Uyuni - Nearly enough salt for all the chips I want to eat

#OliviaInBolivia

Andrew and his friend at the Cactus Island

Arrival

An English girl abroad

(Pre-warning, there are a lot of photos in this post)

Uyuni is a dyslexic nightmare to spell... We arrived in Uyuni after a very stressful morning. In a sleep induced state we'd managed to lock the keys in the apartment before we'd unlocked the downstairs door, thankfully two things happened. Firstly a rather confused man let us out of the downstairs door and secondly the bus was delayed so we bought our ticket and ran out just in time to catch the bus (we didn't think we'd make it and I was very close to giving up on the stupid (nearly vertical) hill to the stupid bus stop...)

Such fun

When we had arrived in Oruro we transferred to Uyuni. It was a very odd experience in the bus station as it is not a nationalised bus service but rather an group of bus companies that offer their services. As a result of this when you are sat down all you can hear is people walking around yelling stuff like 'ORUUUUUUUUUUUUUROOOOOOO' and 'UYUUUUUUUUUNIIIIIIII' or even 'IIIIIIIIIIIIQUUUUEEEEEEEEEEEQUUUUEEEEE' all very loudly...

The sunset on our first day

We finally arrived in Uyuni, went to our accommodation where we were shown to our room and then we left to book a tour over the salt plains (upon asking the front desk about a good company they simply shrugged, mumbled something and walked off). So we booked with Thiago tours who assured us that we had nice rooms, a driver, water and everything we would need including our transfer to San Pedro. We were particularly intruiged and happy to find that we would probably have an English guide due to their being Swedes, Mexicans and Quebec people on our tour. Content we got some lovely chips and headed back to our accommodation for an uncomfortable nights sleep. We discovered later in the morning that the middle beam of our bed was broken so there was a huge dip that kept forcing us into the middle. It was also particularly scary that with the dark nights and the two woolen blankets you could see all the static sparks.

Day 1

Andrew on his upcycled climbing frame

We had a hearty breakfast of bread, ham, cheese, butter and jam (not all together) and of course a little coca tea for the altitude. We then headed off to the office for our tour, oddly it was empty for about half an hour. Eventually some people arrived who we presumed were the Mexicans, but they soon left. As it turned out there were no Swedes, Quebec or Mexicans on our trip. Instead there was a Brazilian man and three girls from the Canary Islands (Lie #1). Then upon paying the rest of our money the man told us we had to pay more for our transfer to San Pedro, initially having read online that it did indeed cost an extra fifty each we thought well maybe they hadn't included it the night before. This was until he offered to call the border and get us to pay the amount as apparently it cost a further seventy upon reaching the border (Lie #2) As it turns out you wouldn't even go towards the border unless you were going to San Pedro anyway, so no chance you would get the impromptu treatment. He then proceeded to explain that we had to pay another 100 bs (emphasis on the bs part...) for sleeping bags at our second accommodation, we had read everywhere that this was included (Lie #3). At this point Andrew started to argue with the man saying some stuff in Spanish at him (no idea what, but damn is he sexy when he speaks that language...) eventually the man let us off the 100bs for the sleeping bags and stated we could get the bus to San Pedro for just an extra 20bs each. Upon deciding not to chance being stranded in the desert, we decided that it would be best to pay this amount. We paid despite it still being unlikely as it was a good 80bs below what he was saying needed to be paid (so lie #4).

An abandoned train

Finally we got into our land cruiser and headed off on the tour. Our first stop was the train cemetery. This was quite an interesting place that comprised of abandoned trains from when a working freight rail ran through Uyuni towards Chile. This was funded by mainly British and American trains for carrying minerals from the mountains to various parts of South America. Now it is simply a tourist site with a rail in front and hundreds of abandoned trains that are graffiti and climbed upon, a little bit like an upcycled climbing frame.

So many orphan trains

We then headed back into town to pick up a few things (no idea what) before we headed out towards the salt plains. Upon reaching the edge of the salt plains we stopped for a lunch consisting of meat, quinoa, rice and vegetables and got to know our land cruiser comrades (mainly through Andrew's Spanish as they didn't speak much English). From here we arrived at the Eyes of Uyuni, two thermal pools on the edge of the salt plains. The first part of the salt plains were a little bit yellow and tossed about a bit.

First steps on the Salt Plains

The further we got into the salt plains the more like the pictures it looked. This part was very stunning as a pure expanse of white and blue with some crisp mountains far away in the background. The dichotomy of colours makes it a perfect location for some forced perspective photos. We had a bit of fun taking these photos and marveling at the amazingly unfamiliar landscape, it was almost like we had left earth with its white expanse of cracked salt. In the interests of ascertaining whether we had discovered lie #5 we tasted some of the less trodden on floor, you will be pleased to know that it was definitely salt, so no lie #5 (yet...).

There be monsters

In the middle of the salt plain there popped up a massive island called Cactus Island, surprisingly there were cacti there. We didn't see the point in paying to climb up the small island to see the view, let's be honest it's not like you'd climb up the hill and get a better view of whiteness as far as the eye can see. So instead we walked around it marveling at the oddness of all the cacti like vegetation in the middle of this odd area, all in all very interesting.

The Cactus Island

After the cactus island we headed further on to the salt plain until all we could see was a few mountains on the horizon, a very remote village and then salt, lots of salt. Upon arriving here our Comrades decided to confirm the salt, on several separate occasions, clearly they were the disbelieving sort. We stayed here for around an hour waiting for the sun to set. It was very charming but also rather cold. We chatted with our new Spaniard friends as we all watched the sun set together. One of the Spaniards found it particularly amusing that Andrew's Spanish was occasionally peppered with Italian words instead, this continued to be a source of amusement over the coming days.

Stars seen in the middle of the desert

From here we went on to our accommodation that was completely unlike the pictures we were shown upon booking the tour (lie #5). We also found out that the hot water for showers that was provided was only if you paid for it (lie #6) and from a very dodgy boiler (see below). We had a nice dinner of chicken, plantain and chips, oddly without salt, albeit the walls and table were made from the stuff. From here we were then told that we would have breakfast at six the next morning and that was all for the day. We had previously been told that we would drive back to the salt plain and watch the stars in the darkest desert night, this didn't happen (lie #7). So instead we went outside of our accommodation and walked around by ourselves. It was truly amazing to see the stars in all their splendor, there were very few lights here to blot out any stars and from this dark vantage point we could even see the milky way! The Spaniards thought it was hilarious that we named it after chocolate, even though theirs also translates to milky way. From here we went to sleep in our room (a mattress on the salty floor) until we had to get up the next morning.

The very 'safe' boiler

Day 2

We got up very early at 6:00 to get our 6:30 breakfast ready to leave for the day. We wolfed down a simple breakfast of tea or coffee with bread and jam, a typical Bolivian breakfast. We took a few photos of the risen sun on the horizon before we set off for the day. As we drove along we saw a bunch of Vicunas which are a bit like skinny llamas who are kind of cute. We then drove around a corner and pulled to a stop as there walking around across the road was a huge herd of llamas. We asked about their differences. Apparently llamas are for meat, alpacas are for wool, Hurizos (I believe) are for moving things and Vicunas are simply protected.

A full on Llama Party

We drove via various live volcanos and stopped on the second salt plain for a few more photos. This salt plain had a train track through the middle but is distinctly less salty and impressive as the first. Though the mountains around are stunning and contain many rich hues of reds and browns and various other earthy colours.

The train through the desert

We then headed towards another volcano and stopped by a lava created landscape where there were huge, wave like, formations of solid lava. We had some time here to use the toilets (lie #8 they told us we wouldn't need money for toilets even though we knew this not to be the case). As neither of us had a need for the toilets we explored some of the landscape and walked on its fluid looking landscape. We also later on climbed around an area containing the tree of rock. Funnily although the rock tree was the attraction most people ignored it and climbed on the other rocks. The most surreal experience then happened as we were stood watching this kid climb up a small hill towards us. He triumphantly reached the top and proceeded to waddle towards Andrew before punching him on the leg and running off, he clearly had seen Andrew's TV interview and didn't think much to it...

On top of a lava wave

Our next stop was the Canapa Lagoon where we had our first encounter with wild Flamingos. It turns out that across the salt plains there are three species of flamingo, Chilean, Andean and James (which are incredibly pink and look like soft toys). We saw these over three different lagoons each increasing in flamingoness. Each of these lagoons is covered with a white substance known as Borax which apparently gives the flamingo it's pink colour.

Our view at lunchtime

We then drove towards the Siloli Desert (which I believe was the highest point of the day at 4,900m above sea level). This was another great place to see the landscapes and the mountains with their colorful hues.

The Siloli Desert

Our last lagoon of the day was the Laguna Colorada, or simply the coloured lagoon. This was a brick red lagoon filled with all three species of Flamingo and by far the largest lagoon we had seen that day. It's red colour is made by Algae that float around in the bottom and they secrete a pigment into the water which is then spread by the wind, so it gets redder as the day goes on as the sun also helps produce the pigment.

Flamingos at one of the lagoons

From here we drove around the lagoon, paying our money for the national park (and getting a cool new stamp in our passports) and found our accommodation on the other side of the lagoon. This was somewhat shack like and we were sharing a room (which was expected). We were however surprised to find that even if we had paid the 100bs for the sleeping bags, they would not have been provided (lie #9). We then settled down for the evening trying some local crafted beers whose flavours included Quinoa, Cactus, Honey and Coca and then we also had some wine (two bottles as the Spaniads had bought some too). During this time we waited for the power to go on, as it only comes on at 7:30 despite the sun setting around 6:45.

Laguna Colorada

We had a really nice time chatting away with the people sharing drinks and going to see the stars again (of our own volition, not part of the tour, technically lie #7 but I'm going to count it as lie #10). We then learnt that we had to get up at 4:00 in the morning to go and get breakfast before heading to a geyser to see the sun rise (groan!). We went to bed in our shared room where some (unrelated) people even huddled for warmth... awkward!

