Bolivia - La Paz

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Today we spent around 12 hours in transit. First we travelled from Potosi to Oruro on a local bus which took about 5 hours. We had lunch here and then travelled by another bus to La Paz. Towards the end of our journey we were treated to some spectacular lightening, thunder, and rain. By the time we reached La Paz it was dark, cold, and very wet. We were all exhausted so had a quick dinner at a local fast food restaurant which was conveniently across the road from the hotel and then went to bed.

Bolivia - Potosi

This morning we spent our time exploring the centre of this city. The history of this town is evident in the colonial style buildings and the central square. Exploration was limited to the centre as Potosi sits on a very steep mountain side and the streets are at an amazingly steep gradient. During the morning we visited the San Francisco Cathedral which is the main church of the city, Potosi has 36 churches, and has a very Spanish feel to it. We were shown around by the guard, a Bolivian Police Officer, who only spoke Spanish which tested our comprehension skills significantly but I think we understood the important things :-). He took us up the church tower where we could walk out across the roof and up a smaller tower for an absolutely spectacular 360º panoramic view of the city. We also visited the crypts of the church where the priests are buried and saw the tunnels which connect San Francisco to a couple of the other churches in the city. The church also houses a large collection of 16th century art. It was well worth the visit.

This afternoon we settled in with the group, some wine and snacks, and watched a movie called “The Devils Miner” which is a documentary in Spanish about 2 young boys who are forced to work in the underground mines of Cerro Rico, as well as go to school, because their father has passed away. It talks about the beliefs of the miners including that when they are in the mine they worship “Tio” which is the Devil because they believe that he rules the mine and if they can keep him happy they may not die. It is a common story amongst the poor families of Potosi and was a great insight into the life and hardships the miners face.

Bolivia - Potosi

We travelled to Potosi today by local bus. The trip itself was an experience. It was a seven hour journey with one stop, no toilet and even though there were no empty seats the bus would stop and let more people on. But, we all survived, and at least there were no chickens!

Potosi is a city of about 110,000 people and is the second highest of its size in the world sitting at 4060m altitude. It became a city in 1545 when silver was discovered in Cerro Rico, the hill which overlooks the city. And during the 18th century was the wealthiest city in South America. The city today is still a mining city but mines mainly tin, zinc, and lead instead of silver. 

Bolivia - Uyuni Salt Flats

After a great nights sleep in our salt beds we all rose early to drive out into the salt flats for sunrise, it was beautiful. Covering 12,000 square miles Salar de Uyuni (Uyuni Salt Flats) is the largest in the world. It was once a sea that extended all the way up to Lake Titicaca but disappeared around 10,000BC leaving this amazing, vast expanse of salt. The salt bed is 11 layers which are each about 10m thick... and it also contains about 9 million tonnes of Lithium... don’t we know about that!

We spent an hour or so taking photos, marvelling in our shadows and the cool perspective photos that we could achieve. We then travelled a little way to Fish Island which is a volcanic expansion in the middle of the salt flats that was once covered in water which means its terrain is made up of fossilised coral. This fantastic island, interestingly, was also covered in cacti. Because it rises seemingly out of the middle of nowhere Fish Island is great for a panoramic view over the infinite white landscape.

After breakfast we travelled further into the flats for more photo opportunities and then to the edge of the salt pan where they are extracting the salt, which they do by hand. It was interesting to see where and how the salt we take for granted arrives on our table.

We said farewell to Salar de Uyuni at this point and drove toward our final destination, a town called Uyuni. As we were leaving the Flats we stopped off in the small rural town of Colchani which sits right on the edge of the pan and comprises of the people who extract the salt and the processing “factories”. We also made a stop at the Train Cemetery outside Uyuni which is essentially a dumping ground for the old steam locomotives that were once the transport system for salt, sliver, and money and were some of the trains that Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid held up. 

Bolivia - Atacama Desert

We continued to drive through the Atacama Desert today enjoying the spectacular scenery. We stopped at four lagoons for photos, some green, and some red. Two of these had large numbers of Flamingoes feeding on the algae and plankton in the lagoons. It was quite cool that we could get within 10m from some of the Flamingoes. We also saw some awesome rock formations that were apparently the inspiration for Salvador Dali, they were beautiful.

Later in the day we bid farewell to the desert and entered the edge of the Uyuni Salt Flats. After not too long we reached our hotel for the night which sits at 3700m. This hotel was very cool because it was constructed entirely of salt! Everything in the hotel was salt except the mattresses on the beds and the bathrooms, it was awesome to see salt being used in such a different way.

Bolivia - Atacama Desert

This morning we woke early to start our journey into the Salt Flats of Bolivia. A few metres out of San Pedro de Atacama was the Chilean immigration office which was relatively uneventful. After this we travelled for an hour, still officially in Chile but really not in Chile, towards the Bolivian border. The Bolivian border sits at 4200m in the middle of the desert surrounded by volcanoes, and the occasional land mine. It was one of the most picturesque border crossings we have been through this year.

For the rest of the day we drove through The Andes and were treated to some absolutely spectacular landscape. Our first stop was Laguna Blanca (The White Lagoon) which is a salt lake and is particularly interesting because it has ice in it all year around. The second highlight was Laguna Verde (The Green Lagoon) which has its colour due to the composition of the water, namely Arsenic, Magnesium, Potassium, and Ulexite. It was spectacular! We then drove over a 5100m mountain pass and stopped at the top for some photos. On our way up we were able to try our first Cocoa leaves which is the traditional South American Altitude Sickness prophylaxis and treatment. It was an interesting experience. Brii gagged quite considerably at the very strong hay flavour but chewed on for a little while before having to spit them out. Jack on the other hand chewed his for quite a long time to ensure he would benefit from all possible effects :-). Unfortunately or fortunately the cocaine component was very small :-). They did work though. The effects of 5100m were not at all like we remembered from Nepal.

We stopped for lunch at Polques Thermal Springs which was beautiful. There was the option to go for a swim but we couldn’t quite bring ourselves to change into bathers when we were standing around in long pants, boots, and jackets. The temperature of the water was a warm 35ºC and those of our group that did venture in thoroughly enjoyed it. After lunch we drove to Laguna Colorada (The Red Lagoon), which, as the name suggests, is red in colour. It is coloured by the mineral composition of the sediment, Tin, Ochre, and Iron. On the way to The Red Lagoon we also visited some geysers in a volcanic crater. This was really awesome as we could see the different stages of evolution from pre-eruption to old and burnt out.

Our accommodation tonight is in “The Barracks”, which is literally a little rectangular building in the middle of the desert. Quite basic but very cool!

Chile - San Pedro de Atacama

This morning we had another sleep in and then went on a bike ride out to the surrounding areas and then through the outer lying areas of the town. It was a really pleasant way to spend a few hours.

Around 4pm we joined another short trip out to Laguna Cejar which is a salt lake not far from town. Laguna Cejar has a high concentration of salt which is similar to The Dead Sea in that one cannot sink. So, even though the temperature of the water was, for us, sub arctic, we braved it and went for a brief swim or float as the case may be. It was absolutely freezing and we had very numb body parts in a short space of time but worth it for the experience :-).

We visited a few other lagoons and then finished at Laguna Auguali for sunset. In true Chilean fashion we enjoyed sunset with a Pisco Sour or two. The Lagoon and surrounding landscape was spectacular especially  in the changing colours of the setting sun.