Not much to mention today other than getting a bus from Uyuni to potosi with Bo and Mitch meanwhile Pete and Nadia wet onward to Sucre.
We checked into a hotel that was average but with hot showers and wifi (although unbearably slow) for a reasonable price and went wondering around town to sort out the mine tour for tomorrow.
We were also told about a film that was based on the miners of this particular mine and city that had apparently won a bunch of awards. One of the other hostels in town was screening it for a small fee in the evening so we decided to go and watch it; it is called 'The Devil's Miner'.
This mountain and it's mine within has killed an estimated 8,000,000 people since it opened in the 1600's, and tomorrow Mitch and I are going to enter it - a scary thought.
Saturday, 11 August 2012
09/02/2012
08/02/2012 - Bolivian Salt Flats Tour - Day 3 of 3
We were treated to pancakes, cereal and yogurt this being much better than yesterday's breakfast before moving onto more touristy sights including another lake and what was called the rock tree.
Both Columbia lake and the rock formations were impressive and I was able to take some cool shots but not before our truck broke down, we were told we had to return to the main road to get on another truck back to Uyuni but thankfully our driver and the other drivers from other tour groups were able to rip apart the engine bay and repair the issue. We were stuck in the sun for 2 hours or so while waiting for the truck to be repaired.
Our driver drove easy for the rest of the day not thrashing the vehicle about whilst we cruised past more beautiful lakes.
We were suppose to have lunch beside one of the lakes but he had forgotten to pick up the food at the place we rested last night. We then had to drive another hour to a very shitty small village where we had by far and away the worst meal I've had in a very long time, the tinned tuna honestly tasted like cat food.
Jut looking at the children in this small village it was obvious that they were not fed properly, at the age of 8 with rotten teeth - it was a terrible sight.
The game we played most of in the truck was 20 questions, a fun car game that kept us all entertained for the past 3 days.
Today was our last day on this tour that I was very impressed with especially for the price, but arriving back in Uyuni was a disappointment but it was only for one more night because tomorrow i was headed to Potosi - the highest city in the world.
When we arrived back in Uyuni our driver stopped by his house to take all the unused fuel for him and his family, a cheeky little scam that he thought we wouldn't notice - we aren't stupid! But in sure he gets paid very little, so good for him.
The group of us grabbed dinner at a pizza place before going to bed but I spent most of the evening editing photos.
07/02/2012 - Bolivian Salt Flats Tour - Day 2 of 3
Breakfast this morning was lame, just bread with some spreads and tea, we waited around expecting eggs but they never came... They never came!!! :( Hopping back in the truck we drove to the entrance of the national park where we had to pay 150 Bolivianos. The first lake we stopped at was filled with hundreds of flamingos but unlike the animals in the Galapagos islands they wouldn't let you get close enough to them to take any close up pictures, however I was able to get some good shots thanks to my zoom lens which has been a god send for these types of situations.
Arriving at the rotten egg smelling, sulphuric gas expelling geysers we had some time to take pictures but we all lasted just over a few moments before we were back in the truck ready to leave away from the stench. This absolutely wasn't the best time for the truck to break down like it did for a good half hour whilst everyone started feeling sick but when our driver (I can't remember his name) repaired the issue we sped outta there; any longer some of us would have been seeing soggy chunks of the bread we ate for breakfast spread over the interior of the truck.
After the slight ordeal of nearly retching we were treated to a nice dip in a natural hot spring
excursion on the flats.
It was lovely.
Apparently when visiting lago verde (green lake) in clear weather the lake is suppose to be a vibrant turquoise green but as the weather had turned for the worse it really wasnt impressive - certainly wasn't worth the drive there.
We headed back to the place we stopped for lunch which was similar to last nights accommodation but this time with more groups; the desolate surroundings and snow capped volcanoes in the background made the 360 view increasing none I have ever seen.
I bought a bag of cheap cookies to fill in a hole while waiting for dinner offering some kids working outside but the greedy little fuckers took over half the bag turning their T-shirts into pouches and loading it full. I ended up giving the rest of the bag to a group of three girls who tried (emphasis on the 'tried') entertaining the tour groups during dinner, their entertainment was cute to begin with but they kept on going and going. I know they are just kids but my god they were irritating.
