Back to Bolivia then, and we crossed the border from Chile in a 4x4 on a three day tour up to a place called Uyuni, via the salt pans and national parks of the "southwest circuit". The guide book is very clear that these trips "are no walk in the park" and prone to various disasters, so we booked with whom we thought were a reputable company. Despite this, the vehicle proved temperamental, refusing to start on numerous occasions and conking out on others. The bonnet would frequently be raised and string applied to reconnect the accelerator pedal to the engine. To be honest, all these shenanigans didn't bother me so long as they didn't bother the ever-grinning driver, even when the engine wouldn't start slap bang in the middle of the worlds largest salt pan. More annoying was the driver playing his one and only tape of Bolivian music over and over again at full volume until our ears rang. You got it worst in the front seat which I had the misfortune to occupy on the middle day.
Needless to say it was worth the hassle. The first day started with a drive up to some boiling volcanic mud pools and some superb lake views. The accommodation that night was basic but warm (dorms and no showers). Fortunate really, as it gets toe-numbingly cold at night four thousand metres.
The next day was very long, starting with some flamingo watching, then more mineral coloured lakes, some weird shaped rocks in the middle of a sand desert and a vast pan of dark salt with a railway line running over the top. That night we stayed in a salt hotel with almost everything made of the stuff, including a carpet of salt crystals covering the floor.
On the last day we reached the Uyuni Salt Pan, the biggest in the world, and it was vast. All you can see to the horizon is a white landscape and blue sky. The light hurts your eyes, even with sun glasses on. We spent most of the time taking silly pictures using the lack of perspective caused by the blank landscape to make it look like we were standing on bottles and stuff. Wait for the pics and it'll make sense.
We finally pulled into Uyuni on Easter Sunday to find there was no way of getting out. All the buses were full and all the banks were shut, so most people couldn't even get any local currency. Even the ATMs were closed. We had some Chilean money which we were able to change which kept us going, but we still had to stay a night in possibly the remotest, most desolate and most boring town on Earth. We had twelve hours to kill on Monday so saw the only attraction in town: a pile of rusting train engines. We finally got the bus to La Paz at eight in the evening.
La Paz is the highest capital in the world at about 3.6km up, and it's built in a canyon. The views from the top are great, but the city itself is dirty, over populated and poor. It feels quite safe though as every other person is either a policeman or in the army, and they all wear paramilitary garb. Even the traffic wardens carry guns. Except the traffic wardens who are dressed up as zebras, who don't appear to carry guns. (The zebras are there to help people cross the roads at the crossings, as Bolivian drivers would rather kill someone than stop to let people across.) To mitigate the dirt, we stayed in the La Roserio hotel, one of the best I've stayed in. We saw some pre-inca ruins at Tihuanaca, and yet another Moon Valley, although this time it did live up to it's name, and was pretty impressive. Very tall columns of rock formed from the erosion of the material around them. You walk along the top on a straw path and hope to god you don't fall over the side as there are no barriers.
We're now in Copacabana on the edge of Lake Titicaca. Very nice it is too, but more on that next time.
Anyway, put the kettle on, we'll be home soon...
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