Luckily enough, on Thursday morning, things seemed to begin to run smoothly and we were soon on the minibus that would take our group to the Bolivian border so we could then begin our 3 day jeep tour! There were supposed to be 9 people booked onto the trip, which would mean a nice split of 4 people in one jeep, and 5 in the other! Super, we'd all get a little extra room as we had been assured by Estrella that 6 people was the maximum number that would be in the jeep. It was quite amusing to get yet another Chile stamp in my passport, less than 48 hours after the previous one, and again my bag was searched, a little more thoroughly this time, but once again, nothing was unpacked, phew! After a while, we arrived at the Bolivian border, a wooden hut in the middle of nowhere - there was no bag searching or any formalities really, just sign in, pay your fee and get another stamp!
Edgar, our friendly guide had our breakfast ready by the minibus once we were all officially in and in the bitter, biting wind, we were extremely grateful for mugs of Milo! It was then time to transfer to the jeeps. 2 people had not turned up, we think due to illness, so we wondered how they would split the 7 of us up. Should have seen it coming - all of us were going to be squashed into one jeep! That´s me, Julia and Katy (who are luckily both quite petite) and Phil, Paul, Dave and Otmar (who are all over 6 feet tall!) I quickly jumped into the spare front seat, so technically there was room for 7 people, but it meant that it would be a real squash in the back!
However, we had a great group of people and soon we were off into Bolivia. Edgar asked if anyone would like to put on their iPod, so I jumped at the chance! It seemed appropriate to listen to the Rough Guide to Andes Music, and imagine my joy when Edgar started singing along heartily to the first track - it turns out that most f the songs on there were Bolivian! It soon gave way to the Indiana Jones them tune and a collection of 80s rock and driving songs before the guys asked for something from a more recent decade! It was time to swop iPods!
Our first stops were at Lagunas Blanca and Verde and then we had a dip in the hot springs! That was interesting, to say the least, as it was absolutely freezing and there were no changing rooms, but it was lovely and warm once in the water! Because of the high altitude, Edgar recommended that we spend no more than 10 minutes in the water, but it was difficult to brave getting out again! I emerged and sprinted to the jeep, getting changed in the front seat! Soon, we were off again and saw Dalis Rocks (in the distance, so not really!) and then arrived at Laguna Colorada that afternoon. It s a stunning lake, coloured red with flamingoes and and amazing backdrop of mountains. We had a delicious lunch at the refuge where we would spend the night and then took a walk along the lake up to a viewpoint where the view was outstanding!
Llama at Laguna Colorada
That night, by around 6pm, we were all shattered! It was getting cold and so we all played cards in the refuge and drank hot coca tea. Dinner was again delicious and by the time we had finished eating, we were all ready for bed! Our room was great, seven single beds squashed in, but at least each one had lots of thick blankets. The girls got ready for bed first and I wore three sweaters, tights, leggings, tracksuit pants, alpaca socks, a woolly hat, two hoods, a scarf and gloves. Once, in bed, I was warm, except for my nose, but that was about it! Luckily, although it wasn't quite a perfect night's sleep, it was a million miles better than I had anticipated and I wasn't cold! On Friday morning, I was awake early, so I just walked straight out of bed and went out to watch sunrise. I was a bit late, but could see that if I walked back to the viewpoint above the lake, I'd get a great view when the sun made it above the mountains to illuminate the valley on the other side. It took me an hour to get there and back, but it was worth it - my breath froze into white crystals on my scarf and the altitude was killing me, but at least I did it! When I made t back to the room at 7.30, the others were just waking and were greeted by the sight of me looking like Scott of the Antarctic!
After breakfast, we set off on Day 2. We were still up for it, but a little more subdued than one Day 1. High altitude is extremely tiring and it was hard-going to the boys to be cooped up in the jeep. I moved from the front seat into the back with the girls. It was OK, but with me being taller, it wasn´t very comfortable at all! We saw more stunning lakes, the Tree Rock and had time to walk around one (whose name I can't remember) that had more flamingoes. There was a lot more driving to do that day in order to be by the salt flats that night, ready to set off early for sunrise on Day 3. That night, we stayed in a little village called Villa Martin, in what seemed like a homestay. It was very basic and we'd been a little spoiled on the first night, especially as we had all been led to believe that the second night was to be spent in a hostel. Anyway, we made the most of it, the family was lovely and the little girl there was hilarious - until she made me crawl around on all fours making cat noises, and then proceeded to chase me with a wet scrubbing brush!
We settled down for another reasonably early night after a game of "Who Am I?" and braced ourselves for the early morning wake-up call. It arrived in the form of Edgar banging very loudy on our windows and doors at 4.30 am on Saturday! We emerged into the freezing darkness, packed and ready to go by 5am. Paul, bless him, had only just gone to sleep as well, as he's been ill for most of the night. It was very quiet in the jeep that morning as we drove onto the salt flats. No lights, no music, no chatter. We arrived at Isla del Incahuaca, a rocky outcrop covered in cacti and we were to climb to the top to watch the sunrise. It was cold, steep, dark - I was out of breath almost immediately - and way too early for such activities! Of course, it was worth it as the views across the salt were amazing.
Once the sun was up, we were greeted by Edgar and pancakes and hot drinks! It was still really cold, so we wandered onto the salt to warm up in the morning sun. We thought we would be moving on to another part to take or photos, but after 30 mins f standing around getting bored, be checked with Edgar and apparently this was it, our salt flat stop! So, we then began to take all kinds of wacky photos, made possible by the blank landscape. Unfortunately, by then I was really shattered, so I was short of ideas and I was taking most of the photos, so I'm not in that many of them after all, but we did get some really good ones in the end...
B O L I V I A
There was a little confusion at that point as we were supposed to be going to Fisherman´s Island as well, it was on the itinerary, but when we asked Edgar about it, he stopped the jeep and got quite defensive about it all. We only wanted to know why our printed itinerary was a little different from what he said we would do, but he seemed quite offended. By the way, I forgot to mention that he only spoke Spanish and Otmar was our translator for most of the trip! Anyway, we carried on after a while, good job really as Paul was still feeling rotten and the jeep was getting really hot in the morning sun! We visited the salt museum, salt mines and the train cemetery at Uyuni, before having lunch at Edwin's house. After that, he dropped us off at the Estrella office in Uyuni and thus ended our jeep tour!
It was worth all it, even though at times it was tiring and cold and we hadn´t showered for days and were wearing the same dirty clothes´. It was worth it even though we were squashed into a little jeep and needed way more sleep - we had a great group and a great guide, and even though some of the other tour groups we met along the way seemed to have a few extra luxuries here and there, they didn't seemed to get on quite as well with each other as we all did, the Magnificent Seven! However, by 1pm on Saturday when we were left in Uyuni with no idea what to do next, I have to be honest and say I felt pretty wrecked. I needed a damn good rest, but it wasn´t to be. I suggest you mentally prepare to the next installment, I know I will...
0 comments:
Post a Comment