Uyuni, Bolivia

We began our trip to Bolivia with a very comfortable seven hour overnight bus journey to Puno with Turisim Meru from Cusco. But that was a far as the comfort got! After a two hour stopover in Puno we got the PanAmericano bus across the border into Bolivia. Then we took the short trip to Copacabana, where we stopped or an hour lunch and a change of buses. Our next leg of the journey was the most unusual leg of all! We arrived at the edge of Lake Titicaca and were all told to get off the bus and purchase a boat ticket to cross the lake. We got on a small motor boat to the other side, wondering what is going to happen to our bus and all our belongings on it. Before we knew it, our bus was being loaded onto a barge and driven across the water. After about half an hour, it safely made it to the other side, where we boarded the bus and headed on our way to La Paz. We finally arrived at the Wild Rover hostel, five hours later, happy to have gotten there safely with all our belongings after a very unusual journey.
Next day, was the nervously anticipated trip to the famous North Yungas Road, better known by the locals as 'El Camino de la Muerte' or 'Death Road'. We were picked up at 7.30am by Atlantic Tours and driven one hour to the start point at La Cumbre (4700 metres above sea level) in the Andes Mountains. After a quick snack and getting fitted out with our gear, we started our 63km cycle down the stoney, bumpy road to the start of 'Death Road' in Unduavi. After lunch we were given a briefing from the guides, where we were told to keep to the left of the road, close to the edge of the cliff, in order the avoid the oncoming traffic and allowing people to overtake you on your right. We tentatively headed on our way, single file down the narrow road trying to avoid the edge and the big rocks on the road. We stopped at various points along the road for some photos with our bikes with the views of the Amazon Rainforest in the background. As we grew in confidence, we picked up our speed along the road and got to enjoy the ride a little more. There were a few punctures and mechanical failures along the way due to the really bumpy road but we all reached the bottom of the road in one piece with just a few blisters on our hands for our sins. We were delighted to have completed 'Death Road' and it was worth the various feelings of adrenaline, excitement and nervousness during the whole experience.
We were then treated to a buffet lunch in a nearby hotel before having a well deserved swim in the swimming pool. We headed back to La Paz in the minibus with a music medley made up of a vast collection of 90's and 00's songs, from various genres. We all sang along topping off a great day.
We celebrated New Years in the hostel which had organised a masquerade ball. The place was decorated with black and white banners, ribbons and balloons. We had double the celebrations, as at 8pm Bolivian time, we counted down the Irish New Year with an excellent live band in the bar, before we brought in the Bolivian New Year. We had a good night all round and excited to see what 2016 had to bring.
Next day we walked around the city and came across a military wedding at the cathedral. The bride and groom exited the church under a guard of honour before they slow danced to the little band playing. The photographer was there taking photos and then connected his camera to a printer which instantly printed off the photos.
The following day we got a nine hour overnight bus to Uyuni with TransOmar bus. We arrived at 6.30am, however we were unable to check into our hostel, Piedra Blancho, until midday. So we made use of the wifi and sneaked into get some free breakfast. We walked around the lovely little town and visited the markets. That evening we went out for dinner at the highly rated Minuteman Pizza restaurant. There was no electricity in the town in the evenings, so the tasty pizzas were made in a stone fire oven. This was definitely one of the nicest meals we've had on the trip so far!
Next morning we were collected by Quechwa Connections at 11.30 for our trip to the Salar de Uyuni, which is largest salt flat in the world at 10,582 square kilometres. Our first stop was the Train Cemetery, three kilometres from Uyuni, where the old trains used for mining were left when they were out of commission. Bolivia do not have the resources to recycle any of the materials and there is a law banning them from exporting the materials to Chile or Argentina. We posed for many photos on the old trains and carriages.
Next up we stopped in a little village where they had various statues and monuments on display all made from salt. We learned about how the salt is extracted from the ground in large blocks, broken up, mixed and proceeded with iodine to make it edible, before being bagged in 0.5kg and 1kg bags and sold to the supermarkets and shops on Bolivia.
