So it was off to Uyuni. Tess and Talia were flying to Santiago but I wanted to see the Salar de Uyuni and would enter Chile through San Pedro Atachama.  This of course meant another night bus. At first everyone warned me that the night buses were cold and to even bring my sleeping bag.  Turned out that a freezing bus wouldn´t be the problem, but a very very rough ride would be. The guide book and everyone else I talked to recommended taking a train from Oruru to Uyuni because it was nicer. I didn´t realize that nicer meant avoiding 8 hrs or nonstop jarring banging and prayer.
The Salar de Uyuni was truly spectacular. I´m starting to say that about a lot of things that I´ve seen lately but its true. When our guide told us how big the salt flats were the Israeli guy in the jeep said, “that´s bigger than Israel”. Turns out its about half the size of Israel but thats still pretty huge.
There is no depth perception in the Salar. You get all of these crazy illusions.
Salt Pyramids prep´d and ready for a hot oven.
I fell in love with the Toyota Land cruiser. These were used exclusively on the Salar. I figure that one day I´ll own one of these.
The Salt flats felt like an ocean…
I conquered Bolivia.Â
Cool looking rock formation.
The rock tree.
Laguna Colorada was very beautiful. Apparently, the pink stuff is some kind of algae.
Flamingos in Laguna Colorada. There were actually a few hundred scattered all over the place.
Laguna Verde, it was a little cloudy so we didn´t get the perfect mirror.
Sunrise at the volcano. Plus we got to hang out in a natural Hot Spring to watch the sun set. Bathing in the hot springs with 25 other people who haven´t showered in three days is a sobering thought.
More Photos available at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79494094@N00/sets/72157600040505387/
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You and my TV heroine Sydney Bristow now have a fifth threat… your kick-ass love of the landcruiser. Her’s was orange though.
Oh and the sunrise pic stole my breath.
Thanks for the great pictures of the salar. Bolivia’s mountains and jungle regions are well known, but even my father, who was born in La Paz, was not aware of the salt flats.