So with our trusty Huayna Potosi climbing buddies Johannas, Lindsay and Lea we left Sucre and headed for Uyuni the gateway to the worlds largest Salt flats and our link to our final country in South America, Chile.
The bus from Sucre to Uyuni was 9 hours and due to the first government elections for judges the entire country was due to close down, so we got the last 5 seats on one of the last bus out of town.
James unfortunately had an upset stomach and 9 hours on a bus with no toilet was going to prove hard work, after 7 hours the inevitable happened and he turned grey and ran down the aisle shouting "Nesicito usar el bano!!" the rest does not need explaining needles to say a few people saw James's bum.
We had a shared room in Uyuni for £2 per person our cheapest night so far!
Day 1
Uyuni is a very small desert town that exists for tourists, the morning of our trip we had some fun with the trains around town and in the local children's park.
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Yes my good old ankle!!
Our first stop in the jeep was at the train grave yard, this famous spot has the remains of many trains that have been left to rust and decay in the Bolivian desert, they make for great photos.
The next stop was the Salar. The Salar De Uyuni is the largest salt flat in the world with over 4000 sq miles. The salt flat is so flat that across this entire area the altitude varies by 1 meter. The salt crust is meters deep and below sits 50 - 70% of the worlds Lithium reserves.
We sped across the vast white desert in our jeep finally arriving at the Incahuasi Island, this island is made of coral from when this giant plain was a salt water lake or some say the sea. The island is exceptional due to the variety of cactus that grow on the island up to 1000 years old.
After a brief visit we took the obligatory perspective photos that the Salar is famous for.
We now left the Salar and headed to our first night stop in the village of San Juan, unfortunately we were greeted with "there is no room at the inn"... Uh oh!! We tried another hotel with the same response, things started to look desperate! Our guide went to one last hotel and came back and asked us to check the accommodation, so Sarah ventured in. Her face when she returned said it all, she likened it to a pig sty.....oh dear.
We now had to drive 1 hour back the way we had come to try to find accommodation, the Salt flats and desert are very remote regions as they sound so this was not so easy! Eventually we found a closed Salt hotel that was willing to open for us.
The hotels in the Salar are totally made of Salt which makes for an interesting stay.
Day 2
We awoke at 6.30 to leave and make up the hour we were going to loose due to our detour the previous night.
Today's itinerary was to see volcano's and volcanic lakes, we also visited several sites that are breeding grounds for thousands of pink flamingos.
After some lunch we headed in to a remote area of desert, and as we did, our jeep decided that it wasn't going to behave. Every time we went up a hill the engine would loose power and stall, oh dear.....in the middle of the Atacama desert with no phones, no radio, and a broken jeep great! We all started to panic that we would have to sleep the night.
After several attempts to fix it we managed to limp on with a little fresh/clean petrol.
Our final stop before the hotel was for fun at some rocks that have been carved and shaped by the vicious sandy winds of the desert.
Our hotel was located on the Colorada lake, a huge red lake surrounded by volcanoes. This site was truly spectacular.
As we explored the lake the guide and his friends tried to fix our ill jeep! Literally taking the engine apart bit by bit.
As soon as the sun disappeared the temperature plummeted. We all sat huddled playing cads in our hostel until we could stand it no longer and got in our sleeping bags.
Day 3
Our final day was to start early, we were heading to some geysers for sun rise, that meant getting out of our sleeping bags reluctantly at 4.30 am. It was so cold outside that the inside of the jeep had frost on the windows.
Luckily our guide had fixed the jeep so we were good to go, unfortunately we left the hotel a little late and arrived at the Geysers after sun rise. The geysers are located around 4900 m so again altitude was to make us all feel a little sluggish. Unlike most attractions like this there are no railings or barriers to stop you getting as close to the geysers as you dare!
From here we descended to the thermal pools where we could swim! It was so cold outside that all the water on the ground was thick frozen, but the water was beautifully warm and we relaxed until our breakfast was ready.
The final stop before Chile on the tour was the green lake, this made for a great final attraction and some stunning photos.
We now left Bolivia and headed to the Chilean border to start our last adventure in South America.
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