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Cowboy Country
After another long and painful ride on Bolivian buses we arrived in Tupiza.A town set in the dry, colourful hills of south-west Bolivia; it would do justice to any Wild West film. In fact Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid met their demise in the small mining town of San Vincente 40km to the west of here.
We had come here for two reasons, firstly we had been told that Tupiza was a good place to set off from to see the Salares, and secondly to throw our leg over a horse and gallop around like outlaws along dry creeks beds, beneath towering red, yellow and brown cliffs.
Emily and I were the only ones with any riding experience, Bondy having ridden a little around his farm as a kid. Erin, Jim and Ben had never been on horses before, they were a little apprehensive as we stood around under a eucalyptus tree being paired off with our skinny 4 legged companions. We were all given a hat to keep off the ferocious sun, then with a slap on the rump from our guide we were off. It was not until we had set off that the guide told me Maximo, my horse, was a cranky old b****** who hated all the other horses and had to stay way out in front, as they couldn't afford any horse dentistry. So I spent the hour or so wondering along enjoying the scenery in peace with the occasional squawk floating up to me from one of the others. Boondy's was particularly small and emaciated thing that looked like it was going to collapse under him at any moment, but that didn't stop him from cantering around with his arms flailing in the air like I'm assuming he though people are supposed to ride a horse. Apparently he learnt to ride by watching old westerns.... The funny thing was that every time Bondy yelled "Vamos"Em's horse would take off like a race horse and it would take her a good 200m to pull him up, he liked running.
Our first stop was in The Valley of the Little People. While we were wondering around exploring the guide snuck off with Maximo (who had started being a giant arse when the other horses had finally caught up) to swap him with another horse being ridden by a guide from a different group. Barbra was a much more pliant horse and friendly so I didn't have to spend the rest of the day out by myself, which was nice.
After about two hours the three newbys had picked it up surprisingly well and were cantering along with us, laughing every time their horses slowed to trot and they started bouncing all over the place again. The Scenery was quite beautiful (but hard to photograph from horse back) as we walked through valleys with huge red, white, purple, brown and yellow cliffs covered in cactus and low shrubs on either side. We had been following a road most of the day and in the afternoon we arrived at a surprisingly clear and pretty river where we stopped to have lunch, a nap and a swim.
After lunch we left the road, crossed the river and to my surprise the horses seemed to want to stretch out a bit, so Em and I checked with the other if it was OK, then gave them their head and we set off galloping across the river bed. I could hear Damien yelling somewhere close off to my right so I knew he was OK, his horse was actually quite spritely considering its condition, but I was a bit worried about the others. When I turned around they were all thundering along right behind us with giant smiles on their faces, looking like they had spent years in the saddle.
The journey home was mostly along the river flowed through more amazing scenery, past huge sandstone towers and through wide and narrow gorges. At one stage we had been cantering along for sometime before we noticed that Erin was missing. We were all a little worried and Bondy cantered off, back the way we had come to look for her. He found her a few hundred metres back sitting on her horse while he calmly munched on some grass. The reigns she had been given were very short so when the horse stopped to eat it pulled them out of her hands. Having never ridden before she had no idea what to do so just sat there waiting until one of us came back.
The rest of the day passed in a similar, enjoyable fashion and we arrived home shortly before sunset. We left our horses and hurried home to pack for our next adventure, The Salt Flats or Salares.
Lots of Salt, But No Tequila
We crammed ourselves into 4WD's the next morning and set off on our 4 day trip through the South-West corner of Bolivia from Tupiza to Uyuni, through bleak altiplano deserts where vicunas could be seen grazing on rocks!! Actually they would dig around a bit an eat small potatoes which were growing beneath the rocks and soil. Past brilliant red, blue and green lakes teeming with flamingos, huddled beneath towering volcanoes. Villages with tiny old men and women, shrivelled up like old orange peel from living at high altitudes where the UV index sits around about 100 or more(sea level on the east coast in Australia rarely gets above 20) herding sheep, goats and llamas, who would cover their heads and run as soon as we reached for our cameras. There were steamy geysers and boiling pits of mud and we could sit in thermal bath at a comfy 25-30oC whilst the ambient temperature was about 10oC. Finally there was the Coup-de-Gras, The Salares. A flat, blindingly white expanse of nothingness; well of salt actually. It was thick like Arctic Ice and in some spots there were holes looking like they had been cut for fishing. Dotted all over were islands covered in giant cactus that grew about a centimetre a year, making some of them over 1200 years old.
We spent close to a whole day posing for stupid photos where a tube of vegemite is 5 times bigger than we are etc. that only long flat distances allow, the web site is having issues at the moment but soon as it is working again we'll get some up.
In the afternoon before heading to Uyuni and the end of our trip, where we would sadly be saying goodbye to Ben, Jim, Erin and Emily, we had one last stop. The Train Cemetery. There are hundreds of engines rusting in the harsh altiplano sun, many sporting some of Einstein's famous equations others, locals' declarations of love. We hung around here for an hour or so before the wind whipped up, sending us all scurrying back to the 4WD's for cover. Shortly after we arrived in Uyuni said our sad farewells and went to our hostel for a highly anticipated hot shower. I forgot to mention, as the sun sets on the altiplano the temperature quickly plummets into the negatives and stays there until mid-morning. Our accommodation for the three nights was basic at best and electricity and showers were scarce. Our last nights' accommodation is also worth a mention, being made entirely of salt, the walls, the beds, the tables and all the cupboards.
We all at various times found ourselves licking the stripy, salty walls 'just to test it'. The stripes in the salt came from the layers that built up on the lake during the wet and dry seasons.
It was by far one of the best trips we have done to date. Made all the more enjoyable due to the fact that we were accompanied by 4 great friends. Thanks guys. xx
- comments
Lorraine & Wallace At the risk of sounding boring we love reading about your adventures and trying to picture ourselves being there with you. Arrrrrhhhh you may say not the parents, but you both describe your adventures so well that its not hard to imagine actually being there, well done again. great blog.