Bolivia..cold and a bit salty

---

Upon arriving in Boliva the temperature was significantly colder due to the high altitude. I spent the night in a small town in Bolivia called Villazon after crossing the border. There were maybe three resturants that I could find and they all served the same meal. Chicken, rice and french fries. The differences from Argentina were already quite evident. I stayed in a hotel with 5 floors and I think I may have been the only one in the place because I did not see one other person. In the morning I had my first go at high altitude running which was unpleasant and throughout I received many strange looks from the locals observing the strange running gringo.

Later that day I took a crowded bus to Tupiza. The bus stopped about one mile from the town because of a road block formed by teachers on strike. Politically motivated road blocks are quite common in Bolivia, but fortunately that was the only one I have come accross so far. That night in Tupiza I randomly bumped into Peter, the guy I rented a car with the previous week in Salta. I decided to join him and three others in doing the 4X4 Salar de Uyuni tour which takes you through amazing scenery, including the famous Bolivian Salt flats. Our suv had us five passengers, our driver and our cook so it was a bit snug. The first day we drove for about 8 hours, traveling through mostly desert like terrain and at times driving a little too close to the edge of cliffs. We stopped in a little village for the night and as soon as the sun dropped it was absolutley freezing. I was forced to sleep in all my clothes which was consisted of a long sleeved shirt, sweater, hoodie, and a fleece while I was in a sleeping bag under about three heavy blankets.

The next day we left at about 6am to start our journey which was a long 12 hour drive. Luckily we were entertained by New Kids on the Block, Michael Bolton and Paula Abdul on our drivers mixed cds. During the day we saw a green lagoon, multi colored mountains and a red lagoon filled with flamingos. That night was definitley the coldest at about an altitude of 15,000 ft. The following day we passed through an amazing landscape straight out of a Dali painting. Seriously, he came and painted it. We also saw an active volcanoe and had a flat tire which is a common happening on the trip. We stopped for the night in a hotel that was pretty much made of salt. The ground was salt, the tables were salt and even the bed frames were made of salt. After we were settled in our salty hotel we played a game of soccer which was difficult in the high altitude.

Our final day was a drive through the salt flats which were so foreign looking but amazing. We didnt have the clear blue skies that we hoped for but it was still an incredible sight. In some spots you could only see an endless view of salt in the horizon. We stopped for about an hour in the middle and took our share of pictures playing with the illusions which can be created by the landscape.

We finished our trip in a small town called Uyuni, which did not have much going on except for an old train cemetary. We started to hear more about the upcoming referendum in Bolivia which involved voting for or against keeping Evo Morales in power. There were a few rumors that the road to our next destination was blocked due to the political tension, but it turned out to be fine. However, the road to Potosi was unpaved which made for a very bumpy 8 hours.

---

Photos

Road blocked
We go by foot from here

Laguna rojo
flamingos

Comments

[Ashley]

those illusion pictures are awesome!