Uyuni (21-26/Apr/06)

Potosi, Bolivia

Hopped on the bus to Oruro, and from there on the train to Uyuni. The big thing in Uyuni is the salt flats, the biggest in the world. We arrived late, dived into a hostel recommended by our guidebook and got up the next day to check out the various agencies doing 3-day tours of the salt flat and surrounding areas. We also wanted to climb a volcano in the area, so we wanted a flexible agency which would let us combine this into a 4-day tour. After a few agencies we bumped into a French girl (Delphine) we’d met in La Paz and another French guy (Gunther). We got on well, so we decided to all go together on the same tour. Before booking we went to the tourist information office to find it was the best we’d ever seen and they had a ranking of all the agencies (from tourist feedback) and the top few were completely different to the ones we’d seen. So much for the guidebook.

Anyways, finally booked and the next day we were off with our guide/driver Hector and cook (his wife) Rosemary (dressed in traditional garb) and their two-year-old kid. Another 2 ozzy tourists joined us which turned out to be a pretty horrendous couple (she was alright, if a bit low on self-esteem, but the boyfriend was a bossy - to her - negative condescending twat). No matter, us 4 got on so well we managed to ignore him OK.

Uyuni salt flats are amazing. Pure white as far as the eye can see. First we saw some locals at work gathering salt. Then we saw a hotel made of salt which supposedly is just a museum but is really still used as a hotel even though this is illegal (due to environmental damage as it has no sewage system). Couldn’t go in as the caretaker was drunk. Then we had lunch on a small "island" in the middle of the salt flat, followed by the usual "optical illusion" photographs. We’d told the agency we wanted to spend the night at a small village by the flats rather than further South as nearly everybody else. We then got up before daybreak and saw the most spectacular sunrise I have ever seen (and that includes Mount Sinai a few years ago). Got some cracking photos which should soon be online. We even had some American professionals nearby, who were shooting a video on photography. This really ought to be the standard, rather than the bespoke, tour.

After a quick breakfast we continued South, visiting salty lakes full of flamingos, beautiful desert scenery, and finally a bright red lake where we stayed the night. Next day was also an early start to see some geysers (more steam at dawn as the temperature difference is greater), which we liked more than the much more famous ones at El Tatio, just across the border in Chile. After that we had a dip in some thermal pools (also warmer than the ones at El Tatio) and had breakfast. By ten we were at the last of the lakes (one supposedly green, but it looked pretty normal to us, apparently it turns bright green when the wind blows) and at the foot of out volcano. Sadly we had underestimated the cost of going up by guide (illegal without a guide) and we couldn’t do it. So we ended up going back straight to Uyuni.

So at last we’d managed to go on a decent tour in Bolivia and not been disappointed. We’d finally managed to say "wow" in this country, everything under control. We’d finally got to know how to deal with Bolivia.

Or not. Getting back to out hostel Esther’s rucksack was missing! The owner was AWOL (drunk for a week as the wife had left to a nearby town). Went to bed, but no miraculous reappearance the next day, so Esther went to the tourist office and set up an official report. Had to spend the whole day to sort things out (police are a bit crap in Bolivia, and without the help of the girl from the tourist office we’d have got nowhere) and got some money off the hotel (one day’s expenses plus $75, which is the excess for our insurance policy). So now we are down by one backpack, but luckily there was nothing crucial or expensive in it as we’d taken a lot of stuff on the tour expecting to climb the volcano. Mostly Esther’s clothes, plus half the medicines (including out anti-malaria tablets) and our first aid kit and Esther’s sleeping mat, plus a few other odds and sods. Oh well, shit happens.