Well, I've realised a long-time dream by coming to Argentina but it hasn't stopped raining the three days I've been here. Don't cry for me , Argentina. That should change though when I travel from Salta, where I am now, south to Cordoba, where it should be sunny and in the low 30´s.
So I'm on a five week break from work in Cochabamba and I need to leave the country in order to renew my visa, so I've hit the road.
First stop was the Bolivian town of Potosi, all be it, only for three hours. I was surprised to learn that Potosi, a big mining town, was the most populated city in the world back in the 1650´s - ahead of London and Paris even.
I then caught a 4wd type bus to Uyuni. There was some wierd arabian type tunes playing on the stereo and then in the middle of it all came on Down Under by Men At Work. I tell you, that song is everywhere. Then there was some funky 70´s disco hits. Geez louise.
I spent one night in Uyuni before going on a three day tour of the nearby dry salt lake and the surrounding areas. The salt flat here, Salar de Uyuni, is the world's largest salt flat at 10,582 square kilometers. It is located in southwest Boliva, near the crest of the Andes, and is elevated 3,656 meters (11,995 ft) above sea level.
We were lucky to have a fine sunny day which meant sunglasses were a must. The white salt was so bright. We got around in a 4wd and visited some of the salt hotels, the springs and a festival in the middle of nowhere. We had lunch on an island covered with cacti. We spent the night in a salt hotel and part of the wall fell apart and fell in to my bed during the night.
The other two days were touring the area checking out volcanoes, and coloured lagoons populated by flamencos. This was the remotest landscape I've ever seen. For two days we travelled around on what I would describe as another planet or the moon - very baron, rocky, desertless, open-spaces, quiet, lifeless. If the term 'getting away from it all' applied to some where it would be here.
I've had a sore tooth lately and because of the altitude it hurt like a mther fcker. It was like someone jabbed a needle in to the side of my face and just kept it there. I noticed it was temperature sensitive as well, so during the cold of night the pain was very intense and I had to take some pain killers to get to sleep.
After the tour I headed south over the border to Argentina. Forever I've wanted to come here, and thankfully I got through border control OK. As the bus drove through the contryside the mountains were amazing - tall and wonderful shapes. It reminded me of scenes from old Western movies.
My first port of call has been Salta, Argentina's eighth largest city, which from what I've seen is very large and green with lots of trees. The people here speak a very different Spanish to what I'm used to and Im told the language is even stranger in Buenos Aires. We'll see.
When I work out how my new camera works I'll add a few photos of the tour as they can describe better than I can the landscape of Uyuni.
Plus I'd like to dedicate this trip to my good friend, Norman - one of my biggest fans, and a guy who helped me a lot over the last three years - who recently passed away to cancer. You'll be missed, mate.
