Travel journal
Tour of the Salt Flats - day 2
7 May 2016
Uyuni, Bolivia
Saturday, May 7, 2016
After a drive of several hours through more stunning scenery, we arrived at a small quaint little town which appeared to have a restaurant and about 3 little bodegas (small corner type shops that sell everything). Jody got Bryan some ice-cream to cheer him up and asked Luis if there was a pharmacy here hoping to get some Pepto Bismol or something like that.
Luis asked if we needed the hospital but we didn't think it warranted that but in the absence of a pharmacy we thought they may be able to help. He got us all back in the car sped off for about 100 yards and stopped again. Right outside a medical centre. A big medical centre. The size of it was a real surprise as they must have had one treatment room per household inside - the village was that small it just didn't seem to need such a large centre.
Jody stayed with the car and let Luis accompany Bryan inside as he was much better able to translate. !0 minutes later they appeared again. Bryan was smiling and with some medicine in one hand and the bill in the other. The Doctor had charged him a grand total of 30p for his consultation and not much more for the medicine. Bryan was soon feeling better and was once again getting back his chatty self back in the car.
Luis & Orlando stopped for us to take some pictures where there were many llamas grazing. These short stops are great to get some fresh air but it was definitely starting to feel colder each time we got out.
We took loads of llama photos as it was such a pretty spot, then onto an active volcano which looked like it belonged on Mars. The scenery had changed quite dramatically by now. The roads all the way had been no more than tracks and you could see long clouds of dust kicked up in the distance where other vehicles were going.
As we drove, with Luis and the other 6 in the lead car ahead, it seemed as if we were at times, constantly driving through a dust cloud.
Eventually they stopped for lunch behind some rocks to keep out of the wind. The wind was really cold and there hadn't been many places we could shelter until now. Lunch was really nice but Bryan was still feeling a bit sensitive at the moment so didn't manage to eat much.
The other group of two cars soon pulled up behind us but as always, they had their own supply of food and kept slightly away from us. What is it that they don't want us mingling too much??
Luis was always pointing things out to us - this time a giant flat but roundish plant which he said at one time had been a coral under the sea when the area was covered by water. It had adapted over the millions of years and was now an air breathing plant. It still actually looked like coral. Fascinating!
As we drove on, Bryan suddenly came awake and shouted "ostrich". Yep, out there in the wilderness and all on it's own, was an ostrich. What???
What we like about Orlando is that he always slows down or stops for us to capture that Kodak moment!
We drove on and saw many lakes - all garnished with flamingos - all very pretty.
Then we arrived at the Eduardo Auaroa National Park and this is where the rock-tree is. Of course the rock has been shaped by the wind - we all know that - but it does look a lot like a tree! We managed to stay out for a few minutes to get some snaps but none of us wanted to hang around outside for very long so we were soon all back in the cars again.
Then we made a proper stop at a lagoon which apparently is normally a deep shade of red. Today as it was a little bit cloudy, it was more a deep pink and Luis warned us the lake was quite toxic so not to go in. No danger there luis it is bloody freezing - even Bryan wouldn't swim in this temperature!
Back in the car it is always nice and warm. The sun comes through the windows and warms us up so by the time we arrive at our next stop we have been lulled into a false sense of security about how warm it really was outside. It was always much colder than we expected it to be and that wind... oh that wind was cold.
It was so so remote here by this stage we rarely saw another vehicle - just the odd tourist car like ours. We were a long way from any sign of civilisation and the thought of breaking down out here was not a good one. At least we had our buddy vehicle close by for comfort. Sometimes the tracks were were on were barely tracks at all. It really did feel very lonely out here.
Orlando drives very well actually and both of us felt very safe with him. He was always a considerate driver to his passengers and never took a risk on a mountain road.
The scenery was breathtaking in it's bleakness too. So many times we saw landscapes that looked like they had been painted and didn't look real at all.
Over a ridge we could see vast clouds coming up out of the ground. Orlando pulled up and and we got out. The noise from these steam vents as they turned out to be was deafening. So so loud we had to shout to be heard above it. This area is quite geo-thermally active and a bit further along was very reminiscent of New Zealand or Yellowstone Park. Big holes of bubbling mud and water - and the stinky smell of rotten eggs! You could see the yellow sulphurous deposits making the landscape even stranger.
Just after we left here we saw the most beautiful sunset developing behind us. Orlando pulled over so we could watch it and take a few pictures. This was easily the most beautiful sunset we had seen anywhere in Bolivia and it was definitely one worth watching.
Then as it got dark we rolled down the hill to tonight's accommodation. This one was much more basic than last night's for sure. No private room for us - as car buddies we were all in a dorm room together and the 3 other cars from Red Planet also had their own rooms. No running water here, no showers and no toilets. Well no flushing one anyway. It was a cubical with a pit below the toilet and instead of flushing it, you dropped a scoopful of ash down there. Not for the fainthearted in there we can tell you!
Dinner was nice and prepared by some people who lived here. (Who on earth would want to live out here?). We had been given coffee and hot water too but on our table for our two car team, we hadn't been given any sugar. So braving the void between the two groups, Jody went over and asked for the sugar from the other. It was quite funny as they said - quick go go go before they see you. Jody said "it's ok - i won't tell them it was you who gave it to me" - it felt like the big conspiracy to keep us apart had been foiled at last!
Wine was supplied free of charge at this table too. Same variety as the Salt Hotel had begrudgingly given us for free that night after the Spa saga. Our French friends managed to drink a bit more of it too but we were all itching to go outside.
Why??? It was freezing!
Well remember the geo-thermal activity which was our last stop. The activity carried on all the way down here and the lovely people where we were staying collected it into a pool 100 meters away.
We were led down there in the pitch dark, to a changing room where it seemed absolutely crazy to take off our nice warm clothes and put on a bikini and trunks.
But as soon as we sank into that water - and it was quite hot in places - we knew we had done the right thing. It was heavenly. The first time we had been properly warm for weeks!
And the icing on the cake - being so remote there was no light pollution and the whole sky was a mass of stars. The milky way was brilliant above us and we sat there for about an hour watching shooting stars shoot across the sky.
It was amazing!