Salar de Uyuni... I heart cubic lattices :)

After spending the day in Oruro, we got the 'semicama' bus to Uyuni. Semicama my arse and the roads were super bumpy so we didn't sleep for about 10 hours while we were there. Eventually arrived at 7am, Thursday morning, got off the bus and almost froze to death right there. It was freezing. Found our tour company who took us to get breakfast where there was a giant fire which was lush.

We met our driver at 10.30 and started the mammoth tour. First stop was the train cemetery where you could climb all over these 'dead' trains. It was like Thomas the Tank Engine gone wrong.

After that was the real Salar. Dazzling white everywhere which ma de for really good photos! We got to a point where all you could see was white salt, blue skies and mountains in the distance. It was really cool.

We had lunch in a salt hotel (I ate llama!) and then drove some more to the Isla de Pescados where we climbed to the top. Bloody windy which added to the freezingness. Also helped the 'fro grow a bit and my hair went horizontal more times than I can remember!

Once we'd done the Isla, we took some more photos with a dinosaur (I almost got eaten, truely) and then made our way to the salt hotel where we would stay the night. The whole place was made of salt; the walls, the floor, tables, chairs and even our beds - although we did have a mattress on top which made it slightly more comfy. It was freezing (again) there, but under the covers we were really warm and toasty... although this may have had something to do with me wearing 6 layers and anything llama I could possibly find. I'm the llama queen :)

The next day the itinery changed a bit so to fit everything in on the Friday we had to get up at 3.45 AM to be able to leave at 4.30. It was horrible. Getting out of the toasty bed onto the cold salt floor, to the freezing toilets and then outside into the wind (all in the dark btw... only electricity between 7 and 9 pm) was awful.

Our first stop on Friday was the volcanoes, which we reached at about 7am. This means we got to see the sunrise on them which was really cool. Still cold too! After that were the first few lagoons many of which were frozen over. And the ice was thick! Many more lagoons, volcanoes and barren orange sandy landscapes followed. Very beautiful.

In the middle of this desert we reached the 'arbol de piedra'... in the middle of a sandstorm. Winds can get up to 60mph here and the sand and pebbles were getting thrown in our faces. Completely covered when I got back in the car! But I got a photo with a stone tree so I'm super cool :)

After lunch (which we were told was flamingo but was probably chicken) we went to the Laguna Colorada. Browny red in colour because of mineral deposits but it was also frozen again. Flamingoes were just standing in it looking bloody freezing. Next were geysers where me and Annie almost fell into the 200 degree bubbling lava/hot mud. Could have warmed us up a bit!

One of the best bits of the whole 3 days was next. The hot thermal baths. It was LUSH! It was almost like a real bath which was amazing after 3 months of not being able to have one and you just lay there floating in hot water. Getting out wasn't so nice... freezing winds again and my hair actually froze it was so cold. Ridiccc! Also run out of pants so ended up going commando... surprisingly comfy if a little cold but I had to put up with it. Pants are being washed by some nice person now so soon I'll be able to wear them :)

Final stop after that was the Laguna Verde which was really pretty. Mint green and (yep you guessed it!) frozen as well. Here we could see Chile and Argentina, while standing in Bolvia. Drove all the way back to our hotel in the middle of nowhere where the wind blew though, blowing sand everywhere like a mini storm inside. The beds were super warm though as I had millions of layers and millions of covers too.

Next morning we had cake as it was another person on the tours birthday which was yummy :) Saturday was mainly a driving day to get back to Uyuni but we had a few stops on the way. My fave was this dinosaur canyon with frozen streams and rivers. Very beautiful.

Got back to Uyuni at 4ish, picked up our bus tickets and had pizza for dinner before making our way to Potosí. Arrived at 1 this morning and got the last bed in the hostal we wanted to stay in... the matrimonial suite. Haaaaaaa. It was great... we were so WARM which was nice after about 3 days of being permanantly cold!

Here we're going to go to some thermal baths (again) some mines and have a look around Potosí, as from what I've seen so far it looks like a really pretty city.

Shall update when I can next. Here until Tuesday then off to Sucre, the main capital of Bolivia.

A x