Uyuni tour día 1

It is another early wake up. We need to wake up at 5:20, and we are looking forward to be woken up by an alarm clock and not crazy Brazilians. Unfortunately, Brazilians wake up at 4:30 and immediately go and enjoy some loud door smashing. It's a happy day after all!!

We are picked up at 6 and everyone falls asleep in this one hour long shuttle to Bolivian border. We arrive there at sunrise and enjoy some cool views. The only downside is that it's about -5 celsius. It makes sense, we are at 4300m. We wait here for an hour or more before the border crossing opens and it is our turn to be let through. This waiting is however shortened by a delicious breakfast served by our driver. Seriously, this bread has been the best I had since leaving Prague after Christmas. And the very nice and touching touch is a flower the driver also puts on the table ❤️

The border crossing is not fast but otherwise quite straight forward. We are driven by the van to Bolivian side, we get a stamp there, immediately pay entrance to the national park we are in and we are advised to not speak loudly or at all by armed personnel. Here we are met but our off-road vehicle and its driver. His name is Sandro, he is amazing and he will take care of us for the next three days. He owns a very well preserved Toyota Land Cruiser and believe me, nothing stops Sandro and his coche.

We are also allowed a toilet at this point. It is paid and absolutely disgusting. Hope Bolivia is not like that. I also meet two Czechs, first other backpackers from my homeland. We chat for 15 min and I wonder why people from Czech Republic don't travel. It's a pity.

The tour to Uyuni takes 3 days. The ultimate goal are the Uyuni salt flats, by far the biggest ones in the world. But the two preceeding days are full of beauty and action as well.

We start by visiting two gorgeous lagunas high up in the Altiplano desert. We see many llamas, vicunas and even two desert foxes. We stop for weird rock formations that look like from Salvador Dali's paintings. And enjoy a dip in hot springs before having lunch. We choose a good agency, the food is good and plenty.

In the afternoon, we spend more time driving. (Even the driving is amazing tho!). The highlight of the day is another laguna, this time full of flamingos and pink plankton. The pink color makes perfect contrast to parts of white salt inside the laguna. It's spectacular.

We are accommodated in a hostel or hotel in a tiny village inside the desert. There is no internet, only one shower and it gets very very cold during the night. But it's perfect and once again we got so much better places to sleep than people with the other agencies.

We are also very lucky to have the group we are having, very nice couple from London and another one from Cali. The Colombians also provide us with good translation skills. Unfortunately, the high altitude takes its toll and the Cali lady doesn't join us for dinner. We go to sleep early, excited for another day.Read more