All 6 of us crammed in the Land cruiser and held on tight as Freddy our driver and former Peruvian champing Rally driver took us on a white knuckle tour of the high Bolivian desert.
The first day wove through the outskirts of Uyuni and then onto the Salt Flat itself. Defying normal rules of depth perception, the flat stretched as far as the eye could see, with endless horizons and huge mountains that never seemed to get any closer.
Our first night was spent at a Salt hotel on the edge of the salar, at a comfy 3700m.
Day two was spent weaving through red sand deserts, volcanoes and lava flows. We must have passed upwards of 80 huge volcanoes, reaching up to 6000m at thier summits. Truely an out of this world place.
We visited Lagoons filled to the brim with Flamingoes, saw Vicunas and Foxes, froze in the wind and baked in the sun. All of the dinner budget was spent on a bottle of Peruvian Red wine, which accompanied the gluggy tasteless spagetthi.
On our 3rd day we briefly visited some wonderful hotsprings before racing to the Chilean border for a transfer. Once accross the border, An instant change was noticed. Nicely maintained roads, barriers, nice vehicles and restrained drivers.. Bienvenidos a Chile.
Busy streets in El Alto, the poor area of La Paz
Train Grave yard in Uyuni
Salar de Uyuni, with the piles of salt waiting for harvest
"I claim this Salt in the name of Nuu Zulland"
Gaint Cacti on Incahuasi (Fish) island in the middle of the Salar
Obligitory perspective photo shoot
Hexagonal crystal structures, perhaps 2 feet in diameter
Into the red desert, among lava flows and active volcanoes
Lagunas and Flamingos
Vicuna (like a small Llama)
Arboles de Piedras (Trees of Stone)
Phantom of the Altiplano
Dawn over Laguna Colorada
Tourists and Geysers (and no safety barriers)
Steph at Laguna Verde
1 comment:
i loved the salt flats, unbelieveable!!
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