Bolivia

FLAMINGOES, SNOWBALL FIGHTS AND MAGICAL SALAR DE UYUNI

DSC06531
Boarder crossing to Bolivia

We started at 7:30 in the morning in San Pedro and took a bit of a climb to the boarder of Bolivia, I should rather say a little shed with a Bolivian flag on top of it. It’s were we got the stamps in our passport before changing from the mini-bus into a 4×4 for the coming 3 days. With us were 4 Brazilians in their young ages. It’s been a relaxed and funny group and the driver was just right for us. With an efficient driving style, some others would call it speedy, we arrived most of the time first. It’s been especially convenient for some beautiful spots like the nearby Laguna Blanca and Laguna Verde. No other tourists on our pictures and a plenty of privacy to enjoy the beautiful nature. This advantage was most rewarding at the Aguas Termales, a naturally 40 degree warm thermal bath at 4400m altitude. Being almost the only one in the water enjoying the view on the valley from the little pool was priceless.  Though I did not mind getting out of the pool after 15 minutes as at such an altitude the hot water did cause a little feeling of dizziness. Back in the car we crossed the highest point of our journey: 4900m altitude. We arrived early at our hotel, dropped our stuff in a 6er-dorm and walked to the Laguna Colorada, which was strewn with hundreds of famingoes.

Thunderstorm at Laguna Colorada
Thunderstorm at Laguna Colorada

A thunderstorm came up and lightnings impressed not only us but also these pink elegant birds as they seemed to get together in a kind of swirly movement. We watched them for a while, waited until the hail and the bit of rain had stopped before we went back to the hostel. After our late dinner and a UNO game with some others we went to sleep. At 4300m altitude I had difficulties to sleep. The snoring orchestra of the 4 Brazilian guys in our room did not help either. We were not sure what we had to expect for the next day. Our driver had left and it happens from time to time that drivers arrive next morning completely wasted from a party. Our driver had left quite early in the evening and I was not sure if he was about to come back. But David had been ready to take over the command of the Toyota 4×4 and maybe was been a bit disappointed next morning when Martin, our driver, was ready to go. He seemed, apart from a tiny boozy breath, absolutely fine to drive.

 

 

High altitude snow fights at day 2

It had snowed over the night and I was glad that I had all my warm clothes from Patagonia with me. The first mission of the day was a snowball fight, which we successfully completed. Our group consisted of 3 cars which 6 people in each car. When we arrived at the first program point which was the “Arbol de Piedra”, the stone tree, a couple of other cars had arrived already and that’s when a gigantic snowball fight started at 4500m altitude. A very tiring thing to do. DSC06754I think that the landscape had it’s own charm when clouds and some snow covers the mountains. The light was beautiful and tinted the hills into soft colours. However, we were not able to do all of the view points as they had been 100% covered up in thick clouds. Still, one of the beautiful moments were the Lagunas altiplanos, where flamingos were almost that close to be touched. Our driver raced over sand and gravel roads and somehow it was good fun to watch him driving. It always felt as if he had everything under control. A beautiful drive through some valleys, desserts and passing by some gigantic cacti. As usual we arrived early at the hotel, this time we had a room for ourselves. The entire building was made of salt apart from the bath rooms. I was wondering what happens when the slat walls get wet. They melt apparently but it’s also easy to get them repaired. As the night before a beautiful thunderstorm passed by and after dinner, we restarted the UNO session. Lights went off at 10pm and it was the right time as we planned to get up around 4:30am to watch the sunrise in the Salar de Uyuni.

Salar de Uyuni – here we swim at day 3

During night I woke up from the heavy rain. It had been pitch dark and light was not working that early.DSC07187 I was just wondering if all 4 walls would still be standing next morning. Of course they did without any sign of molten away salt. The guides postponed our wake-up call as there was surely no sunrise to see during that rainy morning. We had breakfast and it seemed that we were not that lucky with our trip. When we arrived the Salar de Uyuni, the sky cleared up and the views were breathtaking. Due to the rain, the salt flat had filled up with water acting like a mirror. When the sun came out, we lost perspective of what was a cloud, an island and above all where the horizon was. It all looked so unreal and beautiful same time. We arrived Isla Incahuasi with it’s huge cacti. When we climbed the hill the view over the salt flat was just amazing. Looking at any of the 4 cardinal points seemed different.

DSC07277

The Brazilian guys brought 2 costumes which they brought especially for the dessert I believe. So we had some great fun making pictures, the 2 and the 6 of us. A place which looks so unreal and beautiful that it’s for sure something I was glad not to have it missed. We crossed the Salt Mine and ended our journey on the Cementerio de Trenes, a train cemetery.

And finally we booked a bus to La Paz late at night. A quick stroll through the town of Uyuni reassured us to have taken the right decision: the town is not what one could call exciting or beautiful. So here we were: finally in Bolivia and a new part of our journey had started.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *