So, after entering Bolivia, and miles and miles of desert and mountains, we arrived at our first stop at around 1pm, which would be our base for the night. The guides said we didn´t have enough petrol to continue to our next destination, so partly to spite them and also to have something to do, we started on a trek to some old Inca ruins about 10km away. I think travelling in Asia has given me a good eye for when people are lying, and I think the guides and drivers just couldn´t be bothered driving on.

In my jeep was Peter, a guy from New Zealand who is now living in London, and two Italians, Julietta (who preferred to be called Julie) and David. So, home from home then. In the other jeep, were two French, Roch and Ann-Cecille, another Peter, then Peter´s son, Tom, and Tom´s girlfriend, Myma.

So, wearing plenty of sunscreen and ready with warm clothing if need be, we started on our hike. The little resident dog we´d been playing with decided to run after us, and then continue walking with us. Our attempts to point back toward the half-way house were met only with a cute tilt of the head, so as we pressed on, so did the dog. We set off at about 3pm, so a couple of quick calculations later provided an estimated time of arrival back to base of around 9pm. "Better than doing nothing", we thought, and it would help us acclimatise. A 3 hour walk at around 4,000 metres must be good exercise. And that´s how long it lasted. Around an hour and a half in, the dog still in tow, we decided to turn back. The wind was picking up and the sun was beginning to set. The little dog who must have only been about one year old had begun to whimper at the chill and windy conditions by now, so we each took turns to carry him. When walking into the sun, he would follow just behind us, trotting in our shadow to stay out of the sun. He was a funny little scamp!

After arriving back, the sun had now fallen behind the mountains, and conditions had become decidedly colder. After some dinner, we were all quite tired, so bedded down for the night. The next morning we woke up at 5am, and believe me, it was cold! When going outside to clean my teeth, I took a look up at the stars and stopped in my tracks. The clarity and quantity of stars never ceases to amaze me, especially in the southern hemisphere, where there are more stars visible than in the northern hemisphere. After loading our bags on top of the jeep, we were ready to go, but the drivers weren´t, as the car wouldn´t start. I believe it was simply too cold.

We were on our way for about 6am, and seemed to be driving for ages until we reached the geysers. It was a little after day break, and the geysers proved impressive. Hissing, spurting, and numerous, it was as if I´d be transported through time to an earlier Earth. Liquid mud was bubbling away in holes in the ground, while the geysers spewed forth steam and gases at 200 degrees Celsius many metres into the air. Within this primordial maelstrom, we could still walk around, in between the geysers and bubbling cauldrons, into which I threw a stone to see what would happen. Nothing happened. Slightly dissapointed, I moved on, taking lots of photos and videos in the meantime.

Again, after driving for some time, we stopped to see various scenes of wildlife, such as flamingoes, both Andean and Chilean, and a fox at the side of the road. We cleverly enticed him to us with offerings of bread, until the second jeep in our party scared him away by driving all too close to the scene.

Much of the day was filled with similar stops, seeing different lakes en route to our final base camp. Part of this ride was through lonely, adobe villages. It was quite spooky at times, with time to walk through the village a little, I saw no other people. Deserted, all that was missing was the tumble weed. Onwards, we drove for some time through the vast, white salt flats until we reached where we were staying for our final night, on the Salar de Uyuni. There we rested, had dinner and played cards til late.

The next morning we were up and out for 9am to see the main spectacle. I remember a guy in Thailand telling me about the Salar de Uyuni, how you could stand on the salt and look like you were hovering in the sky, due to the reflective nature of the salt...when it was wet. Of course, it was dry as a bone when we were there, so the pictures I´ve taken show only the salt stretching as far as the eye can see, the view broken only by mountains in the distance. At the central point of the reserve, all toursists gathered, where it was possible to scale the hill and from the top, take these panoramic pictures. It took about 10 minutes to climb, and it was tough work! The altitude really does have a big effect on your breathing. Still, I think I´ll be ready for the Inca Trail.

After driving toward Uyuni and the end of the Salar (salt lake), the guide showed us where the salt is being dug up for processing. Metre high mounds of salt adorn the landscape, where the salt happens to be a little wet. At this point, you really can see how reflective it is, the mountains in the distance appearing as double.

After a stop at the local tourist trap, sorry, market, and purchases of some finger puppets for the family (you lucky guys), we saw some domesticated llamas.  Ready to move on, we pressed onwards to Uyuni. I don´t know what I expected of Uyuni but it was a simple town, which I used to get a bite to eat until it was time to catch my bus. The bus left at around 7pm and would arrive into Potosi at about 2am. The Sucre postcard will cover Potosi.