Uyuni and the fantastical Salt Flats

After spending the day on the bus doing nothing we made up for it when we arrive in Uyuni, having the most productive 3 hours of our trip so far. We checked into a hostel, booked onto our salt flats tour for the following morning, bought some more woollies, ate some delicious pizza and packed for our trip. Boom.

For once we didn't have a tour starting at the crack of dawn, which gave us time to get our bus ticket sorted for the day we got back (Uyuni really isn't a place you want to hang around for long). After a proactive morning, we met our group and fellow tourers for the next three days. There was Grover our tour guide and skilled photographer, The Frenchies (A lovely couple who go by the names Herve and Ariane), and last but not least The Spaniards (two amigas called Lorena and Amalia). With a full 4x4 we headed to our first stop in the train cemetery, where we had fifteen minutes to take as many photos as possible!

Hands up if you love trains
 

Eery

We then headed off into the bumpy dessert in search of the world famous salt flats. We didn't have to wait too long before the vast expanse of glittering white salt seemed to stretch out infinitely ahead of us. Grover pulled up at Fish Isle/Island; a solitary island of cacti, which was also home to a mini rabbit/kangaroo that we were lucky enough to spot. After begrudgingly paying 30 bolivianos entrance fee, we hiked up for thirty minutes to the top and were awarded with some pretty cool views. We were also informed by an English-speaking guide that the salt flats had formed after a sea had dried up, leaving behind the mineral-rich land.

Fish Isle

Floater

Looks painful

After a quick lunch of cold steak we were back on the "road" and driving further into the white stuff and it was finally time for the infamous perspective photo shoot, which we had thoroughly prepared for!

For too long Kat had been playing Imy like a puppet..

Until Imy had enough and tried to blow her away..

But when a two headed monster turned up, they had to reunite forces..unfortunately Imy had her arm bitten off..

After all the action they got thirsty for a big ol' drink..

And Kat got herself a supersized oreo...all in all it was a hard day.

We rocked up to our hotel and were thoroughly surpised to see that it not only had brick walls and clean toilets, but that everything, including the walls, floor and tables, were made out of salt! Before tucking into a simple dinner of chicken and chips, Herve and Ariane tutored us in the game of yam's, which Imy took to like a duck to water while Kat's luck seemed to be letting her down.

After a good and surprisingly warm night's sleep, we jumped out of bed ready for another day of exploring the incredible area. The day consisted of watching flamingos, marveling at a semi-active volcano, snapping pic of Salvador Dali's tree. We finished off the day with a stop at a lake that was bright red and orange thanks to the live organisms that lived in it. The second night's sleep was not so cozy, but luckily we had been warned before our trip, and we were armed with hefty sleeping bags.

Hey birds..

Rojo

Oooh famous rock

Team photo

We had a pretty awful night, thanks to some VERY inconsiderate drunkards, we were up at 5am for our final day on the salt flats. Then we waited...and waited...and waited for Grover. Eventually he turned up, mumbling some rubbish about losing his keys, which were in his pocket all along! Silly Grover. First call of the day were the geysers. They were mental and looked like something from Mars, as they bubbled away. Second stop was a green lake that was unfortunately not very green because there wasn't much wind... Finally we stopped off at a natural hot spring, which was pretty blooming natural. We defrosted ourselves for a nice relaxing half an hour before heading back to the car and continuing our journey back to Uyuni.

Gaasssy

The not-so-green-green lake

Chilling..or rather warming!

With two hours to spare, we gobbled down a pizza and got on our ten-hour night bus to Villazon, on the border of Argentina. Finally Kat had her wish fulfilled and we were put on a real warts-and-all Bolivian night bus, where the windows wouldn't shut and the bus was filled with locals. We couldn't believe our eyes when we realised we were heading back to the slat flats, a trip that we had previously done in the comfort of a 4x4. It's safe to say that our bottoms were a tad bruised by the end of the journey and we didn't sleep a wink. 

La Paz

The scenery between Lake Titi and La Paz was some of the best we’ve seen so far, although the boat ferry across the lake was slightly dubious. Having loved Loki in Mancora, we opted for more of the same and checked into Loki La Paz. We dropped off our bags and rushed straight out to by some llama jumpers, as we had held off throughout Ecuador and Peru, thinking we would save ourselves a fortune…. We saved about 5 pounds in total. On our walk back we came across a woman selling hot dogs and burgers for 40p, so we ate three each. With our bellies lined, we made our way up to the Loki bar with every intention of a big night out. Unfortunately, we both had to put ourselves to bed embarrassingly early.

Last view of the Lake

With severe hangovers (we blame the altitude), we gave ourselves a nice lie in – Kat had little choice, as Imy wouldn’t move. Finally, after much coaxing, we went for round two of retail therapy. We also booked on to Death Road, feeling it was a legitimate excuse for an early night.

