Arriving in Uyuni

Back on the truck, we had the ceremonial switching on of the Christmas lights! Some members of the group had put decorations up this morning.

We drove on to Uyuni.

Uyuni is an isolated town in a desolate corner of southwestern Bolivia. It is surrounded by desert-like landscapes and has an air of a place lifted straight out of a spaghetti western with tumbleweed blowing through the dusty, sandy streets. Despite appearances to the contrary, Uyuni caters for hundreds of tourists every week as it is the jumping-off point for tours of the nearby salt flats.

Uyuni is also an important military base.

We arrived in town at about 3.15pm. Our hotel was surprisingly good with a friendly atmosphere and festive decorations everywhere. After checking in, we had chicken salad left over from yesterday and spent some time doing posts.

At 6pm, Nikki and Ritchie called a meeting to explain the plans for Christmas. Nikki gave us all Christmas hats and chocolate Christmas trees, so I guess Christmas has officially started! We will have a 4am start when we leave here on Christmas Eve, the aim being to get to our camp in San Pedro de Atacama late the same day, rather than having to cross the border on Christmas Day. We will all be very happy if this works out!Læs mere