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After a few uneventful days in disappointing Copacabana, we made our way to La Paz. As usual, the Bolivian travel arrangements were haphazard although somehow seem to work out: we were met in the street, taken to another hotel where we were told to wait until the guides found the other passengers. Finally some 20 minutes later, we were wandering off up a hill, down alleys to what we thought would be our coach. Yet again it was not what we expected and instead we loaded a small minibus that would we our transport to La Paz for the next few hours. The relatively short journey was only broken up by a very rocky boat ride across Lake Titicaca, watching our minibus from afar with apprehension while it was balanced precariously on a barge, hoping it (along with our bags) would make it safely across the lake.
On arrival to La Paz, we had a relaxed evening, bumping into some familiar faces and getting a great night`s sleep with the luxury of an actual duvet!! The following day, we made our travel arrangements for the salt flats and explored the witches` market where we discovered stuffed baby llamas that Bolivians bury under their doorsteps for good luck. In keeping with local tradition, we picked up a few for you lucky people at home as lucky charm from our travels- hope you appreciate it!!! Heading back to our hostel bar, we had a few drinks and were kept entertained by the tales of our fellow backpackers. The following morning, we had a stroll around town and stumbled upon an amazing Arabic restaurant. At first glance, we were dubious due to its seemingly uninviting entrance, down a passageway and up some grimy stairs but we lured by the smell of food escaping from the kitchen. The lone diners, we felt as if we had invited ourselves into a family home and sampled some of the best aubergine, falafel and humous in town.
That evening we set off for Uyuni and our initial hopes of a comfortable night`s sleep on the coach were soon dashed as were woken by the bus trembling. It felt like we were experiencing a 3 hour long earthquake as we made our way over what could possibly be the world`s bumpiest dirt track. We evetually arrived in Uyuni at 8am after a sleepless night`s travel and headed straight for a much deserved nap. That evening we treated ourselves to amazing homemade pizzas and incredible chocolate cake in a local restuarant.
Originally wanting to do a 3 day tour of the salt flats, unfortunately this was not possible due to the snowstorms in Bolivia and we therefore had to settle for a day tour. However, we were not disappointed. Driving across a salt crust of only 6 metres covering 140 metre deep saltwater lake was very surreal. The salt flats were all you could see for miles and we drove through shallow pools of water that cast mirror like reflections of the surroundings. After a short drive we arrived at Incahuasi island, impressive becuase of its coral foundation and 13 metre high cacti. After a short explore of the island, we sat down for lunch expecting sandwiches only to be treated to a feast of pollo milanese, rice and veg served on a table made entirely from salt. After satisfying our hunger, the photo shoot began, the props ranging from a pot of vaseline to toy soldiers, a pack of cards and a paper airplane. We managed to waste a whole hour and a half before making our way back to Uyuni via the oldest salt hotel. Expecting it to be a simple journey, we should have known better. Although the track was bumpy, it was clear to see that the driver was trying his hardest to retain control of the vehicle, surely enough we had a flat tyre. With the jack looking temperamental and the sun setting, we were convinced we would be there for a while.
However, clearly practised in the art of tyre changing, we were on our way again after a bare 20 minutes.
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