A cute Viscacha that joined us for lunch, they like carrots

Day 3

Geyser of the morning sun

So the alarm went off at 4:00am possibly still counting as day two, who knows really. I woke up to find someone in my bed and it wasn't Andrew! The cat had crept in during the night and was curled up at the bottom of the bed. It was cold, like seriously cold, there was no central heating and someone had left the outside door open all night (not that this made much difference). There was still no light (generator only runs for two hours at night remember) but we examined the cat. Andrew poked it before saying something in Spanish to the others and then poked it a little more. Thankfully at that it looked like the cat was breathing after all (it turns out Andrew told the others he thought it could be dead). So I left the bed, ensuring that the cat was snugly tucked in now it didn't have my 'sizzling' toes to keep it warm. We ate some coffee to warm up and ate pancakes with Dulce de Leche before heading out. Andrew had seven layers on that day to try and stay warm and I had about the same, it didn't work we were still freezing. Might have been improved by that promised sleeping bag.

The geyser as we approached it

We trundled through the darkness and saw lots of snow in odd sheets that resembled the previous Godzilla spine. We made our way to watch the sunrise at the geyser of the morning sun. This was really beautiful (even though the sun had already risen, lie #11). There was the sun majestically shining through the steam of the geyser (the geyser's temperature was around 120 degrees Celsius). There was a small vent nearby that let you feel a cooler jet of the geyser's steam. Two of our comrades jumped through it, making the car smell like a wet eggy fart (incidentally a little bit like Rotorua). The Bolivians actually use this geyser to create geothermal energy for nearby villages, their houses must smell wonderful...

Me touching an eggy earth fart

We made our way back down the mountains towards an outdoor thermal pool, it was freezing outside (-8), but not wanting to miss out on the experience we decided that we would give it a go. The water itself was actually really warm, and didn't smell like eggs, which was a relief. Once we were in it was so nice and really warmed us through, the views of the early morning sun and mountains were simply splendid. We spent some time here before we set off again, slightly warmed and refreshed, though we were still very tired, it was only 8am.

The Dali Desert

Our next destination was the Dali desert which we only stopped at to briefly take photos. The desert is named as it looks like a Dali painting rather than actually looking like the desert (see examples here and here in order to decide its likeness for yourself.)

The Artist in the Artist's desert

Our final destination of the tour (at around nine am, so not really day 3, making it lie #12) was the Laguna Blanca, Laguna Verde and a super big conical volcano with an odd Spanish name. The green lagoon (Laguna Verde) is so called due to green pigment algae and the wind making it green and sits at the base of the volcano. The white lagoon (Laguna Blanca) is right in front of this and has some Borax and flamingos, but otherwise just looks like a normal lagoon. The mountain itself is very impressive at 5,900 meters above sea level and serves as part of the Chile-Bolivia border, apparently the Chilian side contains landmines, making the volcanic boom even bigger. Oddly a couple of the volcanoes here seem to have craters in the side as oppose to the top, which is kind of cool.

The White Lagoon, The Green in the background

From here we drove out of the park border and on towards the Chilean border where we were assured our bus was waiting (thankfully not lie #13). We arrived and were ushered off our land cruiser and on to an awaiting bus where we were told we needed to pay 15bs for an exit stamp, we questioned this but were then assured by our driver that it was the case. Upon later research we have discovered that this is in fact lie #13. They ask for it at the border but it would be unofficial, the only reason we could find was if you were overstaying your visa (ours was 30 days and we only stayed about 10-15 of those). We couldn't find any other reason for this, but thankfully it wasn't too much money. From here we did the long cross over the border and arrived in San Pedro (a dry desert area that supposedly hasn't seen rain since 1870) and headed in our many layers through the hot desert towards our accommodation, but that is a different story.

Probably the most beautiful border we've seen

Conclussion

Andrew climbed some rocks

So given the 13 lies you would think it is worth thinking twice about the tour itself. I personally think that the tour was worth it. But ultimately it is worth it for the views, the animals, the odd landscape and for David Attenborough talking in your head due to the amazing scenery. I wouldn't reccomend Thiago tours, but then apparently a lot of the other tours try and sell stuff based on lies. Yes the accommodation is basic for both nights, but it is worth the discomfort for the awe-inspiring places. The food was all really good and all in all a great tour where we met some great people.

Salt for your chips? There's enough here...

This was a spectacular conclusion to the time I spent in the country of my namesake, Bolivia. It was just so incredible to see something so vast and colourful. Until the next time, where we're sweating our socks off in the driest place on earth, but still seeing the really cold volcano several thousand meters above us.

Shoutout to Andrew's Dad!

What next?

See some other posts

Have a look at our Instagram. We're in the driest place in the world.

We took loads of photos due to the stunning landscapes. There are already some on Instagram, but we figured that it was good to let you see them all so we have uploaded them to an open file exclusively for you to see, have a look here.

Update: I recently wrote a post about Uyuni for another blog, check it out here

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