The Salar de Uyuni

Our trip began with an overnight bus journey to Uyuni - as we climbed higher and higher it became significantly colder (there was ice on the inside of the windows!) and as the road became unpaved we were treated to massages, then shattered skeletons, finally it just felt like earthquake measuring 23.5 on the richter scale!

After finding a tour company and having breakfast we jumped into a jeep with our new friends, Poppy and Lulu, and went to the train graveyard where trains have gone to die since 1804. After taking some photos of some rusty old stuff (one of my favourite types!) we hit the "road" to the salt lakes. The views were spectacular: bright blue sky without a cloud, mountains far off in the distance and nothing but salt in the foreground (as white as Rhys' untanned bum). Our lunch stop was at an island in the Salar, where cacti grow (an odd juxtaposition in the freezing temperatures) and then we took some perspective pictures - have a look at the photo album. As the sun came down over the mountains we stopped to take some photos at a wet section, and Rhys decided it'd be a good idea to go for a dip - in what must have been almost literally freezing water. Fortunately his feet didn't quite turn blue but it was a close call! Once we reached our lodge made of salt bricks we watched the moon come up, faster than chipmonk strapped to a rocket, over the mountains and then settled down to a limited dinner accompanied by a good slosh of whiskey to keep the cold out.

The following day Rhys and I got up at 6am (out of choice) to watch the sun rise with Poppy and Lulu. Lulu and Rhys decided to climb a large hill as a viewpoint, while Poppy and I took photos with our increasingly freezing fingers. After breakfast we got back into the jeep and drove for most of the day through more stunning scenery, stopping off to take photos, do some scrambling over rocks and have some lunch. After lunch (and a flat tire) we visited the rock tree (a large lump of rock which has been eroded over time to look like a tree by winds and ice), a gorgeous frozen laguna with a magnificent mountain in the background, and the red laguna (coloured because of the minerals in the water) which is home to flocks of flamingos. Then, at an altitude of about 4000m, we reached our (cold) lodge for the night (despite the freezing temperatures no where in Bolivia has any sort of central heating because they are either too poor or too stubborn to install it). The evening consisted of booze, games, being cold and entertaining a kitten which another group found and Rhys befriended.

The following morning began at 4am, when my alarm went off an hour earlier than expected. More driving took us to a geyser and then to the hot springs. Rhys will testify that the hot springs were the advertised 38 degrees, but I couldn't face getting all warm and toasty and then having to get out all wet and into the freezing cold of the open air to get dry and changed. I take my hat off to all those who did (in fact, I kept my hat on the whole time because of the temperature - anyone who knows me (and esp anyone who has been canoeing with me) will know that I am quite susceptible to the cold but I kid you not, this whole trip was freezing - Rhys even bought gloves in anticipation). Then we began the long (and mainly uneventful) drive back to Uyuni, where we had dinner and got back on the overnight bus where we both promptly fell asleep for the duration, despite the massage seats. It was a truly stunning three day tour through the amazing terrain, justifying the trip to Bolivia in itself.