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......the next couple of days took us touring through more rugged countryside, where we encountered several beautiful lakes that all seemed to come out of nowhere in this vast desert environment. They where all of different significance with some being toxic due to the arsenic and other mineral content and others being used to extract minerals for industrial purposes. The one common theme they did share, was that they were all spectacularly light blue and provided beautiful views with the snowcapped mountains as a backdrop. One of the more memorable lakes was where we got to see many pink flamingos up close and personal. A sight that did seem bizarre as when you think of flamingos you think of somewhere tropical and warm, not up in the Andean high plains and almost freezing temperatures. Still, this fitted perfectly with many of the contradictory sights we had seen so far on this tour.
One of the most interesting landscapes for me was when driving along and viewing on one side of the road, a vast, arid, desert landscape void of pretty much any real vegetation and then on the other side, huge mountains covered in snow. It was surreal but made some sense considering the altitude and temperatures we were immersed in. We also encountered the arboles de piedras (rock trees). These were natural rock formations that were formed by volcanic activity many centuries ago but the result were sculptures that seemed to have just been planted out of context in the middle of this desert but once again, provided some great photo opportunities.
When we arrived at our final night's accommodation we felt as if we had entered a 5 star hotel (compared to what we had been used to anyway). This refugio, just outside the salt flats, was made completely of salt bricks including the tables, chairs, bed bases and the floor coverings but was certainly better equipped than the last two places. Why? Mainly because we got to have a shower for the first time in 3 days!
On the final morning, after watching the sun come up over the salt flats and enjoying an al fresco breakfast by one of the islands on the salt plains, we packed up and set off for the main event. I guess one reason why most people take this tour is for the opportunity to take lots of 'fotos locos'. The Salar de Uyuni is 12000sq km of hard compressed salt but was once covered with water. Now of course it is completely dry but the vast whiteness allow you to take pictures with a distorted perspective so you can make up lots of bizarre scenarios. In the wet season, it does get covered in a small layer of water providing similar but slightly different perspectives but for us there was not a drop of water in sight. We spent about an hour or so coming up with different, amusing photographic poses.
With the picture taking over we set off for a small village just on the other side of the salt flats to enjoy our final lunch together before getting dropped off in Uyuni. Was it worth it? It was testing at times in the extreme cold conditions but the sights were definitely worth the patience and for me provided an experience like no other.
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