The last few days have been all go and very different from the lazy days in Argentina. After leaving San Pedro de Atacama (which as i am sure from the last e-mail i sent made the point, i loved) and finally hooking up with the Australian guy (who we had been travelling on and off with for a few weeks) we were hanging around there for (not that we minded in the slightest), we started the 3 day tour of Uyuni and the Salt Flats. The tour was in 4 wheel drive jeeps for the driver and six people. We already had a group of 3 and were joined by a couple of Swiss girls (who were particularly funny) and a guy who was from Ivory Coast/France/Indonesia/UK (never quite worked out where we was from really). The first day was spent driving up to some geysers and passed some amazingly coloured lakes (green, white and red). At one point, we reached an altitude of 5,000 metres, which was quite tough on the old lungs - however, the Coca tea helped everyone a lot. The scenery was completely stunning, with magnificent views over the mountains and lots of wild flamingoes on the lakes.
On the second day, we went through many different types of scenery - red dusty mountain ranges, lush green hills and arrived at the edge of the salt lake (Salar de Uyuni) and had a much more comfortable night, with hot showers and copious amounts of Bolivian beer (which like everywhere on the trip was stronger than the usual stuff back home and quite good too).
The third day was the highlight, as this was spent entirely on the Salt lake. Salar de Uyuni is the largest salt lake in the world (at approximately 12,000 square kilometres) and no amount of description on an e-mail or even pictures can describe how immense the place looks (and the salt tasted pretty good too). In the middle of the salt lake was a large mound with lots of cacti, which was quite bizarre, but the scenery was amazing. For lunch, we had llama in the middle of the salt lake and for the first time I got burnt on this trip, as the sun was deceptively strong. After travelling further on, we came to the Salt hotel (as the name suggest it is a hotel made out of salt), however the hotel was closed down as a place to stay as the toilets became contaminated, so they try and make people buy something in order to be able to go inside - for once the Lonely Planet guidebook got it right by saying that you get treated like dirt when going in there. Some of the group weren't even allowed to go inside before being told (in no uncertain terms) that if they didn't buy anything they weren't welcome - maybe my height enabled me to walk around it without being hassled.
After leaving the salt lake, we headed towards Uyuni (not before stopping off the the train graveyard - where trains had been dumped there for at least 30 years, very strange). Uyuni was a shock to the system (as we had been so used to the civility of Argentina and Chile) and was a bit of a not-event of a town. On entering the town, it is full of rubbish everywhere. However, there was probably the best pizza restaurant i've been to there (Minuteman - if anyone is heading that way). Within a few hours, we had to say good bye to the people we went on the tour with and who we had a fantastic time with (as the group probably made it even more enjoyable) and headed off by overnight bus to La Paz. The Uyuni Slat Lakes was definitely one of the highlights of the trip so far.
After an awful bus ride (12 hours, no room, lots of bumpy roads), we rolled into La Paz. La Paz is widely regarded as the highest capital in the world at 3,650 metres (which in fact it shares with Lhasa, Tibet). The airport is another 500 metres higher and when coming in by bus, you get to see the whole town underneath you - not one for those that suffer from vertigo. Thankfully, this altitude was lower than what we had been used to, so it wasn't too much a strain on the lungs this time (apart from when climbing those killer hills they have). We tried to book into doing the bike ride down the world's most dangerous road, however they weren't going for a while, so decided as time has nearly run out to get a flight to Cuzco as soon as possible. Unfortunately, they only go twice a week and ended up having to get a first class flight (shame,eh?) over. Even though the flight was at 8am and we had to be at the airport at 6am, we still managed to get the value in the first class lounge with lots of Bolivian wine and sparkling wine (very good and probably the next country to make it in the west from South America).
We arrived in Cuzco yesterday and within about 4 hours of touching down, news came that there had been a large mudslide on the train line in Agua Calientes (where Machu Picchu is). However, the reports on BBC and CNN seem to have over-exaggerated the situation slightly. A few people have died and some are missing, however the line has now been cleared (they couldn't keep it closed too long, as it would have a severe effect on the local economy) and we will be doing the 4 day trek next Friday, after going to Lake Titicaca tomorrow for a few days. Cuzco is a really nice town with cobbled streets and lots of other Inca sites locally. The only thing that we have had to become accustomed to is the continual harassments of going to this tour company, that restaurant and another internet cafe - however, the competition is unbelievable. Tonight, we finally get our first roast dinner since we've been away, with all the trimmings (can't wait - it is one if the few things i really have missed).
