It was still dark when I woke up on the morning for my trip into Bolivia.
Because my hostel was in a very small lane, I had agreed to be picked up in a slightly larger lane a couple of blocks away. I made my way there as the sky become slowly lighter. It was somewhat surreal, there were a number of travellers like myself positioned a various points along the lane obviously also waiting to be picked up. There were also the inevitable street dogs wandering around either by themselves or in groups of two or three. They came up to me and the other travellers, I assume looking for food. Mini buses travelled up and down the lane stopping a various points to pick up passengers. Finally mine arrived and I climbed on board.
I recognised two couples I had seen on the bus from La Serena. This was to be expected, given we were all heading in the same direction. I was to find out that two of the four were brother and sister originally from Benalla in north east Victoria. They were travelling with their respective husband and wife.
Big Climb
Our mini bus made a couple more stops before heading out of town and towards the border with Bolivia. The road was very steep.
After about an hour, we stopped. This was the point where we met the drivers of the Toyota Land cruises that were to take us across the desert.
The biggest shock when we got out of the mini-van was the temperature. It was freezing – minus 10 centigrade. We were all shocked. Some people were wearing shorts. Even with gloves, my hands started to freeze. This was made worse as we stood around eating breakfast.
Meeting my Travelling Companions
There were 18 people in the min-bus and we were split groups of six to ride in the Toyotas. My group consisted on three Russian blokes and a couple from Brazil. This was going to be interesting as it become immediately obvious that only one of the Russians had any command of English or Spanish and the Brazilian could speak very little English and only rudimentary Spanish.
My Russian is non-existent apart from a couple of phrases that you certainly wouldn’t use speaking to three blokes.
Crossing into Bolivia
After a long breakfast, during which we almost froze to death, we finally piled into the Toyotas and headed to the Bolivian border. I can add this one to the list of interesting border crossings I have made in my time in South America.
First Lake
We were now into the crossing of the desert. Rather than a single road, there are many tracks heading in same direction. It appeared that the drivers simply decided which one they preferred. As well as the company that I was with, there were a number of other operators with multiple 4WDs travelling on this day. At times there would be up to 10 vehicles travelling close together. At other times we appeared to be alone in the desert.
After a couple of hours. We came to a large lake. Check out the photos – they say it all. According to my Garmin we were almost at 5,000 metres. This highest I have been while still having my feet on terra firma.
As we continued north we passed an active volcano. It wasn’t doing much.
Overnight
Our first overnight stop was at Laguna Colorada. A feature of this lake was a large number of flamingos. Some are really pink.
As we were establishing ourselves in our accommodation, I noticed some cyclists arriving. I had a chat with them. They turned out be young Swiss blokes. They told me that they had ridden 50 klms that day, however it had taken them nearly 10 hours. They were clearly as fit as buggery, however even they were struggling with the effects of the altitude.
The accommodation was very basic. The building consisted on a large number of rooms. Each of the tour parties appear to be allocated a room with all the occupants of the 4WD, the exception of the drivers, sleeping in the same room. It was very cold.
A bit about the Russian Blokes
Over dinner, I was able to glean from the Russian blokes that they had been constantly travelling for six years. The bloke who could speak English said that he used to run a ‘finance business’ and the other two used to work for him. One, a very large bloke with an interesting nose (clearly having been broken more than once), was his driver. The English speaker said that he “would not be returning to Russia as long as Putin was in power”.
Tree Stone
It was freezing when we headed off in the morning. The scenery was spectacular. We stopped in area with some very interesting rock formations, including one that looked like a tree.
More Flamingos
We stopped for lunch at a lake with more flamingos. If you like flamingos there are heaps of photos on Flickr.
Second Hotel
It was quite late when we arrived at our second hotel. It was a real surprise. It looked quite dodgy from the outside. However, inside it was quite luxurious. I had my own room with an en-suite bathroom. That was all very well, the only problem being there was no water.
Very early start
Our last day in the desert involved a very early start. The reason was that we going to see the sun rise on the salt flats.
This turned out to be highlight of the whole trip. The photos say it all.
After watching the sun rise, we speed across the lake. The surface is remarkably hard. Check out the patterns. The Garmin shows the route and the speeds we achieved.
Funny Photos and Videos
One of the things to do on the salt flats is the take photos and make videos that take advantage of the ‘optical illusions’ caused by the flat surface on the lake.
Examples of what you can do are on Flickr. These include arranging the camera and an object, like an avocado to give the appearance that a person is sitting on the object. Other examples include making a video that gives that appearance that people are running out of tube or a bottle.
Cactus Island
After the photo and video making we headed across the lake, to an ‘island’. This is a rocky outcrop rising about 200 metres above the lake. A feature of the island are cactuses (or is that cacti). Anyway the island is great place to view the lake which spreads out for many kilometres in all directions.
Hotel
Near to the edge of the lake we stopped briefly a hotel that is made from salt cut from the lake. It isn’t very interesting. However I was amused to find a model of ‘salt and pepper’ schnauzer dog.
Train Cemetery
Our last stop on the tour was train cemetery. The trains are what remains of a large fleet that was used to transport minerals up until the mid 20th century. It is an obvious reminder that mining is not a sustainable industry.
Overnight in Uyuni
We arrived in Uyuni in the early afternoon. I had made reservation at hostel. The couples mentioned above had planned their trip a bit better than me. They had already determined that Uyuni wasn’t a place to stay for longer than necessary. One of the couples had booked on a train heading north that was leaving at 1.30 a.m. the next morning. The others were taking a bus directly to La Paz.
Whenever I get a chance, I like to take a train. I bought a ticket. I managed to get a couple of hours sleep in the hostel before we headed to the station.
The train was slow, but reasonably comfortable. For some reason the line does not go as far as La Paz an stops in Oruro. From there you have to take a bus into La Paz.
We arrived in La Paz in mid-afternoon and I made my way to the Wild Rover Hostel.
Flickr Photos
https://www.flickr.com/gp/twwilko_photos/W4041P
Flickr Videos
A bit about the Desert
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atacama_Desert
Garmin Links
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/768117385
billrider2013 