Uyuni salt flats, Bolivia

Friday 13th July I'm now in a place called Uyuni which is a a dust bowl at the back of beyond in Bolivia. It´s really dingy place although tourism is the main industry due to its proximity to the largest salt lakes in the world. I got here about 10am Monday morning The overnight bus journey last Sunday looked like it would be a nightmare when after two hours the road was blocked due to a lorry crash and then the bus broke down in the freezing snow. But they managed to sort it all out within an hour or two and we were only an hour or two late in the morning. On the bus from dawn, at about 7am, I could see we were driving through desert on unmade sandy roads, crossing fords routinely which was quite impressive for a 40 seat coach.

I was met by Sylvia, the local Esmeralda Tours rep., who me checked into Hotel Julia which is cold although it had a little bottled-gas heater which I wouldn't use without a window open for the fumes to escapeñ and not at all when asleep.

Uyuni is very flat being next to the salt lake and its cold and dusty here. It was sunny for a couple of hours Monday afternoon but only when in the sun was it warm. I spent a few hours in bed dozing, keeping warm and watching films on TV. Later I went out for a solitary meal and back to bed resting for the next day´s tour.

On Tuesday I checked out of the hotel, after an indifferent breakfast of bread, jam and coffee. At the tour office at 10.30am I met my driver-guide (never did work out his name)and a cook, Anna, neither of whom speak English and my other 5 travellers for the next 3 days. This included Dan and Jason, two archaeologists travelling around together after some months digging elsewhere in Bolivia , and Ruth an Art teacher, all from Colorado, USA, plus Frank and Norbert, two German friends who live in Quito, Ecuador, teaching languages, and who, happily for me, speak good English and Spanish and did a lot of translation for me over the next few days. All eight of us had to squeeze into a Toyota Land Cruiser with luggage and food for three days strapped on the roof.

First stop on the tour was a railway cemetery just a few miles outside of town. After another stop at a craft village specialising in salt carved kitsch (don´t worry I didn´t buy any) we then sped onto the salt flats, Salar Uyuni, the largest salt flats in the world, 12000sq kms and 3653 m above sea level. Once out on the salt flats the bright white salt horizon appears curved with mountains only peeking above the horizon. We stopped for a look at a ´hotel´made of salt, but which is alleged by Lonely Planet to be unauthorised and an environmental danger. After a further drive across the we stopped for lunch on the Isla Pescado. It was like sailing up on a boat with about a score fourwheel drives backing onto the salt shore providing picnic dinners for their tourists. The island is remarkable as its covered in coral and cactus. A strange combination bearing in mind its location from the sea.

After lunch we drove on for another couple of hours until we reached a small settlement on the far end of the salt plain called San Juan where we were staying the night with other tourist groups in dormitories and very basic shared bathroom facilities, but I luckily managed to wangle a room to myself this time. After a windy night we set off after breakfast into more a mountainous, lakes and sandy desert terrain. It was often difficult to distinguish between salt and snow scattered around the landscape. The soils was very barren but remarkably in some places some varieties of potatoes are grown on isolated strips of land. The scale of the valleys and mountains was impressive and after lunch we arrived at Laguna Colorado, where we were staying the second night. This large lakes has a red colour in places due to algae and warm springs flowing into it. In the afternoon I went for walk with all but Frank along the lake shore. Our two archaeologists were amazingly finding arrow heads quite frequently, but always returning, them after photographing them, to where they found them. After sunset it became cold very quickly and we measured minus 5C at 9pm. At dinner we were given some wine and afterwards someone produced some rum to warm us up. This time I couldn´t escape the dormitory so I handed out the ear plugs. No one had a good night sleep for the cold, noise, general uncomfortable environment and only possibly my snoring! If we thought the previous nights facilities were poor these were far worse, without any running water for about 50 people! Why do we do it?

Next day we had a 5.30 start with coffee and not too many people were wanting a lie in. We drove before breakfast to some geysers and water spouts. To be honest there wasn´t much enthusiasm and it was my third such excursion in the last 6 weeks. We the drove onto another lake where we had a breakfast in a ¨restaurant¨ where the owner rented out table to each group which prepared their own food (or the cooks did). There was also a hot pool but it was so cold outside only a couple of people ventured in.

One guy was there on his own cycling across this terrain. The wind, cold, rough roads, altitude, slopes and distances made this man a hero or a nut case, you decide. I take my hat off to him!

On we drive through some more spectacular landscapes, this time more snow streaked mountains and lakes with flamingos. Eventually we arrived at Laguna Verde (green lake)which is right in the apex of the border between Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. The large volcano behind the lake is Licanubur (5930 metres) which straddles the Chile Bolivia border. From here we turned northwards and then eventually for lunch in small village. After lunch we came to another strange rock formation carved by the wind where we spent a short time exploring. When we drove off we realised this rock area was much more extensive than we had realised, carrying on for 10 to15 miles. Carrying on northward from here the plain opened out again and after crossing some river fords we joined a more defined road passing lorries full of ore occasionally. Eventually in late afternoon we arrived back Uyuni.

Then my problems began. I went to Sylia´s office to collect my luggage which was stored there and expecting to check back into the same hotel. Indeed Syliva led me back to Hotel Julia but it was soon apparent that there was no vacancy and Sylvia could´t explain why she hadn´t reserved it earlier (I´d paid for this in La Paz). I was concerned about this so I then enquired about my train ticket for 10.30pm the next ,Friday, night to Argentina border, which she had promised to give me when I got back from the tour. This train only runs 2 or 3 times a week at night and I´d specifically planned for in La Paz with the travel agent and paid there to take the earlier night train i.e. Friday. No ticket was forthcoming so I´m beginning to get alarmed although Sylvia makes a vague promise that it should or might be available the next morning at 11.30am. Sylvia then leads to me another hotel which is really grotty compared to Hotel Julia. There are no windows in the bedroom and although there is a tiny bathroom the light-bulb socket-powered shower soaks the entire room. Being a bit stuck as to what to do I accept the room but making it clear I am unhappy and expect a refund and praying the train ticket turns up the next morning. In the evening I go out for a pizza dinner with Dan, Jason and Ruth but I´m not really in the mood to enjoy it much.

I have a restless sleep trying to work out a plan B for the ¨no ticket tomorrow scenario¨. There aren´t many attractive alternatives (staying in Uyuni anthoer 4 days does not appeal at all) and I could lose deposit on hotel accommodation I´ve booked online in Salta, Argentina if I don´t reach there by Saturday. In the morning I try breakfast at the hotel and I´m given stale bread which makes me feel sick and I can still lasts 5 hours later.

At 11.30am I go round to Sylvia´s office. She assures me, but with no conviction, she will have the tickets at 3.00pm and I must come back to her office at 2.30pm. She show sme a couple of queue receipts which I assume come from the train station but she gives no explanation why she did´t buy the tickets days ago when I made the booking through the La Paz agent. Watch this space for an update.