From La Paz I headed south to Uyuni to visit the largest salt plains in the world. This place is spectacular but at night in winter the temperature drops to below -20 degrees.
The bus there was one of the worst I´ve ever taken. Cost $9 for a 13 hour night bus trip. The bus was a clapped out tin can, and the road was just dust and rock. I wore all my thermals and took my beanie, scarf and gloves as I suspected in could be a cold trip. When I got on there were 2 really thick blankets for each seat. No heating of course. The ride started ok and we had a few stops for food / toilet etc. I got some sleep but then after midnight it started to get really cold. I put on my gloves, beanie, scarf, fleece, alpacca socks, and another jumper and wrapped the thick blankets around me. That was ok for a while. I had a window seat and about 2am the whole side of the bus froze with thick ice on the windows and the tin walls. I was basically sitting next to a block of ice. From about 3am until we arrived at 7am I just sat there and froze. It was unbearable. That night the temperature was -25 degrees outside. During the day it got to about 5 degrees so I thawed out, until I went on the 4wd jeep trip.
I did a 3 day 3wd trip through the salt flats, deserts, and volcano country visiting amazing landscapes, lagoons and deserts. It was a harsh environment, dry and cold during the day, and absolutely freezing at night, oh and at altitude as well. My skin and lips have never been so dry.
The first day we visited the salt flats and fish island which was covered in Cactus. The salt flats were beautiful and we made the obligatory illusionary photo´s. That first night we stayed in a hotel made of SALT. Yep, bricks of salt. You could lick the walls.
Day 2 we went through beautiful landscapes, rock formations, and lagoons, saw pink flamingo´s, lama´s, and lost of snow dusted mountains. The 2nd night we stayed at a cheap hostel at 4350m altitude. That was the coldest.
On the 3rd day we got up at 4am to go and visit the guisers and mud pools before sunrise. That was freezing cold. Then some hot springs before breakfast, then the return journey through the desert home.
As you will see from the photo´s the scenery was amazing, but it was a cold and harsh place.
