Uyuni

Sunday May 26, 2013
        Even though Eric and I didn't get to go to Uyuni last night, we weren't bummed in the slightest. We were totally fine just spending another day in La Paz. Besides, it was Steve's birthday and we wanted to spend the day with him and make sure that he had a great birthday.
        We pretty much spent the entire day with him. Eric's parents even offered to buy him lunch. This was fun because beings how Steve is a vegan, eating out isn't always easy and fun. But today, we took him to a vegetarian restaurant that I think he really liked. After we ate, we all went shopping in the black market and bought a few things for cheap.
      Then we had to head back to Dr. Patty's to pack our stuff up to head to catch our bus to Uyuni. But wait! What's this? Steve is coming with us?!?! How cool is that? We were able to talk Steve into coming to Uyuni with us! We were so excited! What better way to spend our final days with him?
      Heading off to the bus station, we purchased our tickets, bought a few snacks then loaded up for our 11 hour bus ride. And boy did it turn out to be long. It was an overnight bus and I didn't sleep a single minute! Oh well, tomorrow should be fun!

 

Monday May 27, 2013
        Today was one of the most fun days that I have had in a very very long time. Granted, I'm starting from when we finished our 11 hour bus ride and arrived at 6 am this morning.
        Eric, Steve, and I all thought that Uyuni was going to be a little warmer than La Paz. We knew it would still e cold, but we were not ready for this morning. For the last 2 hours or so of the bus ride, my window was literally covered in ice! Needless to say, it was quite cold out and the entire town was closed so we had no idea where to go. So when all else fails, follow the crowd!

          So instead of standing in the middle of the street freezing to death, we followed about 5 people to who knows where. We ended up running into the only store that was open which turned out to be a tour agency. What we had read online about the 1 day tours is that they costed about 280 B's (~$40). Granted this was a different company, we still expected about the se price. After she gave us her shpeel about everything we would do on the tour (which was exactly what we read online) she said that everything would be 150 B's (~$21)!! How cool is that?!?!

        After we paid and took down the 10:30 departure time, she sent us to a little cafe that was open and had a little space heater. We sat there and ate for awhile waiting for the bus station to open at 8 so we could purchase our return tickets to La Paz tonight. Fortunately, we were the first ones to the bus station and were able to deserve the BEST seats on the bus. We got the very front seats in the second floor of a double decker bus. This means more leg room and a giant window in front of us that we can look out of the entire way back!

        After our purchase of the tickets, we still had some time to kill so we went to an Internet cafe, and also wandered around exploring. Once it hit 10, we went directly to the office so we would be there on time.

            Once we got there, we sat down and waited around for awhile. We saw tons of other tourists who were planning on going on a tour as well. But slowly, they all disappeared and loaded up in their land cruisers am left. I was getting a little confused because we were supposed to leave at 10:30 like everyone else, but it was now 10:50 and we were the only ones still there. But before we could say anything, the extremely nice and professional coordinator came up to us and told us not to worry. She said that they did not have enough people to fill a whole other jeep. So she called her husband who worked at one of the nicer tour agencies in town and asked to pair us up with some of his people.
          It worked out perfectly. He had 3 spaces to fill and put us in there. But the lady came up to us and told us that if any of the other tourists asked us how much we paid, we needed to say 380 B's (instead of 150) so they wouldn't get mad because that's what they paid. So already we got a steal of a bargain!

          When the jeep pulled up and we crawled in, we immediately recognized 2 people in there. They were a couple that was on our bus from Puno to La Paz when we ran into our passport issues. They were also the ones that we shared renting a different bus that same night when we were stranded in Copacabana. So we had plenty of time and got to know them quite well. This was obviously pretty exciting and very random. The other 2 people in our group was a young Australian couple who were also very nice.

        Our first stop was an old train yard. It's a cemetery for old rusted out trains that have been abandoned for years and years. It was an interesting site but not too terribly exciting.
          Our next stop was a little town where they actually make and process salt. They walked us through the whole process of how they make and package salt. This was pretty interesting but still not super exciting. But now is when things got crazy!

          After the little village, we drove about 10 minutes into the salt flats to find mounds and mounds or salt piled up ready to be collected. Our guide told us a little bit about the salt and collection before he let us take some pictures for awhile. After about 15 minutes, we loaded back up and drove about an hour into a massive expanse of salt flats. There is really nothing I can say to perfectly describe what we saw. Imagine a flat desert of snow for as far as the eye can see. There is nothing anywhere around. Simply a white blanketed floor that extended in all directions. This is where we took a lot of the famous perceptual pictures that twist your mind!

        After goofing off for awhile, it was time for lunch. Our driver then continued to drive deeper into this white wonderland until we came to a very random Island covered in cacti. Quick fact, these salt flats is actually a huge lake that is completely covered in salt. When we pulled up to the island we unloaded and wandered around for a few minutes while our driver set up lunch.

        I have to say, lunch was fantastic! Normally when on a tour and they say that a meal is included, it's pretty weak sauce. But this one was great! They knew we were vegetarians and they even prepared special food for us. We had vegetable omelets, rice, avocado, cucumbers, tomatoes, and even coke! Every one of us got very full and were very satisfied.

        Once we finished lunch, it was time to climb to the top of this cactus island. The view from the top was extraordinary! No matter where we looked, we saw beautiful, perfect, flawless whiteness from our cactus perch up high.

            Finishing up at the Island, we loaded back up to go take a few more photos before the sun went down. They also took us to a hotel that was in the middle of this "lake" that was completely made out of salt! The walls, the tables, the chairs, and the sculptures were all made of salt. Very cool.
      Feeling the time crunch, our driver loaded us up to take us to a place where we could watch the beautiful sunset. This was our final stop and final opportunity to take pictures. The sunset was of course remarkable. I have to reiterate the amazingness of the nature and scenery that I have been exposed to in my travels.

          After talking, Eric and I both very quickly agreed that this was by far our most favorite thing that we have done the entire time. We even agreed that this tour was WAY more fun than our trip to Manchu Picchu! We HIGHLY recommend this trip to anyone and everyone who can possibly do it.
      To close our adventures, the 3 of us went to a restaurant that actually served good mexican food. I had some vegetarian tacos that were to die for! And now, we are on our long journey back to La Paz. It is so hard to believe that we have only spent 1 day here and it was an absolute blast! Cheers mates!

You Stay Civilized……Planet Earth!!!!