Things are interesting in Bolivia at the moment... The entire transport network is on strike, there are blockades and demonstrations across the country. Why? A few days ago the price of petrol doubled overnight. The government can no longer afford to subsidise fuel and is sick of seeing fuel get smuggled cheaply out of the country. This means it is proving very difficult for us to cross the border. The bus station in Tupiza has signs everywhere claiming ´No salidas.´ No departures. Luckily we are only 3 hours from the border, so we are in a better situation than some people who are stuck in the Bolivian heartland.
Our Salar de Uyuni adventure started 4 days ago in Tupiza, the ´Wild West´ of Bolivia. We were amped for the adventure as we had just done a 5 hour horse trek through the steep canyons and rusty red mountain ranges. At various points along the trek my horse spasmodically started to gallop, a slightly frightening experience! Our horses dropped down several steep ravines and we had to cling onto the saddle so we wouldn´t tumble nastily down the ravine. It was an other-worldly experience as our horses navigated through deep red chasms, canyons and through vast expanses of cacti.
The next day we jumped onto a trusty Toyota Land Cruiser, the start of our Salar (salt falt) adventure: Day 1. We shared the 4WD with an eccentric Belgian man called Jerome who was addicted to coca leaves and chomped them while smoking cigarettes in the car. The car weaved through deep canyons and over ridges with steep gullies on either side.
The desertland was like something out of STAR WARS or Laurence of Arabia. At times we felt like we were a space probe on Mars. Eventually we bunkered down at our accommodation at a very poor rural village. Our Christmas Eve dinner was llama meat and delicious Bolivian veggies.
Day 2: We entered a national park and let ourselves simmer in some lovely hot pools near a pink lagoon with pink flamingos trotting through the lime green marshlands. We wandered through some ancient Quechuan ruins and drove past interesting gold mines.
The hills surrounding us were only 25km from Chile, they shimmered with a rusty red hue (iron) and green/yellow tinge (sulphur). I shuddered to think what would happen if our 4WD broke down in the middle of this relentless desert. There was absolutely no greenery or visible signs of life. Our guide told us that this environment was similar to parts of Mars.
Our 4WD ploughed on up to 5200m, possibly the height of Everest base camp. We hopped out and walked through some simmering geysers and sulphuric hot pools. The stench was very reminiscent of Rotorua. At this altitude it felt like someone had tied my stomach into knots and every footstep was a challenge.
We settled down for the night at a collection of shacks at the border of a pink lagoon, near the geysers. One person in our team was having serious problems with the altitude, but some ´Soroche´ pills eventually put him right. Digestion and ´Bolivia Belly´ was a constant nightmare for us all.
Day 3: Our 4WD ploughed through canyons and into an expanse of interesting rock structures. We were surrounded by smoking volcanoes and the relentless heat of the Bolivian desert. Eventually our 4WD surfaced into a land full of coral rocks - the coral was revealed after the lake evaporated at the end of the Ice Age. Our accommodation for this night was stunning - The entire hotel was made of salt. The bed, the tables, chairs, lampshades, the walls...Everything was salty (I licked it just to make sure!)
Day 4: Our jeep powered on to the edge of the Salar. We saw an incredible white landscape stretching 200km: The Salar de Uyuni. The whiteness was blinding and like something from another planet. We climbed to the top of a cactus island, where some of the cacti are 1200 years old. Words cannot describe the isolation and alien nature of this place.
We were given the opportunity to walk around on the Salar - a very special and other worldly experience. The salt chrystallises in a strange hexagonal pattern. I also came across strange potholes filled with salty water. Everyone was in awe at the pure white salt which stretched for miles and we all took some crazy perspective photos with a toy dinosour.
We came across a Salt Hotel, where a NZ flag was flapping on top of a salt altar. It was a very proud moment to see the NZ flag in the middle of the Bolivian salt desertland!
After some more fun four wheel driving to the edge of the Salar, our adventure was over...Or so we thought. We discovered in the village that Bolivia was in lockdown because the entire transport system was on strike. We would not be able to take the bus to the Argentine border after all...
Luckily, we managed to convince our guide to give us a ride back to Tupiza. Along the way we stopped for llama meat and made a sacrifice to the ´driving Gods´ which involved having to smoke a sacrificial cigarette and pour copious amounts of coca leaves and beer into the shrine. Behind a little glass window inside the shrine were little toy trucks, cars and a baby Jesus. Somewhat reluctantly, but respecting this sacrificial practice, I chewed coca the funny tasting coca leaves. The mood was sombre, as our guide took the sacrifice very seriously.
And here we are in Tupiza trying to get across the Argentine border....
Brittany
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