Dinner was something to complain about too - dry and close to being stale bread with under cooked pasta, a pasta sauce that was watered down tomato ketchup with onions and cheese that mostly consisted of salt. Why did I give my cookies away? I needed them after. I'm curious to whether this place cooks the same crap food every day for the tourist groups that pass through? It wouldn't surprise me.
We played an excessive amount of shithead (the card game) for the rest of the evening before I got too hungry to be able to sleep. If it wasn't for the hot springs it would have been an awful day but with many great pictures of the national park scenery I will still consider it a good day.
06/02/2012 - Bolivian Salt Flats Tour - Day 1 of 3
The company that we organized this tour with fucked us around a little bit this morning giving us a 4x4 worse than the one promised to us yesterday.
With a little bit of a debacle we didn't have any other choice than to he into the car and start the trip.
It was a tight squeeze in the back but agreeing to rotate around the car over the next few days it won't be all that bad.
The first thing we set out to see was a train graveyard, personally I was pretty stoked to take some surreal photos of the wrecks by using some photoshop techniques meanwhile everyone else thought it was a waste of time. We only stuck around for 15 minutes before heading to the salt flats where everything brightened up - the reflection of the sun on the flats made it hard to see without sunglasses.
Our driver who we will be spending the next 3 days with doesn't speak a word of English and everyone else in the car doesn't speak any Spanish, my Spanish is still very broken and I have no problems asking questions and understanding the answers but beyond that I am lost, still I was used as the translator for the group. Haha, let's see how this goes.
The salt flats were very impressive seeing many cloud formations form into storms in the distance with the sun directly overhead meaning I, along with many others got sun burnt.
We drove for several hours back through Uyuni and headed further south thinking that all the other tour groups would be doing the same thing but our driver seemed to take us on a more scenic route through a couple of flooded roads were at one point we got stuck and the car wouldn't start again, after the driver doing some work under the hood finally got the thing started and we went to see some rock formations during the overcast sunset.
We finished the day in a small and what seemed to be a mining town where we were shuffled into little rooms that seemed cosy enough but I had by far the worst bed. The couples had their own rooms meanwhile I shared with Samantha from England who filled the last spot in the car.
The make shift building we stayed in was better than we all expected along with the food for dinner where soon after we cracked into the rum and UNO that was all fun and games until heated but funny arguments broke out about the rules of the game, 'twas still fun though.
05/02/2012
It was another awful bus journey lasting an excruciating 12 hours on unpaved rocky roads, it was incredibly difficult to sleep despite the use of 2 sleeping pills I bought yesterday.
Arriving in Uyuni I was delirious and was in dire need of a bed.
Again I joined Pete and Nadia to a hotel which was pricier than we expected but we were willing to pay not to have the hassle of finding a cheaper place.
Meetin up with the Aussie couple from yesterday we went searching for a tour company to sort out a 3 day trip of the salt flats and surrounding lakes; it was quite the ordeal trying to he what everyone wanted, like always I was easy and didn't really care so long as it wasn't too expensive. It took us all day and part of the evening to finally get a company at a good price with an itinerary and vehicle everyone was happy with.
There was a lot of waiting around and time killing to have everything organized and in a town like Uyuni with absolutely nothing to do other than this tour we were trying to organize we were bored shitless. Taking a look at the deserted ferris wheel at one end of town to eat an icecream was the highlight of the day.
04/02/2012
Despite having an early one to avoid a hangover today I still woke with one. Hangovers for me are getting worse too, I think perhaps I will have to stop drinking excessively altogether. Anyways I booked my onward journey bus ride to Uyuni for this evening where I will do the 3 day tour of he Bolivian salt flats and scenic 4x4 jeep ride around the area. I hung about the hostel for most of the day until I was hungry and set off with a Danish girl (Tina) for lunch at the market. I showed her around parts of the city as she had only just arrived. At 6 I joined Pete and this is misses Nadia along with another couple to the bus station to get our bus to Uyuni.