With Kat’s nerves in tatters, it was now Imy’s turn to coax Kat out of bed. We got a minibus to the start of Death Road, where it was so cold that there were icy puddles everywhere and we were surrounded by snow. The first part was easy peezy, as it was paved road, but the cold bit through our gloves and it felt like our thumbs were going to drop off. Luckily, we were heading down, where it got warmer and warmer. Eventually, we arrived at the real deathly part of the road, where the road was dusty and gravelly, with massive loose rocks everywhere. Not to mention the 400m vertical drop to our left hand side. We were reassured by the guide that he was trained in mountain rescue, but unfortunately his rope would only reach 100m, so as long as we weren’t, and we quote “f**king stupid”, we should be fine.

Start of the Death Road

Famous shot

Bike crew

Death roadies

Dare-devil

Scared-y-kat

Crazy chicas

long way down

Kat and her mates

After three hours of bone-shaking mountain biking, we made it to the bottom, without a scratch on us! The same couldn’t be said for everyone though, as one of our friend’s back wheel came off his bike, and another’s brakes locked on, sending him over the handlebars. Luckily, we all lived to tell the tale.

Parrot

The next day we ventured on another free walking, having realized that all we had seen of La Paz was the tourist alpaca street. We were joined by a pair of fellow Geordies, Andrea and Mark, and led by the wonderful Sergio. He showed us some great things, including San Pedro prison, which has been made infamous by the book Marching Powder. With the threat of deportation hanging over us, we decided it wouldn’t be the best idea to try to go in. A chicken-bus ride later, and we were treated to one of the best views of La Paz. 

San Fransico church

Spanish style street

Prisoner in his room at San Pedro prison

So many pigeons

Fetus

Jumping Brits

To make the most of our last night in La Paz, we entered the pool competition and Imy was the last woman standing! 

Bolivia: Lake Titicaca

After hearing such great things about how cheap and beautiful the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca is, we headed straight across the border for Copacabana. We checked ourselves into a craphole…but boy was it cheap! It may be hot in the day, but by night it is chilly as hell. So we found ourselves huddled around a fire, fully clothed, hogging all the heat.

Church

Trying to be local...again

Unfortunately, we awoke to a rather gloomy, stormy day, but being on a tight time schedule we stuck with our guns and got the boat across to Isla del Sol. This may have been a mistake, as there were too few seats, so we ended up sat on the floor, surrounded by people vomiting due to the rough water. We went to the north of the island and found ourselves in a pretty deserted little town and in a half-built hostel. Determined to make the most of the day, we walked even further north to find some Inca ruins. Legends says that Isla del Sol is the spot where the sun came out of the earth and made its way into the sky. It is also apparently the place where the first Incas appeared. So basically, it’s quite an important place.

Black and white is always a winner

MEG! Where did you spring from?

Might want to lay off the hot dogs

So strong, so sexy

Unfortunately, the heavens opened on us yet again and we found ourselves trudging back to the half-built hostel sodden and without a glimmer of a smile.

As luck would have it, after a freezing cold and breezy night (the windows didn’t work very well), the sun finally made an appearance and we set off on a trek down to the south of the island with sunshine beating down on us. It was a beautiful walk and we could finally appreciate the splendor of the lake and the snow-capped mountains that surround it. The walk wasn’t too hard either. We had a few hours to kill before the boat back, so we hung out at a nice little restaurant beside the dock, and thawed ourselves out in the sun. 

Snow-capped peaks

Receiving petals from an admirer

The only form of transport

I'm so happy, I could jump

There it is

SUPERFAT

Nice crib

Laundry day

Unfortunately, the better weather didn’t result in a calmer boat ride back, and yet again we were left feeling sick and with the smell of other people’s stomach contents in our nostrils. 

Arequipa

Another day, another walking tour! We’re becoming quite fond of these. This one was with a bit of a twist though, as the guide took us to loads of cheap restaurants, where we were given little tasters. We also got taken to a mini zoo thing, where we could get up close and personal with the llamas! Although, we were both a little scared that they would spit at us, so we didn’t actually get very close.

Awaiting their fate

Llama factory

Showing us how it's done

Church

Building

Mountain

After the walking tour, we accompanied some fellow Brits to a tourist agency to book onto a one day Colca Canyon tour (appaz it’s deeper than the Grand Canyon). We weren’t invited to the Brits’ special meal (RUDE), so we went and found ourselves a bargain of a dinner – 3 course meal with a glass of wine and a cocktail for a fiver! Bargain ahoy.

Well posh grub

It was a 3am start for the Canyon - of course it couldn’t start at a reasonable hour. So we snoozed in the car as we climbed to a ridiculous altitude. After a quick bite to eat, we finally got to see the main event: the flight of the condors. They are massive, ugly birds that swooped all around the canyon, looking for some brekky. The rest of the day was spent hopping in and out of the car for photos at different viewpoints.

There it is

Flight of the condors

Stop donkeying around

Whereeee'ssss Kat?

Oh, there it is again!

Excuse me mate, you've got a bird on your head.

The highest point, we could hardly breathe!

Vicuña: the rarest of all the llamas

That evening, we had a couple of drinks in the bar and played some beer pong before heading to another bar for a boogie. 

Next stop: Bolivia!