The salt flats of Bolivia

From Uyuni Salt Flats

It all began with a piece of meat.  It sat there, on the window sill of the bus we had just boarded in Potosi, looking just cooked and yet inexplicably there.  Further examination yielded two other pieces on or near the window.  Funnily enough, that wasn't the first sign that things weren't going exactly to plan.  We had bought the bus ticket to Uyuni from a little store with a nice big bus sitting in front of it and we were assured that we were taking a bus of similar quality.  Ten minutes before departure, the lady who sold us the ticket received a phone call and became quite distraught and angry.    We didn't piece together until after we saw the meat that the subject of the call was probably that the bus wasn't coming.  So instead of our modern, big bus, we were put on a small micro bus with meat in the window sills.  Our destination was Uyuni and the salt flats of the same name.  Our guide book had mentioned these flats as one of the top places to see in South America, not just in Bolivia.  Giant white expanses of salt as far as the eye can see give it an other-worldly appearance.  Not only that, just south of the flats are tons of lagoons of different colors, flamingos, geysers and very-high mountains all around.  “Sounds like fun” we thought.

We had been warned by a nice English couple that all trips to the flats began or ended with a story about Bolivia and its roads.  They had told us of their adventure, on the way back from the flats, their overnight bus had somehow lost functionality of its alternator or its connection with it and the battery and all electricity went out, including headlights and dashboard lights, so the driver couldn't see how fast he was going, nor did he have any lights to illuminate the road at night.  After trying to diagnose the problem, he gave up and went through the bus asking for flashlights so the driver could see the dials on the dashboard.  As for headlights, he decided to be guided by a luckily full-ish moon!

So we were slightly prepared for something on the way to Uyuni, and the meat on the window told us that this might be it.  “Well, that's not so bad” we said.  “Definitely weird, but not as bad as the headlights going out”.  Then the other passengers got on the bus, including a lady with 3 large cartons of eggs who stood along with 5 other people in the aisles of the bus for the entire 7 hour bus ride to Uyuni.  Still, not so bad as our English friends.

We got to Uyuni that night and booked our tour for the next morning.  Tours consist usually of 3 days, 2 nights.  Day 1 is at the salt flats, staying at a hotel made of salt, Day 2 is seeing various multi-colored lagoons, and Day 3 you see geysers and head back or if you like cross the border to Chile.  Since we wanted to get to Chile we chose the latter option.

The next day we began our to the flats.  They were quite amazing.  Nothing but flat, white salt for as far as the eye could see.  The only down side was that it was a bit cloudy that day, but it didn't rain or anything.  It was great for pictures also.  The real adventure began the next day.


After staying a night in a salt hotel (fully made out of salt, the chairs, tables, walls, box-springs, etc) we woke up to the sound of rain falling on the roof.  As we set out, we found out that it doesn't rain there very much at all this time of the year and consequently, the great flat plain we would be driving over turned into a giant lake with very deep mud.   Check out this video:

From Uyuni Salt Flats

It wasn't all that bad until our companion land-rover suddenly stopped in the middle of the lake.  We pulled up behind and our driver got out and tried to help the other driver figure out the problem.  They thought the wires of the vehicle had gotten wet and they tried to dry them off but after an hour of trying, they gave up.  The next plan of action was to seek help at a nearby military base that was only on the other side of the lake.  So we all got in and drove to the military base, leaving the other car in the lake.

The military base was tiny as far as bases go more of an outpost really.  Just a couple of oval-shaped buildings surrounded by a fence.  Once we arrived the soldiers stationed there came up to talk to the driver and see what was up.  The driver explained and the soldiers began scouring the base for a cable to help us out.  The best they could find (apparently they don't do this much) was a very thick cable about 10 feet long.  It was about as thick as a bridge suspension cable and it was only a cable.  It had no hooks or anything else to attach it.  We had no idea how they were going to use it to tie two vehicles together but that was all they had so we put it on the roof of the car along with two of the soldiers and headed back to the other car.


