Three days on mars

After the senda verde we hopped onto a night bus to Uyuni. I think I've spoken about the state of Bolivian roads before but this was ridiculous. I wouldn't even put it down as our worst journey because it was so ridiculous it was kind of funny. From about 2am onwards it felt as if we were driving as fast as was physically possible over a corrugated road. It felt like we were been launched into space. For 6 hours. 

But we got there in the end. Uyuni is a pretty bleak town in the middle of nowhere which has become a tourist hub as it is the first stop on the salt flats tour. The salt flats have been on our to do list since we first decided to come to south America but we were a bit nervous as you hear endless horror stories about the tour operators. Plus you're stuck in a jeep with you group so it really depends on who you end up with. Luckily our group was lovely - a Dutch Brazilian guy, his Dutch girlfriend and a Polish girl. All really positive, easy to talk to types!

Our driver Theo was less than interested in us, but he was sober and the jeep didn't break down so I will still rate the tour as a success. (one of the reviews for a different company tells of how thier driver got so drunk one of the tourists had to drive the jeep on the second day. From what we´ve heard this is not rare)

His answers to our enquiries about the salt flats and how much salt is produced involved such insights as 'a lot' and 'not much'. Although he was very precise about when tourism fist hit Uyuni (1984). In fact, he glazed over a bit. Back then his customers were 'millionaires', not the poor students he has to put up with these days. They were 'real adventurers' back then. They never complained about the car. 





We decided from that point on not to mention the fact that there was a huge crack in the windscreen, the windows wouldn't close, one door didn't close properly and the speedometer and fuel gage didn't work.

In any case the scenery was incredible. Totally lived up to our expectations and it really did feel like we were on mars for three days. 

Weirdly enough, our most magical moment was watching the full moon rise over the desert on our first night. It was so bright none of knew what it was, it felt a bit apocalyptic. 

We finished the tour by having a lovely hot thermal bath at sunrise at 4900 meters above sea level. Mmmmm. 

After the tour we popped over the border to San pedro de Atacama in Chile. It's a really nice little hippy town - a bit like a Brighton in the desert. In fact if I ever have to listen to badly played pan pipes again I may have to hurt someone.

Coming into chile made me realise once again how different Andean culture is. As soon as we crossed the border you could feel the andean spirit leaving: There were road signs and speed regulations etc. plus the people in chile talk really animatedly and look you in the eye which never seems to happen in Bolivia or Peru. 

The highlight of our stay there was the star tour. The sky is so clear there that it is considered to be the best place on earth to star gaze. We went on a guided tour of the sky with a French astrologer who took us out of the town to look at the milky way using an impressive laser pointy thing to point out stars and constellations. Then we got to look through various huge telescopes at planets, galaxies and super novas. It was really cool and our guide was super enthusiastic. Which is always nice.

After a few days in San pedro  me and dermot had to go our seperate ways; him on a bus to argentina so he could get home to start his phd. And me, back into a jeep and accross the desert... Return to Bolivia!