The whole journey to Uyuni in southern Bolivia took 3 days. Each day saw a completely different landscape
Day one we began by visiting several laguna´s, each a different colour, high in the volcano strewn mountain ranges dividing Chile and Bolivia. We also stopped at a hot spring situated at an altitude of 4200m and the incredible Sol de Manana Geyser Basin at 4950m! We finished the day at visiting the surreal Laguna Colorada. A laguna that's water is a bright red colour as a result of algae growing within. It is also home to hundred's of flamingos making a spectacular sight!
Day two began with a trip to a collection of desert rock formations cause by erosion of the different density volcanic rock. This was followed by several more laguna´s including the aquamarine coloured Laguna Verde at 5000m altitude. In the afternoon we visited the basin of one of the (long dormant) volcano's to see the bizarre lava formations. We finished the day arriving at a hostel made of salt on the edge of the Salar de Uyuni
Day three began with an early start to watch the sun rise on the otherworldly sight that is the Salar de Uyuni salt flat. This was followed by a visit to a volcanic cacti strewn island in the middle of the salt flat itself. The next few hours were spent viewing the salt flat from various different angles before we arrived at the edge of the town of Uyuni. The last sight of the trip was the railway graveyard, a collection of rusting steam trains and carriages that used be used to transport minerals from the region before prices made the extraction uneconomical.
The trip complete I stopped in Uyuni for two nights to wait for the train to Oruro, my next stop on the way to La Paz. Although I´d been told there was nothing to do in Uyuni I made the most of it. First up on arriving I found a bar where I could watch the Champions League final. That done I explored the entertainment options Uyuni had to offer. First up was the best pizza I´ve had since travelling at Minuteman Pizza, a restaurant run by an American. Next up was a few beers with some friends I made along the way before bed.
My full day in Uyuni I visited the local museum and predictably went to a local football match! The train journey was a pleasant overnight one to the city of Oruro .
Oruro is not really on the standard traveller route through Bolivia but I decided to stay overnight, I was glad I did. although Oruro wasn´t much to look at it had a nice central square, a great market and in the evening I had really good fun having a few beers in a local bar.
La Paz was only 3 hours by bus so the next nooning I headed to the bus station top catch one of the regular buses...
(Apologies for the lack of pictures and updates, I´ve been having technical difficulties also known as a dead iPhone)
sounds a bit like my week...
ReplyDeleteday one went to kings cross via bounds green, there's not supposed to be much life in bounds green but i saw a log-like mahogany dog turd on the way to the station. Sat two down from the priority seat on the tube but still had to give up my seat to the pregnant lady who got on at manor house (cos - despite what you might think of me - it turned out i was the first non-cnut seated on the carriage).
day two went to kings cross via bounds green, a car driving about 60mph in a 30 zone went through a red light at the station, none of the locals were surprised by this, no-one was hurt. It was sunny and my hayfever played up until the piriton kicked in. My eye is still a bit red now though after i rubbed it. I think i have an ingrowing eyelash.
day three went to kings cross, it was chucking it down with rain and anna who was with me was walking very slowly because her leg is injured. She is waiting for the results of an MRI scan. At kings cross a black woman with an umbrella was shouting about it being the third consecutive week of torrential rain (it was only about the third day of rain since April) as we came out of the station she started to walk along with us, continuing her rant about god and the day of judgement etc. I shouted at her, that there was no way she was going to fucking walk along shouting at us; i pointed in the opposite direction and told her to go shout at someone going that way; to her credit, she did. Holly was vomiting at nursery so i had to return to bounds green early to pick her up. On the way back i noticed that the mahogany turd was now more milk chocolate coloured and nicely trodden in.
Sounds pretty much identical!!
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