Salt lakes, volcanoes and flamingos

After a straightforward border crossing into Bolivia we headed to Uyuni for a salt lake tour. We decided to get the train from Villazon on the Argentinean border to Uyuni where we were to go on a salt lake trip.

How hard can it be to buy a ticket for a train one might ask? Well pretty hard here it would seem. We got to the ticket office at the station to find they had no power and were refusing to issue tickets for the (four times weekly) train. We thought fair enough, until we bumped into other travelers who had been waiting days to get a ticket. Not a good start. However, after four hours of waiting and no signs of improvements, one of the guys we were with managed to persuade one of the train military guys to insist the ticket office issue tickets. At last after 4 hours we had tickets!

The train journey was pretty mad. The train averaged around 20 kms an hour. No joke. Very bumpy too, but the scenery was pretty good. The six of us got stuck into the local beers and played cards to help speed up the journey. We arrived in Uyuni at midnight, shattered, cold but pleased to be here.

The next day we set off on a three day tour of the salt lakes and the surrounding area. The group we went with consisted of two Swiss girls, an Irish guy and an American guy.  What fun we would have other the next few days. Our tour guide for the trip, Obed, was a very friendly, knowledgable guy who spoke very good English (fortunately for us!). The tour itinerary here is pretty standard, with only the accommodation and minor details differing. If you do go on one of these trips, make sure to haggle on the price. We did not know about this, and so ended up paying the full asking price whereas others paid a significant amount less.

Day 1:

After a brief trip to a bizarre train cemetery, seemingly a result of an ex-president's love of trains, we headed to the salt lake for the main event. The salt lake, as you can imagine, is very white. And very salty. As the sun was shining the light was pretty blinding, even with shades on. We headed out to a small town of around 200 where the families produce commercial salt from the lake. It is amazing to see such small kids bagging 1kg bags of salt. We were told a family could produce 3000 bags of salt a day. I guess this is how these economies work. After buying a few little trinkets made from salt, we headed out to a hotel made entirely of salt. It is no longer used regularly, but all the same it pretty cool. Can't imagine how it stays in one piece when it rains heavily. Still, I guess there is not a lack of materials to rebuild it. From there we went to a place called "Fish Island", named after it's shape. The place is a lone island in the middle of the salt desert covered in huge cacti. Llama barbecue for lunch. Yum, I think.

From there it was on to our hotel for the night, via the centre of the salt lake where it is at it's most white to take the mandatory silly photos of people standing on hands etc. They do look quite good though! The hotel was also made of salt, although this time it was on the edge of the salt lake rather than in the middle. Very comfortable too, although the floor was made of large (5cm diameter) balls of salt so no walking bare foot. In the evening we visited some old Inca caves where there were mummies - quite strange.

Day 2:

It had rained pretty heavily overnight, so there was less brilliant white around than the day before. Awoke pretty early to a good breakfast. We set off south towards the lakes where many flamingos reside. On the way we had to traverse the Salar de Chiguana. However due to the overnight rain some 4x4s had become stuck in the mud. We were doing fine until the truck we were following (too) closely also got stuck. Once the momentum was lost, we also got stuck. Quite amusing as when other trucks stopped to help they got stuck too. We eventually managed to get ourselves and the other trucks free and headed on to the the first lake.

The lake itself was pretty spectacular, and as there was no wind it was mirror-like. We saw our first flamingos of the trip. Hard to believe they eat stuff in these lakes which contain large amounts of salt or borax or something else not very tasty. 

After 3 more pretty lakes, many large 6000m volcanoes, lunch and a desert full of strange rocks, including one that almost resembles a tree, we arrived at the place where we were to spend the second night. This was near Lagunda Colorada, a pink lake. There are 80,000 flamingos, consisting of 3 different types, here all year apparently. There certainly seemed like a lot. We walked around the lake around sunset to amazing views. The skies turned golden, which when combined with the mirror like lakes certainly made for a breath taking time. It is really tough moving around quickly here as the lake is at 4,600m, especially uphill. We have not been that high before. Dinner and wine followed. Our first taste of Bolivian wine. Hmmm...ok. However, we will endeavor to check out more and report back.

Day 3

Up at 4am after not much sleep. Bleery eyed we headed upwards to the top of the huge volcano at 5000m. Then a short decent into the crater where all the geezers are. It was still pretty dark but you could see the steam busting upwards from them and you could certainly feel the heat of them when standing nearby -pretty amazing. Some of them were huge and bubbling!

After the volcano the drove down to the hot pool to have a soak. Lovely to get into the hot water as we were all pretty cold. Sat and watched the end of the sunrise then had breakfast.

We then headed for the Chilean border where we dropped of the two swiss girls before heading onwards to Laguna Verde: a beautiful turquoise lake surrounded by volcanos. Then back to Laguna Colrado for some lunch.

The afternoon was spent making our way back to Uyuni via a few small villages. We stopped off at San Cristobal where a new silver and gold mine is being developed. Arrived back in Uyuni around 7pm.

Fantastic tour!