Once at the other car, we witnessed the ingenuity of the soldiers who must improvise all the time.  They took some pliers and unraveled the cable into smaller cables until it was thin enough to be malleable to tie knots around the car frames but still strong enough to pull the other car through the mud lake.  Only twice did the knots they used fall apart on the way but eventually we were able to pull the other car and its passengers to the military base.  Since we were on a paying tour, our driver said we had to leave the other group there and try to continue on, even though we were four hours behind.  So we did, the other group was forced to spend the night at the military base.

So four hours late, we continued our journey, but the rain did not stop and as we got higher the rain turned to snow!  Hence most of the usually very picturesque landscape was hidden behind snow clouds while it got darker and darker.  Suddenly we realized that our driver was driving at over 13,000 feet in a snowstorm at night.  We prayed our truck would not break down as there were definitely no trucks behind us and we knew that we had no radios or cell phones to call for help.  We got to the sights, lagoons and the tree that looks like a rock but it was night and snowing so we didn't linger.  Our one desire was to get to the night's lodging.  Finally as we got close the driver turned out his headlights and asked us to look for lights that would be the sign of the hotel.  Luckily we found it quickly!

We had a late dinner but we were soo cold!  We were over 13,000 feet and there was a snow storm outside and the hostel had no heat and only a couple of blankets on the beds. We decided to sleep together with our clothes on in order to combine our blankets and body warmth.  Unfortunately we were not quite used to sleeping together on a twin bed so with the cold and the space we didn't sleep well.  Luckily this would help the next night!

So we woke up still freezing but in a way happy.  Today the sun was out and we were leaving Bolivia!

Plus we were to see the Laguna Verde (green lagoon) which is a highlight of the trip and then we were only a 45 minute bus ride over the Chilean border where warm water, showers and civilization awaited!    After seeing some beautiful lagoons full of flamingos which gave us some wonderful flying shots, we split from our tour group to head over to the border.


 All we had to do was wait for the bus that would take us down from the altiplano.  Here nature took one final shot at us.  A sudden storm came up from the west and we waited and waited but the bus did not come.  After two hours of waiting, the guides came out and told us that the border was closed and that we'd have to spend the night at another (even higher) hotel and hope the border opened in the morning. So we went back and the long wait began.  If the previous night was cold, this was even worse!  We were convinced the hotel was just a degree or two above freezing.  We were able to take our backpacks and put on every speck of clothes we had and still we were shivering.  So we ripped blankets from the beds and cloaked them around our bodies and waited.  The storm blew and blew and the day we waited felt like three.  We went to bed assured by the guides that at 9:00 am we would be able to go if the border was open.  From the night before we learned that we needed more blankets so we stole 3 more from another empty bed and pretty much wrapped our bed in blankets.  Exhausted, with a slightly larger bed, my warm wife by my side and covered in blankets, I actually slept very well.

The next day we woke up and of course at 9:00 am we found out that the border was still closed.  Our next best hope was 11:30.  Then after that deadline passed we were told 4pm.  At this point Suzanne lost her cheery outlook as the prospect of another night at the hotel loomed at us.  Then at about 3pm we heard a cheer from the crowd of tourists who were outside in the sun and we knew the border had been opened.  We got in a clean bus (with no meat on the windows!) on a paved road and no one stood in the aisles!  We had gotten out of Bolivia!   Hot showers and a warm bed awaited! At least for one night... Next began our 4 day and night bus journey to Quito. But that is definitely another post...

~Mike

Slideshow of Uyuni with all shots:


Slideshow of Potosi (mostly the mines):

