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Another bus ride, another adventure in South America.
This time it was the 12 hour bus ride from La Paz to Uyuni in the south of Bolivia. While the small heater under every other seat was able to stave off some of the cold that was caused by the antarctic air coming in through my iced up window, it was actually the roads that caused the excitement this time. For the last 7 hours of the trip (the part I was hoping to sleep) the road was what could almost be described as gravel in wave like undulations. The bus was shaking so hard that I was amazed it made it there without falling apart. The most difficult thing was that I had to pee for three hours towards the end and every bump reinforced this fact to me. Unable to hold it anymore I walked down the aisle that had become an obstacle course of bags, clothes, blankets, arms and feet. Then down the stairs and into the bathroom, which did not have a light. With the bus still shaking violently as it chugged along what was apparently a road, I had the greatest pee of my life under the light of my ipod as the movements of the bus had me dancing around the bathroom.
The rest of the bus ride was uneventful other than the continuation of the worst turbulance I have ever felt, on land or air.
We arrived in Uyuni around 7am and met with two reoccuring themes in Bolivia - people trying to sell us something and waiting (for our bags this time). Nothing seems to be done quickly in Bolivia, or in a very organized manner. After getting off the bus we all then waited 15 minutes for the baggage doors to be opened and the bags to be shoved out, one by one, to the owners of each bag. Bolivians seem used to this slow and unorganized process in every facet of life that we have seen. They do not huff and puff and make a stink. They stand and wait quietly, knowing that ten extra minutes of waiting doesn't hurt anybody- a lesson that people in more affluent countries could use.
The following day we set out on a 3 day tour of the salt flats. First the amazing salt flats themselves, where distances are impossible to judge and the white of the salt contrasts brilliantly with the clear and dark blue of the sky. That night we stayed in a hostel made out of salt bricks, with salt tables and chairs and salt granules covering the floor. The following day we saw a red lake, caused by the leaching of the iron from the surrounding mountains. Then a volcano and petrified lava, some flamingos (pink ones), and the highest desert in the world.
The last day we saw the worlds highest geysers at 5000m and then took a dip in a natural hot spring before continuing on to what was supposed to be a green lake (caused by the arsenic in the surrounding mountains) but was frozen over.
We then crossed the border into chile and descended a couple thousand meters into San Padro de Atacama. That night (after a few bottles of pisco sour) we did some stargazing through telescopes, including the planets of mars and saturn. Unfortunately the size and position of the moon made it very difficult to see many of the stars.
Two days ago we went sandboarding, I crashed hard a few times, then walked through some caves before climbing up and watching the sunset with a few other Canadians and celebrated Canada Day with a drink as we watched the mountains change colour to purple and then blue as the sun vanished.
Yesterday we took it easy and relaxed in some hanmocks, cooked a couple of nice meals and went for an easy run around town. Today we take a 15 hour bus to La Serena, further south in Chile.
- comments
Lee Love the story about the pee on the bus , so glad you kept hold of the iPod and didn't drop it!!! You're sandboarding crashes, where they anything like my snowboarding crashes??
Les Hi Joe. I have copied this and sent it to your grandmother in Timaru. Love, Les
joed*** on12 Ya the sandboarding crashes were pretty bad. Hit a little jump, got some air and then went face first into the sand. The last run of the day we went really high on the dune and then straight down. Not sure how I crashed but it hurt. Thanks for letting them know!