Salar de Uyuni

The landscape on this trip was definitely one of the most unique and fascinating I've ever seen. And not just the salt flats in Uyuni. As I started the tour from San Pedro in Chile there were a lot of places we saw before we got there.
We had our first breakfast after the bordercrossing into Bolivia outside our bus. This might sound basic but I was actually impressed what our driver put on the camping table. There was bread, cheese and fresh avocado. Cereals, fruit and yogurt. Cake and jam. Juice, coffee and tea. Unfortunately I was so cold that I couldn't be bothered to eat much. I knew Uyuni would probably be the coldest it would get for me but as everybody had only complained about the nights I thought I could start easy. But after standing outside the bus for a few minutes waiting for the 4x4 for our tour I realized I should put on a few more layers. I almost made it to the maximum possible and was wearing tights, leggings and jeans. Normal socks and my new big woolen socks in my sneakers. 3 shirts, a longsleeve, my new woolen pullover, my jumper and my fleece jacket. A scarf, and my new beanie and gloves. The only thing I still had left to put on now was my poncho and a rain jacket. But luckily I felt ok like this and when the 4x4 arrived we put our big backpacks on top and jumped in the car. We were a group of 6. A couple from France, 2 guys from Holland and another german girl. Somehow I got a weird vibe from her and when I saw her pulling a 20kilo suitcase from the bus and getting in the front seat without even checking I already thought we probably wouldn't become best friends. The 3 guys where sitting in the middle row and the french girl Mathilde and I shared the last row which wasn't super comfortable as we couldn't really stretch our legs but I actually liked me space back there. Which was good as we spend a lot of time in the car. We drove from spot to spot and usually only got up to stroll around a little taking pictures.
Our driver and guide for the 3 days was Jimmy. He was just 24 years old but a really good and responsible driver. Which was a relief as I had heard a lot about drunk drivers on the tour. He didn't talk a lot but always gave us some information for every spot.
The first stops were Laguna Blanca and Laguna Verde. They both become their colors from minerals that get swamped in from the surrounding mountains and volcanoes. Laguna Verde contains a lot of copper and the color definitely reminds you on the typical green color of corrosion on copper. Jess (the other german girl) said the landscape reminded her on a Bob Ross painting and we literally had his voice in our head when she said this.
Next stop was the Desierto Salvador Dalí. A landscapes that resemble surrealist paintings of the artist.
From here we went to some hot pools next to another Laguna. It had gotten a little warmer and I had taken of my fleece by now but take of all my clothes? It felt weird and actually took a while to peel of all the layers to change into my bikini. But the hot water was definitely worth it! And afterwards you didn't need to jump into cold water to cool down. All you had to do was getting out of the pool.
Afterwards I left on some layers of clothing but was still pretty warm. Our next stop was the Sol de mañana. A geothermal field with spraying geysers and steam pools with boiling mud. It was a surreal place and to know that this activity comes from the ground and the surrounding volcanoes was kind of creepy.
From here we drove for a while till we got to our hostel for the night. The tour agencies had prepared us that the first night would be basic and cold so we were pleasantly surprised that the building was actually kind of nice. Other than they told us they even had a shower but no one used it as it was ice cold. We had a late lunch which was again really nice and filling with fresh vegetables. From here we headed out again to our last stop for the day the Laguna Colorada. The colors here varied from dark red to yellow. We walked around the lake taking pictures and listening to the sound of the tons of flamingos here.
When we got back to the hostel we got tea and cookies to kill the time till dinner. They really fed us well!
It got really cold once the sun was down so I was back to wearing all my layers and even got my ponch out to wrap it around my legs while sitting at the table.
Almost everybody of our group had trouble with the altitude. We had been up to 5,000m during the day and our accommodation was on over 4,000m. Some felt sick and some were complaining about headaches. But luckily my body seems to have accepted the fact that you could live with a little less oxygen. I didn't feel anything and even slept pretty good.
We went to bed right after dinner and I was happy about the sleeping bag they provided additionally to the 3 blankets and the coverlet I used as another blanket. And I didn't take of any clothes. Sounds crazy but that's how cold it got at night.
Getting up the next morning was quick as we were all already wearing all our clothes and only needed to sit down at the breakfast table. After another nice breakfast we jumped back into the car for a long day of driving. The order in the car stayed the same. Princess was sitting in the front and didn't even ask if anybody wanted to change seats. But I was happy in my spot and couldn't be bothered to point that out.
