Bolivian Salt Flats - Day 1

So we booked a Bolivian Salt Flat tour from an incredibly kind and gentle man named Gabriel, who runs his own tour agency in La Paz. This is the second time I've booked a trip through a travel agency where the owners were a family and there was a child in the shop at the time we booked. I'm thinking this is a good sign for the future, because family-oriented travels agents are working to feed the family. Anyway, we book the trip, which includes a 12- hour bus ride from La Paz to Uyuni, Bolivia. Gabriel assured us it was a nice bus with seats that recline into a bed, so we were fired up. We left La Paz about 7:30pm on Thursday night, and Gabriel walked us out to our cab from his tour agency. As we were saying goodbye he then says he's coming with us, and proceeds to not only get in the cab, but then pays for the cab and walks us into the bus station and brings us directly to our bus. Don't believe anyone that says Bolivian's are not good people. Gabriel was one of the kindest people I've met in my short time traveling.

So we get on our bus - me and Andreas (the German) and we're on the top floor of a double-decker - kinda towards the back. Andreas immediately reclines his seat to show it's a full bed - YES. I go to recline mine and…it…doesn't…work. Really? The only seat on the bus that doesn't recline. I tell one of the employees walking around the bus and he says he's gonna help but I'm not sure he is gonna do anything. Then just before we are about to take off, another dude comes up and tells me to move a row back cause no one is sitting there. Phew! We both move back a row and are now in the last seats on the bus, but they both recline the entire way and so life is good. About five minutes later, a couple gets on and sits in the seats in front of us. Andreas and I look at one another as the dude tries to recline his seat and it doesn't work - was hard not to smile and feel some relief that our seats worked.

15-or-so hours later we arrive in the town of Uyuni, which is basically in the Bolivian desert, but with some amazing mountains surrounding it. The town is very country - no street signs and many of the buildings aren't finished (or don't have real roofs). We get off the bus and there is a woman waiting with our names on a piece of paper (thanks Gabriel) and she takes us to the tour agency where we are told that our tour leaves in about an hour. More importantly, we are told that we cannot bring our big packs - only day packs - for our 3-day / 2-night tour. Ouch. OK - so we pack new pairs of underwear and socks for each day, and go grab some breakfast. Oh yeah, now would be a good time to tell you that Andreas and I decided to do the Spanish-speaking tour to save $90 each. Seemed like a good idea at the time, but as we meet our driver and the four other passengers, we start to rethink our decision. No way around it now! (Andreas speaks zero Spanish, btw). My Spanish is getting better by the day, so I'm doing well at the early translations, such as how far it is to the first salt flats - and what the basic gist of their history. The other people in our 1996 Toyota Landcruiser are two couples - one from Santiago Chile and the other from Buenos Aires. We later find out that the Buenos Aires couple are just friends.

The first stop is about 45 minutes outside of Uyuni - a train graveyard. Apparently Bolivia used to ship a lot of minerals to Chile but that stopped about 40 years ago, so the train yard is ghostly and very cool (pics below). We stay there for a bit and then head about 45 minutes away to the Solar de Uyuni - the salt flats. These are the pics that everyone shows - glass like images where the sky and the ground are inseparable. It's hard to explain so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. From my point of view though, it was very peaceful and humbling. We ate lunch out in the middle of the salt flats, and then drove to a little market town on the way out of the flats, followed by about 3-4 hours of driving to our first night's sleeping location. The town we get to is up further in the mountains, and it's also beautiful (the views, not the town). The town itself is as country as I've seen in South America - barely running water and not many finished roofs. Andreas and I take a walk out of town and see a heard of llamas (pics below). Unfortunately as I got in closer for a pic with the llamas, their shepherd rides over on his mountain bike and gets angry with me. I didn't understand most of what he said, but we walked away nicely and I snapped a pic of the shepherd just so you could enjoy it :)

After that we headed back for a low-key supper and then hit the hay. Initially we were all put in the same room, but at dinner our guide came up to me and asked if I wanted to stay in a separate room with bigger beds. He figured I was too big to stay in bunk beds, which I greatly appreciated, so me and Andreas got our own room which was intended for 8 people - all to ourselves. Score!

Hope you enjoy the pics of the first day - some truly unforgettable images which will inspire me forever.