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Published: March 16th 2007
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The bus ride from Potosi to Uyuni was both the best and worst of my entire trip so far. The best because of the scenery, and the worst because of the ride itself. The bus went along narrow cliffs down into green, lush valleys, then into desert, then into valleys again with a few snow-capped mountains to mix things up. The road to Uyuni must be the worst I've ever been on. The entire bus rattled on the gravel road, and it seemed like the windows would shatter any moment. I'm lucky I still have all my teeth. It was that bad.
When I got to Uyuni, I met up with a French guy and a Mexican from the bus ride, and the three of us, along with a girl from Chile, would end up going on a tour of the Salar de Uyuni together. The only reason to go to Uyuni is to do a Salar tour. The town itself has little to offer and is bleak and desolate. The next morning we set off on our tour, the 4 of us, 3 Bolivians (a brother and sister and a friend of theirs), our guide Alfredo and our cook
Salt Mound
The extractors of the salt deposits put the salts into mounds for easy transport later Johanna. There are supposed to be a max of 8 on a tour, including crew, but that didn't happen. A Salar de Uyuni tour is usually 3 days long and takes you throughout most of Southwestern Bolivia. 4WD is the only way to get around, and with 9 in a Jeep, we were pretty cramped.
The tour started off from Uyuni late in the morning and the first day was spent exploring the Salar de Uyuni (Salt Flat of Uyuni), at 12,000 sq. km. the largest salt flat in the world. First we visited the nearby town of Colchani, where they process the salt and make it ready for distribution. The process is quite simple. They dry the salt under a huge fire, package it into plastic bags, and it's ready to be consumed. The first view of the Salar itself was mind-blowing. I was speechless. The Jeep came to a halt and there we were, surrounded by endless white. In some areas water gave the Salar an awesome reflection. We watched as a few workers shoveled the salt into little mounds for easy transport, and then visited the Hotel of Salt, made entirely of, you guessed it, salt.
A highlight of the day was visiting Isla del Pescado (Fish Island), a seemingly random dry piece of land in the middle of the Salar with plenty of cacti, including one that is over 1000 years old and measures 12m high. The sun in the Salar is also one of the strongest you'll ever experience. At about 3800m (12, 500 ft) and combined with the reflection of the salt, the sun was just blinding. Even with sunglasses and my goofy wide-brimmed hat, my eyes still began to tear (I know, it was sad). One member of the group couldn't believe that that they were really standing on salt, so they knelt down and scraped at the ground with their finger, tasted it, and in Spanish declared: ¨It's so salty!¨ I wonder why...
We left the Salar almost too quickly, and given its immense size, could only see but a fraction of it. We spent the night in the town of San Juan, where we got to visit the Necropolis, complete with mummies thousands of years old. If I had a dime for how many mummies I've seen on this trip...
Day 2 took us to see huge mountains
The Salar never seems to end
Endless white and blinding sun made for an actually tiring experience and numerous small lagoons. Even at over 4000m, many flamingoes make their home here. After a short drive, we were suddenly in the Desert de Siloli and made our way to Arbol de Piedra (Trees of Rock) which has many interesting-looking rock formations. We ended the day at Laguna Colorada (Red Lagoon), which was beautifully eerie. Billions of microorganisms make up the Lagoon's red color, and with the volcano in the background it was simply spectacular. The far shoreline of the lagoon was comprised entirely of borax. Hmmm...
On Day 3 we had to get up at the cruel hour of 4am in order to see the Geysers at 4800m (15, 750 feet). The crack of dawn is, apparently, the only time they are active (which I find hard to believe). It was fascinating to be able to get so close as to be engulfed by the exhaust.
Next we got to relax in a thermal bath, at 35 degrees Celsius, which, after being cramped in a Jeep for 2 days, was a welcome relief. On the way to the next stop, Laguna Verde (Green Lagoon), we passed the Piedras de Dali (Rocks of Dali) which very much
resembled some of his paintings. Along with the Salar, Laguna Verde was a highlight of the trip. When we got out of the car, I stared, dumbfounded. The Lagoon was indeed a light green color, although the lack of wind prohibited us from seeing the deep green it is known for (i.e. http://www.es.southamerica-photo.com/includes/foto/uyuni/02laguna_verde_vulkan.jpg)
Regardless, it was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen, and it looked like a painting. The reflection of Volcano Licancabur on the water was equally impressive.
After a quick lunch, we made our way on the several hour journey back to Uyuni, stopping at the town of San Juan and Valle de Rocas (Valley of Rocks) where we saw the rock supposedly resembling Socrates (see picture).
When we made it back to Uyuni in the early evening, it was almost too bad it was over. In a few days I had seen everything from a salt flat, mummies, flamingoes, lagoons, geysers, desert, crazy rock formations and borax. Not only was the trip itself fun, but our group had a blast together. Nothing against gringos, but spending time with latinos on the trip was a welcome change (even the French guy spoke
Spanish, so even better). We laughed and joked the whole way, trying to stay sane in the cramped car with the same tape of folk music playing over and over again the entire 3 days (the guide obviously needed to get some more tunes). The agency also forgot the sleeping bag I had requested, and even the fruit, chocolate and the all-important bottle of wine promised, but we had to let it go. The brother and sister were especially entertaining, and they playfully sparred back and forth between each other to the delight of the rest of us. The most bizarre moment came when the sister began to ask everyone what their Zodaic sign was. I and the Chilean girl were rats like her, so we were supposed to get along fine. The guide turned out to be a horse, so of course she had to be at odds with him, and so it went on and on.
In case she reads this, I'm a rat as well , so I guess I like her, too.
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Folkert Herlyn
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Salars
Bernie, I was fascinated from your travel experience ...and your way of writing about it. Consider to put the blogs together in a little book. Your are a talented! Folkert in Brussels