I feel like I begin every entry with a Óh my god this is crazy´....or a ´what an amazing experience´ but this is exactly how I feel about my recent expedition. I arrived to Uyuni after an excrutiating 15 hour bus ride from La Paz. The weather made the already horrible roads even worse and the ´semi-camas´(partially reclining seats) hardly reclined at all. Thank goodness for legal sleeping aids! By the time I arrived to Uyuni it was already to late to get directly on a tour of the Salar to Chile so I had to stay the night. Accomodation proved to be ultra cheap and, instead of just relaxing for the day as the woman at the tour agency advised, I seized the day and headed out. I think that is a main difference between a person on holiday or vactationing and a backpacker. A backpacker is always trying to explore and see as much as possible. That is not to say that a day or two relaxing in a hammock is a waste of time but when there is limited time and so much to see the thought of ´just hanging out´seems worthless.
The only reason Uyuni is even on the map is because it is the entrance to the Salar so to say that it is a óne horse town´ is pretty right on. I decided to head out into the desert with my new friend Peter for some adventure. Pete and I had been on the same path oddly enough (or not) and took the opportunity to wander and chat together in the great expanse surrounding Uyuni. We first walked out to the ´train graveyard´about 2k from town. The walk was along the tracks and between the cemetary and town was open plains. The only sound was wind passing through all the plastic bags that littered the area. It was gross to see that much trash consuming the environment. It was also very real as we noticed people that appeared to be looking for something throughout the plain but, in fact, were using the bathroom. That is how they live here. Their adobe homes on the opposite side of the tracks have no toilet facilities and this is what they have been doing for generations. The train graveyard was eerily quiet. We were the only people there and meandered through the wreckage. I did a little graffiti in memory of a few peeps back home with a rock on some rusty parts of a train but other than that it was very peaceful and quiet. You could actually see nature reclaiming the man-made machines as rust overtook then decomposed the wreckage.
On the way back to town we caught an impromptu soccer match. It was 15 on 15 played on a huge dirt field (I guess you would call it that) chalk full of puddles, mud and ditches. No matter where I have been in the world, rich or poor, there is always room for a soccer pitch and people to play. This game truely is for everyone, everywhere. The evening and night passed uneventfully aside from the great conversation Pete and I had. He helped me realize so much and through our conversations I came to understand more than I realized was within me.
The following morning I was up bright and early for a solid breakfast then met up with my group for our 3 day/2 night tour. The group immidiatly clicked which was super awesome. There were 6 of us total. Wowster and his fiance Andrea from Holland are both family doctors and on short holiday. Then there was Mario and his girlfriend Daniella from Chile who are both studying to be doctors on a short holiday. Last was Phil, a Santa Barbara born kid who grew up in North Carolina and is currently living in La Paz working as a guide for the biking adventures. Super cool cat who said he signed up with the agency because he saw that there was another American already on board. We first headed to the train cemetary for a short visit then out to the Salar. This was incredible. The Salar is the largest dry salt lake bed in the world or something like that and in the winter is completely dry and white as far as the eye can see. Since this is the rainy season there was a few inches of water covering the entire plain. The reflection was beyond words and gave the most surreal perspective (please see photos). We drove right out into the middle for lunch and to take some photos then headed back through Uyuni on a 3 hour ride for our first night. We went to San Juan and stayed in a salt hotel which was really cool. Most of the entire building is made from salt bricks. The floor is salt, the tables are made from salt, the chairs...everything but the toilet and sink I guess. One other small group arrived for the night as well but they weren´t very friendly. It was an older couple who never smiled and smoked loads of cigarettes. We started taking bets on where they were from....´Germany´ Áustria´´Finland´...it was hilarous..at first. The only other cool thing about San Juan was the crypt. There were mud and brick mini-structures with holes for windows where you could look in and see a decomposed body in the fetal position with deteriorating clothes. Super eerie and super cool. Anyway, our group (later named Team Mayonesa due to the amount of mayonaise everyone would use during the meals) sat together and chatted the whole time. After dinner I taught the group how to play hearts then promptly lost to Phil (the only other person who knew the game prior). Phil and I shared a room and the other couples all had their own rooms. It was very nice.
The following morning we had a simple breakfast around 7:30 then headed out for a full day of sight seeing. The scenery out there is amazing and beyond words. Since it had rained the entire night before both groups decided to travel together. Within an hour the óther´group got stuck in mud. The two people, we later found out were in fact Germans, sat in the car while we piled out to help un-stick the vehicle. It was comical as we are all helping to get their car out while they sit in the back. It wasn´t until Wowster made a comment about whether they were comfortable or not that they finally got out of the vehicle to watch us work. After finally dislodging their vehicle, with no thanks from them, we were all back on track. We went passed several lagoons all having different minerals in them. This made for amazing colors and contrast. We also stopped by some impossibly formed volcanic rock structures and then finally stopped for lunch. There was tons of wildlife as well. We saw Vicunas which look like small llamas, llamas and even spotted a viscacha which looks like a rabbit with a squirrel tail. Post lunch we saw more amazing landscapes then finally arrived at Laguna Colorado. They are trying to make this one of the ´natural wonders of the world´and I can see why. It was breathtaking. Amazing colors mixed with colorful flamingoes mixed with llamas and the most amazing landscape. Mountains with snow surrounded us as we were at about 4,000 meters. Again, please refer to pictures as my words hardly paint the picture.
That night the accomodation was a little more rustic. We all slept in the same room in an adobe hut. Very primitive and very cold. It felt like we were at the base camp for Mount Everest as you could see snowy mountains out the windows. Since we had to rise at 4:30 the next morning, it was an early night with a few games of hearts and then to bed.
Getting up that early was tough but well worth it once the day unfolded. Guess who´s car wouldn´t start in the morning.....sure enough our driver Don Juan and I were trying to push start the vehicle when I look up with my headlamp and saw the Germans standing there staring at us...what the fuck. Also, this was the second time this trip I have had to get up at the butt-crack of dawn and try to push start a vehicle and at this altitude it was hairy. Their vehicle finally turned over and we all headed out....to the Geysers. Now I was expecting one hole in the ground with steam shooting out but this was from another planet. Another PLANET I TELL YOU. I WAS ON FUCKING MARS MAN!! Steam was bubbling from crevices in the earth all over the place and the minerals turned the ground all kinds of colors. It was breathtaking to watch the sun come up and be in this place. We took some great and funny pictures then headed to our next stop. Hot springs. Wow this was cool. None of us were sure if we wanted to brave the cold for the hot but a few of us ´had to do it´. So surreal to be sitting in a hot tub at the foot of a snowy mountain next to a lagoon with flamingoes at 7:30 in the morning.
After our dip and breakfast we headed through Salvador Dali´s Valley named so because of the surreal landscape. It was incredible again. Then the final stop at Laguna Verde for one last photo moment before 3 of us were dropped at the border and Team Mayonesa broke up.
I just got into San Pedro and it is ridiculously expensive just as the Chileans said. I have decided not even to stay the night and head directly to Iquiques to meet up with the guys I met in Cuzco for some fun on the beach. I am so ready for hot sun and sand and beach and all that good stuff. Sandboarding, paragliding and surfing hopefully.
Wait till you see these pics!!
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