Then we stopped at the salt mounds and parts of the plaines where the salt water was bubbling and rising to the surface, where it solidifies and forms small holes that look like 'eyes' (Ojos del Salar). From here we were given some bikes and cycled three kilometres along the bumpy salt surface to the Salt Hotel, where we had a picnic lunch.
After lunch, it was time to get creative for our opportunity at the famous Salt Flat photographs. With various props at the ready, including Pringles can, cutlery, Edel's sunglasses and Ipod and a toy dinosaur, we stepped about 10 metres away from the camera and our guide Gonzalo took hundreds of photos of us in various poses and combinations. We could have spent hours here having fun taking photos but unfortunately it was time to move onto our next stop. On our way there, we got a puncture so we all had to get out of the car while the men changed tyre. This gave us another few minutes to take some more sneaky photos!
We finally arrived at Isla Incahuasi, which is an unique island with cacti growing on it. The strong Bolivian winds blow the seeds onto the island and the cactus grow there. Gonzalo showed us some of traditional objects used in the area before, we got to walk around the island taking in the amazing views of the Salt Flats. Next we drove to another island where we were to watch the sunset. Just as we were arriving we saw another Jeep driving close to the island and Gonzalo grabbed our attention and told us to watch the Jeep. Before we knew it, the Jeep got stuck in the soft salty ground. We stopped about 100 metres from the Jeep and hopped out to see if we could help. For the next two hours or so we, along with the other people on the tour, tried to help the drivers get the Jeep out. We collected various sized rocks to wedge under the tyres and helped try rock and push the Jeep in various directions. However the more we tried the further the Jeep sunk into the ground. With the sun now set and the temperature dropping, it was time to call it a day on the rescue attempt and we headed off to our hotel, while the other group waited for a spare car to come and collect them. Large steel poles and large jacks would be used tomorrow to get the Jeep out.
The drive to the hotel took about an hour with our driver doing an amazing job getting us safely there, with only his headlights to navigate his way avoiding the large mounds of salt through the bumpy terrain. On our way we spotted some of the Dakar rally cars out practicing, which was due to start here in the next couple of days. We arrived in the newly built community hotel, where we had dinner and rested for the busy day ahead.
Next morning was a 6am start to a wonderful day of visiting various landscapes and viewpoints around the area. We stopped at an area with coral rocks formed millions of years ago when area was covered by the sea. We saw multiple lagunas which housed a large quantity of flamingos. This time of year is meant to be 'rainy season' in Bolivia, however this year it hasn't hit yet so the lagunas lacked a lot of water.
We stopped at the Atacama Desert, which is the highest desert in the world and then at the Arbol de Piedra which is a tree shaped rock. We battled hard against the strong winds to get some photos by it.
Our final stop was the Laguna Colorada in the Eduardo Avaroa National Park, where we saw more flamingos with beautiful views of the red coloured laguna. That night after dinner we went outside to see the amazing night sky with thousands of stars shining overhead.
We had a 4am start the following morning where after having pancakes for breakfast, we drove for an hour to see the Geysers. We got to jump through one particular large one which left us smelling of sulphur for a few minutes. Our next geyser stop also had large magma pools with hot steam shooting up from the ground forming an incredible sight across the landscape. We stopped along the road for a view of the colourful mountains on one side of the road and the desert on the other. Our final stop was the Laguna Verde, which as the name suggests was green in colour when the sun shone on it due to the various sediments in it.
After saying goodbye to Gonzalo and the other people on the tour, we were driven to the Bolivian border, where we had to pay 15 Bolivanos to get am exit stamp on our passports. We piled onto a minibus where the excess rucksacks were put down the middle of the aisle and one of the passengers had to sit on a small plastic stool. We sat back and enjoyed our ride to Chile.Read more