The group was pretty quiet but I enjoyed driving through this amazing landscape just looking out of the window. Jimmy was playing his music which was a funny mix of 80ies ballads, 90ies pop, reggaeton and some bolivian songs with pan flute. Today our first stop was the Arbol de Piedra. A rock that looks like a tree in a site with numerous rocks. The fascinating thing was that all theses rocks were thrown there from a nearby volcano.
Before lunch we stopped a few more times for different lookout points to the surrounding mountains and a few more Lagunas. At Laguna Hedionda we got to see hundreds of flamingos. I guess it's another place where the animals get fed as they came really close to the people. But I wont complain as I liked to see them up close.
For lunch we stopped at a little town in the desert which felt pretty abandoned. After 2 days Jimmy still managed to surprise us with even more food. And lots of fresh stuff again!
In the afternoon we only went to 2 more towns. First San Agustin where there was supposed to be a store with craft beer which was really just a normal tienda that sold some beer with coca, cactus or quinoa flavor. But it was crowded with locals drinking schnaps and it was kind of funny talking to them.
Next we went to Julaca where the train was passing through transporting the minerals between Uyuni and Chile. There was also a scrapped train which you could climb up on. Another group had just arrived before us and was taking pictures on the train. It looked like a cover shoot for a boy band!
I pointed this out to our group with the result that no one wanted to join me later climbing the train as they didn't wanna be a boyband. Of course I climbed it anyway and when I asked one of the guys to take a picture of me Jess commented "You are such a tourist!". I bite back saying "Says the girl that travels the desert with a 20kilo suitcase!" and just enjoyed my view from atop the train.
From here we went to our accommodation for the night. Hotel de Sal Tambo Loma which was really build from stones of salt. The hotel was amazing especially compared to the first night. We all stayed in double rooms (yes, I had to share with Jess) with ensuite bathrooms. There was a patio heater in the restaurant area but even the rooms were quite warm. There was hot water for 1 hours before dinner for everyone to have a shower and electricity to charge phones and cameras and even WIFI for a few hours after dinner.
I slept really good wearing a lot less clothes.
The next morning we got up really early to finally drive into the Salar de Uyuni and watch the sunrise. The Salar was amazing. A dried up lake of more than 10,000sqm. Just salt everywhere. I even tried it. Was supersalty. The sunrise was super beautiful but it was again really cold. My poncho helped to keep my body warm but my feed were ice when we got back into the car. We continued driving over the salt to one of the islands. Yes, as this used to be a lake there are also islands. While Jimmy was preparing our breakfast we climbed the island which was covered with massive cactuses. Once the sun came up it started warming up quickly. Today was definitely the warmest day.
Like I said I didn't really get along to well with Jess. But I just tried to get out of her way and so far this had been working well. What was annoying with her was that she always had a different opinion or even knowledge about stuff I told and usually let me know this pretty harshly. For example when someone asked me about the drug situation in Colombia and I told them that checking tourists for drugs is pretty common her comment was "Really? Who told you this? I've never been checked for drugs and I also never heard about it!" - turned out later she had only been to Colombia once with her family to attend a wedding.
Our last morning over breakfast we talked about Jimmy not being the typical tour guide as he does a really good job but doesn't try at all to talk to us privately so we were wondering if he is actually enjoying this job. I made the comment "And he doesn't even hit on the girls!" which is of course a cliche but who has been on a few tours knows that there is also some truth to it. Immediately Jess commented: "Why do you say that? I don't think this happens a lot. I for example never had a tour guide hit on me!" At this moment I just couldn't keep myself from answering "I'm not sure if that speaks for yourself or not?"
After this she just couldn't stop commenting on everything I said. This really screwed with the vibe of the group so I just stayed by myself for the rest of the day. Luckily there were only a few hours left.
After breakfast we found our spot to do funny perspective pictures. I guess the picture I choose for myself shows how I felt towards part of my group at that point ;)
We visited the Hotel de Sal Playa Blanca which was the first one build in the Salar de Uyuni and a little town where you could buy souvenirs from salt. Here I ran into Luis who just started his tour from Uyuni. Small world. The last stop was the train cemetery where a lot of old trains were abandoned in the desert close to the town of Uyuni. We ate our last lunch together which was Lama steak. I was kind of happy when we headed of in different directions afterwards.
It was the first time I really had a situation like this on a tour as usually even if some people don't really get along they don't show it openly. My comment to Jess surely wasn't helping but at some point I just couldn't take her anymore.
But even though I wasn't to happy with my group the tour itself was definitely one of the highlights of my trip.Read more