Salt Planet

JG: We left La Paz Saturday via overnight bus for small town Uyuni in southern Bolivia. As is the custom in S.A., the bus's a/c was set at about the freezing mark (awesome), but nonetheless 12 hours later we arrived. Uyuni is a sleepy town with merchants every three feet in the city center, but the main attraction is the Salt Flats tour. After an exhausting process researching tour operators (service and reliability are inconsistent at best, and there are ~80 such companies within a 3 block radius of the center plaza), we rolled the dice and went with a family run agency near the town square.

Three days and two nights with two other couples takes you to an extensive area of salt flats created by several prehistoric lakes drying up, leaving behind a spectacular stretch (almost 11,000 sq/km) of concentrated salt desert. We toured via 4x4 the flats along with several lagoons, an active volcano, amazing gorges and rock formations, and natural geysers and hot spring the final morning - a total of 1,100 km driven. Accommodations were meager, with electricity sparse and heat nonexistent (overnight lows were probably -5°C), but we stayed at a boarding house made entirely of salt the first night. (The second night we 'technically' had a roof over our heads - 'nuff said.)

The trip was a blazing success thanks to our guide Djoni, and our new Polish and Slovenian friends - we may even get together again in the summer when we make our way to Europe, and if their schedules allow. Off to Chilean border immediately after our excursion--

SS: An overnight bus ride is never pleasant but when you wake up in the middle of the night with your hair literally frozen to the window ... we are in a different league. 

The Salt Flats are like nothing I've ever seen before! Simple 'Pachamama' (Mother Earth) beauty that you can't get enough of. Days are relatively warm, inside the 4x4 is crazy hot and nights are beyond freezing cold, so layer dressing is the only way to travel these days. It's challenging to know that it was 28°C back in Canada as I'm in 2 pairs of pants, 4 layers and 2 jackets, a toque, and alpaca woven mitts. Not forgetting my staple 'blanket skirt' over all of this. 

The 3rd morning of the tour we arrived at the Hot Springs at a very chilly 7am - stripped our layers and changed into our swimwear poolside, in front of all, with no shelter. Brrr!!!! Finally I could feel my toes again! Our new friends were awesome and we have plans to meet up again in a few months when we puddle hop to their continent - I'm really looking forward to the reunion.

I can't wait to wear sandals again....