Bolivia
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In about half an hour we are taking a train to Uyuni, which is in the south of Bolivia and has these amazing salt pans. I know that sounds odd, but the views are supposed to be incredible. I will let you know. We will then cross over into Chile. Sian and Sue will shoot down to Santiago; Arthur will go north to fly home; and Kate and I will slowly make our way down to Santiago for Christmas. Ok, now if this does not save I will probably go to a Bolivian prison because I will kill someone... December
8 In San Pedro Chile
Ok, my web page is a bit in tatters. The Peru page is gone but Loren
is working on fixing it. We spent the last
four days in Bolivia taking a four-day trip through the desert and saltpans
of southern Bolivia. This is Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid territory
and it is where they met their unfortunate demise. The tour included
transportation which was supposed to be a brand new four wheel drive
but which was really a very old Toyota four wheel drive that a bungee
cord holding the suspension together in the front and tape holding it
together in the back. The windows on the passenger side did not open
and were taped together on the other side. All in all - a piece of junk.
We were very leery considering we did not want to get stuck in the middle
of the desert as there really are no towns or people for hundreds of
miles. But we wanted to leave and did not want to wait for another day
so we piled in - 7 of us - the girls, Arthur and two other people and
me. Our driver was cranky and made it clearly known that if we gave
him grief he would be more of a knucklehead. He also had an extremely
bad habit of falling asleep at the wheel. We started our
trip through Salar de Uyuni - which is a 12,000 km salt flat and one
of the most unbelievable sights I have ever seen. Imagine the Great
South Bay but only take away the water and leave the salt - that is
what it looks like. It was once a huge sea - 100 million years ago but
has since evaporated and left just the salt and other minerals to bake
in the desert sun. The landscape was blinding - like being in a huge
snowfield, white as far as the eye could see. Photo opportunities abounded
and we went a bit mad snapping away. In the center of the salt pans
are two hotels which are completely made out of salt - beds and all..
We stopped for a drink and a few more photos and then continued to an
island. Well, it was once an island but is now just surrounded by salt
flats. It was wild hiking to the top to see the 360 views of the once
blue sea but now a field of white. The sun was intense and we all felt
a bit dizzy - and of course the 12,000-foot altitude also had an effect.
There are no paved
roads in the desert and it felt like a mad race. Other jeeps were racing
along beside us to the next destination. There were about 6 jeeps in
all and of course because of our rattrap car we always got to the destination
last!! That night we slept in a small (extremely) village. The town
was out of the salt flats and in the desert and was absolutely colorless
- just a drab brown. I would completely lose my mind if I had to live
there. The hundreds of llamas did not seem to mind and again provided
photo opportunities for us. The next day we
piled in our rattrap car again and drove to the geysers which at an
altitude of 14,000 feet were amazing. There were also craters bubbling
with mud at a temperature of 180 degrees celsius. Pretty eerie landscape
and very difficult to breathe so we only stayed for an hour. Then headed
to Laguna Verde on the border of Chile, an impossibly green lake bordered
by a perfect cone-shaped mountain - more pictures.
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