Not because I´ve become better at managing my money. Because I´m in Bolivia, the land where a three course meal costs £2 and a litre of beer can be purchased for £1.50!
The journey over was really spectacular, one of the best trips I´ve ever made! I decided to cross over to Bolivia through the Southeast region in a 4x4, taking three days. My companions for the trip were Joel & Anne-Marie, who I´d met in La Serena, Fiona and James, who had stayed in the same hostel in San Pedro, and a rather odd Canadian called Noel.
This area is one of the most elevated in the country, with plains over 5,000 meters above sea level and peaks reaching almost 7,000 meters.
We were collected at 7am (!) and bussed it to Chilean immigration. Once clear, we headed to the Bolivian side of the boarder to get stamped into the country. I wasn´t expecting anything grand but I have to say I was surprised to find that Bolivian customs was little more than a shed in the middle of nowhere!
Anyway, I got stamped into the country, loaded my stuff onto the 4x4 and waited for the others to clear customs. One of the girls asked where the toilet was - "there´s no toilet" our guide said, "but don´t worry, you can visit the pee pee bus!". I´ve taken a nice picture of it which you can see below. But be under no illusions, the pee pee bus is a terrible terrible thing....
The first stop on the tour was Laguna Verde (Green Lagoon), in the Southwest of the altiplano, 5,000m above sea level. It´s deep green colour is caused by copper sediments in the ground and there are lots and lots of flamingos!
Now, everything I´ve ever learnt about being at altitude told me that ascending from 2,800 meters to 5,000 meters in a couple of hours was a bad idea, and as we drove on people began to feel the altitude....three people got bad headaches and Noel felt so bad he couldn´t eat. I´ve been at high altitude before but I was surprised at how easy it was to get tired out - just walking down to the lake and back up the hill to the 4x4 felt like a 100m sprint!
Next we cruised over the desert and spotted some geysers. There was a patch of ground about 100sqm with huge plumes of sulphur steaming out of the ground and pools of hot mud bubbling away.
Our next destination was Laguna Colorada (Red Lagoon), which was 40 minutes away across the desert. For the first time on the trip, the ground was quite flat and the road was solid, so our driver put his foot down After 20 minutes there was a rather pungent burning smell....we stopped to find that the back passenger tyre was kinda on fire....oh dear!
We all got out of the jeep and feebly watched as our driver jacked up the vehicle, pulled out the spare tyre and changed it over. Everytime one of us tried to help we got so out of breath due to the altitude that we had to give up. My only meaningful contribution was to take this lovely picture. What a man.
I also forgot to mention that at this altitude it is absolutely freezing. Obviously I had prepared for this by wearing shorts and flip-flops. By the time we got back into the jeep I couldn´t feel anything below my waist and feared that I was now unable to have children. Luckily the car heater was deployed and the possibility of fatherhood returned. My spirits were also lifted when I spotted this beautiful rainbow cloud.
We arrived at Laguna Colorada to find that it was full of rare James flamingos, thought to be extinct until a remote population was discovered in 1956 (I stole that fact from Wikipedia). This lagoon is red due to algee and minerals in the ground. It has huge white islands of salt that look a bit like icebergs bobbing along on the surface.
By this time almost everyone was so cold/altitude sick/drunk that it was time to drive to our shelter for the night. We had been told that it would be basic but we were surprised to find beds made out of concrete slabs and a mattress with blood and something living in it. I haven´t posted a picture as I don´t want to give anyone nightmares but it wasn´t the best.
The next day started off great - we visited a field of rocks that were in the middle of the desert. The area used to be covered in volcanic rock but the rain, snow and biting wind have carved most of it away over the years. The best part was a rock that looks like a tree.
The peaceful atmosphere was shattered by a group of drunk Israelis who jumped out a jeep, kicked a football around, tried to climb the rock and complained of altitude sickness. And people say we act badly abroad....
Anyway, we set off to see 4 lakes. At that point it started pissing it down. The rain was do bad that the roads started to wash away and progress was slow. We got to the first lake, jumped out the jeep, and jumped right back in. This annoyed our Bolivian driver, who enjoyed some peace and quiet whenever we got out of the jeep. Judging by his driving at the end of the days, he probably used the time to neck a few beers as well.
The weather at the next three lakes was even worse, so our driver decided to take us to a lake that was not on the tour - his favourite lake. I can´t remember its name but it was absolutely stunning! It was also surrounded by huge boulders just made for climbing.
The final stop was the valley of rocks, a huge valley with lots of rocks (surprisingly). There was one that looks like an eagle with its wings spread out.
We arrived in a small village to stay the night and had a wander round. There was a lovely church, lots of llamas, a weird army barracks (especially for a village with only 1000 people) and lots of 14 year-olds on mopeds. It had great character though! Thankfully, the accommodation was significantly better than the night before and we all fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows.
We woke up the next day to find everything covered in snow!! This was unexpected, as it´s currently summer, but we were at such high altitude that it was cold enough to snow.
This also meant that our 2 hour journey to the Bolivian town of Uyuni took 4 hours, and involved a lot of sliding around in the mud....but we got there in the end. Noel, who had been pretty much silent the whole journey due to altitude sickness, had suddenly become very chatty. Unfortunately, the only word he knew in Spanish was ´vamos´, which means ´let´s go!´. After the 27th time he got in the car and shouted this phrase, I could sense our driver was going to punch him. Luckily he became distracted by a French girl in another jeep that convoyed with us and everyone was friends again.
Next on the list was the train graveyard. This area contained lines and lines of old scrap trains rusting away under the sun. I immediately reverted back to a 10 year-old and tried to climb on everything!
Next we headed over to some markets near a salt mine. They were rubbish. I did manage to take this picture of two Bolivian kids on an old car. They then chased me round the market until I gave them a Boliviano each (10p). These kids will go far.
It was time for the final destination, and the one that everyone had been waiting for - the salt flats! This huge area used to be an inland sea before it dried up thousands of years ago leaving an almost perfectly flat crust of bright white salt. As there has been lots of rain recently, it is covered in about 4cm of water giving a spectacular mirror effect. I have never seen anything quite like it in my life, it was like standing on a perfect mirror....
There was also the opportunity to take lots of ridiculous pictures. Here is one of me crushing Joel and one of me holding a minature James and Fiona.
We spent a ridiculous amount of time taking stupid pictures before it was time to return to Uyuni and the end of the trip. What an amazing three days!!!
So I´m now in Bolivia proper. Next stop is Potosi, the highest city in the world. The picture below is of the back of our jeep. The inscription sums up my traveling style quite well.
It reads "don´t follow me, because I am also lost".
that big salt flat looks like somthing from a movie. how very cool!
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