Potosi

We're now in Potosi, the highest city of its size in the world. It's sole purpose since colonial times was the mines of Potosi, which underwrote the spanish economy for centuries with tons of silver extracted under brutal, dangerous and midieval conditions.  Nowadays the mines are run by a cooperative between miners who pay a small tax but get to mine with whomever and wherever they like and keep all their findings.  Yesterday we took a tour of the mines, and wow, we both couldn't believe that people worked in these mines!  Crawling on all fours, so hot, dusty, and the altitude (at almost 14,000 feet) made it quite difficult for our 2 hour tour of the mine.  Then we found out that some miners work there 12 hours or more a day without eating anything besides chewing coca leaves!  As part of the tour we brought them gifts that we were able to buy in town.  That was the last time I think I'll be able to buy a stick of dynamite and fuse for less than 3 bucks.  Besides dynamite, we bought them a gift they seemed to love more than anything else, and that was a bottle of 98% (196 proof) alcohol.  I also got to taste a thimble ful of this and I was glad to learn that they at least mix it with juice or Coke before drinking it.  We talked to the miners for awhile deep in the mines for like 20 minutes.   They particularly liked two sisters who were in our group and made a lot of jokes about them in typical miner humor.  It was overall a very crazy experience.  I have a new respect for miners and what conditions they work in.  Eric S, you are a brave man.  I hope you didn't work in coditions like that though!

We took Suzanne's little camera (didn't want to destroy my nice one with all the dust), but haven't uploaded pictures yet. Hopefully we'll find a place with wifi soon. 

Next plans are to go to Uyuni Bolivia, and take a tour of the vast salt flats there as well as see some multi-colored lagoons, flamingos etc as long as the rumored farmer strikes don't block our road!     

Bolivia!

It seems like we've been very lazy lately. We don't seem to have the motivation to do much blogging or filtering of our pictures. I'm not sure why. Perhaps now that we've passed the 3 month mark it's not as exciting. It may be the closest thing that we do that resembles work and that's why we avoid it! How funny is that? Or perhaps its because it really is hard to go through all the hundreds of pictures that we take and only select the ones that are good enough to post and tell you all about. We really should try to do better but oh well. Here's the latest on the Macaulay's adventure!

Arequipa

From Colca Canyon

We wrapped up our time in Arequipa with Easter Sunday and a trip to Colca Canyon. Easter was very nice, we got a couple of chocolate eggs from the tourist street vendors and some wonderfully-smelling Easter Lillies for our room to make it a little festive in our hotel and went to mass in the Cathedral. It was a great wrap-up to Holy week. The next day we hopped on a tour of the Colca Canyon which is almost the deepest in the world (There's one nearby that's slightly deeper). We took a three day tour, which involved hiking all the way down the canyon and staying in a village on the opposite side. The trail we took is the only way to reach these villages, who live on agriculture fed by the waters of the mountains above. The canyon itself was very deep (over 13,600 feet in its deepest part) and we descended all the way down (we weren't in the deepest part though) to the river and halfway up the next side that first day. The place we stayed on the opposite side had a wonderful family who fed us a delicious meal and breakfast the next day. Our group was only four people, us two, the guide (Hornorio) and Peruvian tourist Pablo. We had a great time together and spent the entire three days speaking spanish! We felt more confident than ever in our language skills after that. The next day we hiked back down to an “Oasis” which was full of palm trees and swimming pools fed by a spring gushing out of the canyon wall. After a relaxing swim and nap in the hammocks, we started up the canyon to reach our hotel back on the top. This was a very demanding 3 hour hike straight up the canyon with absolutely no flat parts. Suzanne was sorely tempted by a passing donkey train by the driver's calls for “Taxi?” but she resisted the urge to use her “Suzanne dollars”. Then we hopped on a bus back to Arequipa, with a quick stop at some hot springs to soak our sore legs and another stop at the highest point in the area (4910m or 16,200 feet!). It's crazy thinking that in Colorado the highest peaks are only 14,000 feet and here we were at 16,200! Little did we know that that was only the beginning!
Slideshow:


Puno and entering Bolivia
After returning from Colca Canyon, we hopped on a bus to Puno to get over to Bolivia. We spent a couple of days in Puno, which is the main city on Lake Titicaca, taking a tour of the islands on the Peruvian side of the lake.

