After waking up the next day we found out that both of the ATM machines were still out of service. With the last few pesos we had we bought a busticket to the next town – 90 minutes away – to get money there. The bus left at 2PM…. It took us nearly all day just to get some cash money, but we had no choice obviously. Once we got back we had some dinner at a small restaurant. Afterwards we went for a drink in a local bar, though as the town is incredibly small, everything shuts around 1AM. We talked for a bit longer in our hostelroom and then went to sleep.
The next day we went to book our Salt flats tour into Bolivia. Afterwards we rented a bicycle to explore the surroundings. It was incredibly hot and quite tough to bike through the desert-landscape. Afterwards we went onto a tour to Moonvalley, a valley named like that because it looks similar to the landscape of the moon. Once we returned we had some dinner and then went to bed, as the next morning we were going onto our tour to the salt flats.
The next morning we woke up early as the tour started at 8AM. Two 4X4 jeeps were parked in front of the office in which we were going to spend the next three days. We got into the cars and off we went to the border. After queuing up for at least 30 minutes at the border we finally drove off into the desert. After about an hour we arrived at the border of Bolivia. After paying 15 bolivianos (1,50 Euro) and some breakfast – which was far better than expected – we went on into the desert of Bolivia. We stopped by some really beautiful lakes – with colors of blue, green and even red. The lakes have these colors due to the organisms and minerals in the water. This is also why Flamingo`s tend to be pink, since they eat the organisms out of the lakes. We drove until about 15:00, where we arrived at a hostel in the middle of the desert – without heating. We had some lunch and walked a little bit around the hoste, since we were in the middle of the desert there wasn`t much we could do. After dinner we all had a little chat and then went to bed with many blankets as it becomes really cold at night. Some people were suffering of altitude sickness – since we were at about 4000 meters above sea level.
The next day we woke up around 7AM. We had breakfast and then continued to drive on into the desert to an arrea full of geyser`s and some incredible rockformations. Afterwards we visited a small town in the middle of the desert. We went into a little kiosk which amazingly sold anything you could possibly imagine – mars and snicker bars, beer, wine, deodorant, anything.. Just when you thought you reached the most remote place in the world… Afterwards we drove on to our accomodation for the night – a salt hotel, yes, completely made out of…. salt. The walls, the tables, chairs, beds, everything. It was a great experience to spend the night there. Before dinner a few local children came in with pan flutes and put up a little show in a way of making a bit of money for the family. The kids were about 9 or 10 years old. Eventhough it was very nice to see, it was obviously sad these children had to put up this show every night to make money. Afterwards we had dinner. Around 10PM the generator shut off and the only light we had were a few candles. Not much longer after we all went to bed.
The next morning we woke up at 5:30. We had to get up this early as we were driving off to the salt flats to catch the sunrise. Sunrise was around 7am. It was an incredible sight – eventhough it was fairly cold. Afterwards we went to an island in the middle of the salt flats covered with cactusses. We had some amazing views from the top of the island over the salt flats. We drove some more and took a lot of photos. On these salt flats it is possible to create some really funny photos due to the fact you can`t see depth as it`s all flat and white. After a few hours I started feeling really ill. I started feeling really cold and sick. I stayed in the car while the rest of the group was taking photos. Once they asked me to come for a group photo, I got out of the car and had to throw up. I felt better afterwards, but an hour later I felt sick again. I didn`t have lunch and instead stayed in the car sleeping. After lunch we went to a train cementary. I took some aspirines and started feeling a little better. An hour later we arrived at our final destination – Uyuni. I still felt pretty ill and didn`t know whether I could continue my travels or whether I had to stay the night in uyuni. While the day progressed I still felt fairly ill and knew I was not able to sit on a bus or train for another 6 hours. I booked me into a luxury hotel for 80 bolivianos (8 euro) and slept for about 16 hours.
The next morning I woke up feeling a lot better. I was still light-headed, but definitely didn`t feel as sick as I felt before. I went to look for a bus to continue my journey, but the first bus going to my next destination – Tupiza – doesn`t go earlier than 6AM the next morning. I wasn“t too upset about it, cause this would mean I would have at least one more day to chill out and have some more sleep.
If I am not feeling more ill than I do now, then I should be in Tupiza by tomorrow afternoon..
More news soon!
May 13th 2008 – May 19th 2008
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