en kokk, og forberedte oss paa det verste. Etter tre dager med vakre landskap, elendige overnattinger, daarlig musikk, vulkaner, masse salt, geyshirer og varme kilder kom vi oss over grensen til Chile og endte opp i den lille byen San Pedro de Atacama. Fin tur, elendig reisebyraa :)... read more
Isla Pescado
Midt i orkenen
Solnedgang

South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Uyuni April 19th 2005

Vi hadde satt kursen mot Bolivia och närmare bestämt La Paz, men först skulle vi innom Puno som ligger pa den peruanska sidan av Titicacasjön. Här tog vi en dagstur för att besöka dom flytande öarna och en annan ö vid namn Taquile. Dom flytande öarna bebos av Uro indianerna och är flytande vassöar med plats til tva til tre familjer. Det tar dom ca tre manader att konstruera en ny ö som varar i rundt 15 ar. Dom är ocksa nagra jävlar pa att fixa vassbatar och det var ocksa här som Thor Heyerdahl hittade expertis til sin expedition över Stilla havet. En vassbat pa runt 10m tar mellan 20 til 30 dagar att bygga och när den inte längre duger sa tas den upp pa land och används til att odla potatis. Pa den ... read more
"The worlds most dangerous road"
Huayna Potosi
Äntligen pa toppen!

South America » Bolivia » Potosí Department » Uyuni April 1st 2005

I had always planned to visit the Bolivian Salt Flats (Salar de Uyuni), I just didn’t realise that it would be such a mad dash to get there. This trip was next on my list after the bike ride but I hadn’t actually researched transport or booked anything in advance. This policy which seems to be working quite well, I’m saving money by paying at the pointy end and I have less stress about whether I am going to be in the right place at the right time. BUT… It requires some quick decisions. I chatted to someone about it in La Paz one morning and, an hour later, I had all my stuff packed and had leapt onto a three hour bus ride to Oruro to connect with the train to Uyuni. Talk about cutting ... read more
Run!
Am I downwind?
Money Shot Flamingos




Tot: 0.154s; Tpl: 0.007s; cc: 6; qc: 88; dbt: 0.1073s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.2mb