From Puno

Mostly Puno was our staging point to enter Bolivia. No longer can Americans just enter Bolivia. Since the election of Evo Morales, the countries first indigenous and highly popular socialist president, relations between the US and Bolivia have been a bit strained. Bolivia instituted a a system of “reciprocity” with the US. What this means is that since the US started charging $130 US Dollars for anyone who wanted to apply for a visa, Bolivia now charges the same amount to all US Citizens who would like to enter their country. Bolivia is not the only country to do this (Argentina did it to us when we flew in to Buenos Aires) but they are the worst about it. I believe their aim is to demonstrate how humiliating it is to have to spend such a large amount of money just to apply for a visa, and I believe it works. The immigration officials were extremely picky about all our details and wouldn't accept US bills with slightly worn edges or color markings. They also required ridiculous amounts of photocopies of our passports and visa pictures as well as our yellow fever vaccination certificates. Meanwhile while we're running back and forth to get our photocopies every other tourist from every other country flew by without a hassle. It was very frustrating. While I'm sure it makes the political point very effectively (at least to those who travel here) I think its very bad for their tourism industry. How many Americans would love to hop over to super cheap Bolivia (delicious dinners with alcohol only 10 bucks) after visiting super expensive Macchu Pichu but don't want to deal with the hassle we did? Who knows if I'm right but I can be certain it isn't helping. And from what we've seen of Bolivia, tourism should be something that they're promoting.
Slideshow:


Copacabana
I was excited about visiting Copacabana, the nicest city on Lake Titicaca from Bolivia's side mostly because of the song by Sinatra (or one of those guys) about how fun it was. Then Suzanne ruined my day by telling me that beach was in Brazil. Thanks Suzanne. But it turned out to be a nice place to stay once we got out of a terrible hotel experience. The town is beautifully situated on the lake and has a nice beach and port. It's also the jumping off point for visiting the Isla del Sol or Island of the Sun, the legendary birthplace of the Incan civilization. We did the tour of Isla del Sol, which was nice but not the best tour we've done, mostly because since the Spanish stripped all the gold off the rock of the Puma (the most sacred spot for the Incas). The Rock of the Puma is actually where the name Titicaca comes from. “Titi” means “Puma” and “Carca” means “Rock” but the Spanish messed up the name and called it “Caca”. So anyway, all the island was left to the imagination, since the island itself is kind of unremarkable, but in the end we were glad we did it.
Slideshow:


La Paz
We like La Paz! The semi-capital city (well, the legislative and executive branches) is amazingly built all over the inside of a canyon. There's a main avenue that goes down the center and on both sides the roads go up the sides of the canyon. It's the highest capital city in the world at 11,942 feet and you're constantly trying to catch your breath. We're staying in a nice hotel with great views of the city and mountain rising in the distance. Here we took another week to relax and get used to this new country. At first we were quite scared. Our guide books told us about many scams, corrupt police, pickpockets and the like. We've consequently upped up our precautions but luckily we haven't run into any problems yet. I think as long as you are careful, and don't make yourselves a target, you'll be fine. On Sunday we went to a soccer game in the highest stadium and had a lot of fun. One of the players reminded us of Dave Rosembaum. He was one of the smaller players on the team but one of the best, scoring 2 of the 3 goals of the winning team. Then on Monday we went on a tour of the biggest archeological sites in Bolivia (Tiahuanaco) which was a pre-Incan civilization that lasted for 1500 years before dying out. (My favorite theory is that they liked to deform the heads of their children by placing molds over their heads to mold their soft skulls into shapes they considered more beautiful. Consequently the upper class got more and more mentally ill that they couldn't handle the task of ruling their empire.) Tomorrow we're going to head to the Valley of the Moon and climb a 17er (take that Coloradans!).
Slideshow:


Other updates:
We've decided that we're going to take a vacation from our vacation and head back to the states for the month of July! Our main reasons are to go to the weddings of two very good friends of ours and therefore all the friends of ours who will go to their weddings. The other reason is the chance to be in the summer music video of the coolest cats in Bellingham, WA.

My brother and dad will be visiting us in June for the trip to Macchu Pichu! My mom will be coming to join us for a trip of northern Peru archeological sites at the end of July!   If anyone else would like to join us for these fun shorter trips, please let us know!

~Mike