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Uyuni and the Salt FlatsWhen we arrived a lady met us and took us to the tour office. We dropped our stuff off and had about 3 hours to kill so we went and bought snacks, water and the all-important toilet roll to get us through the next three days. Bex had brekkie (I was trying not to eat as I still wasn't well. This was proving extremely difficult for me since I love my food so much.) and we went to get our passports stamped as we would be getting dropped off over the border in Chile. We got picked up at 10.30am in the jeep and there were already 2 couples in there, a kiwi couple called Dave and Tina who had been living in London for the last 8 years (although Dave was actually born in Bury!) and a Canadian couple called Erin and James who were all lovely. Our driver was called Roberto and spoke absolutely no English but spoke very slowly in Spanish and we seemed to get the gist. In fact I was pretty chuffed about how much I understood. First we stopped at the train graveyard in the desert where Thomas and his friends are left to rust. We then got back in the jeep, which was loaded up with all our bags as well as enough food and fuel to keep us going whilst in the desert. Roberto then drove us to the first of the salt flats, which are giant expanses of land that were once lakes and have since dried up. This first salt flat had a salt processing area on it where people lived and worked. The women here were selling ornaments made out of the salt and even the chairs and tables were carved from salt. Tina and I were tempted to lick the tables just to check they really were salt but we refrained after thinking how filthy they were. After taking more pictures, we drove further onto the salt (there was nothing for miles) until we got to the salt hotel. This is an illegal structure that apparently is in the process of being moved as it is polluting the flats. People still stay in it but it is definitely frowned upon so we just took a few sneaky pics and left before we got made to buy something for taking the photos. After more driving we reached Fish Island, which is in the middle of the salt flats. We walked around it and it is full of cacti. The views around it are incredible and its just white salt as far as the eye can see, with the mountains in the background. We had lunch on this island, which consisted of chicken salad and quinoa - a grain a bit like couscous that is grown in the Andes and is nowadays classed as a super food. We took some photos on the flats and tried to be as creative as possible (ie creating illusions) but it's difficult to think of anything that hasn't been done before. See my photos for the results! We then drove some more until we left the salt plains altogether and hit the desert. That evening we stayed at very basic accommodation in San Juan, the 2 couples had to share a room and Bex and I got our own. I paid 70p for a hot shower as I was still unwell and after that I went to bed as lights were only on for 2 hours until 9pm. Next morning we were up early and drove to look at an active volcano and the lava rocks formed around the area. The terrain was very rocky and it's a good job we were in a jeep. We had to get out at one point and walk some of it as the driver couldn't get the jeep up with us all in it. Next we stopped at the first of the lagoons to see the flamingoes, which were beautiful. There were no fish in the lagoon and the flamingoes survived on the algae that grows in abundance there. It absolutely stinks thanks to all of the ammonia. We then stopped at another and were outraged to find you had to pay 50p to use the toilets. Even the train stations in the UK that have won, 'Best Toilet of the Year' awards don't charge that much! This was even a proper toilet though -just a hole in the ground. Some people protested and peed behind the toilet building!
We saw a lot of vecunias (sp?) along the way, which are like llamas and alpacas but are more rare as their wool is softer and so they are highly sought after and as a result they have been over-hunted. However, they are now protected by the government so it is illegal to hunt them. Next up was a stop at some mad rock formations in the middle of the desert with one of them called the Stone Tree, an original name for a rock that looks very much like a tree. In the afternoon we stopped at the red lagoon, which was beautiful and got the colour from all of the minerals in the surrounding rocks. It was so cold and windy thought that we didn't spend much time out of the jeep. That night was spent in another basic accommodation not too far from the red lagoon. This time all six of us had the pleasure of each others company as we were all sleeping in one tiny room. We had tea of spaghetti bolognaise washed down with a rancid bottle of Bolivian red wine, which tasted much better after you became accustomed to it! It was absolutely freezing in this place and we all went to bed early if nothing but to get under the covers and warm up. We were up at 4am the next day and it was freezing. I made full use of my alpaca gloves and hat that day! We left at 5am and went to see the geysers at sunrise, which was fab. I still wasn't feeling too great though and didn't spend too much time out of the car. We left here and were in the natural hot springs before 7am and even though there was no changing room, we all stripped to our swimming cossies and hopped in. It was lovely, like a nice warm bath. It wasn't so great getting out though and it was an extremely quick change and in for breakfast. Last stop was the green lagoon, which again was beautiful but apparently contains arsenic so I wasn't about to go for a dip in there. And that was the end of the tour. Roberto took us to the Chilean border and we said our goodbyes and he left. From here we took a minibus to San Pedro and had our bags searched then we all went to find a hostel.
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