Salar de Uyuni & San Pedro de Atacama

At the arrival in Uyuni, you get bothered by the sales agents of the tour companies that try to sell you their tour to the Salar. After getting rid of them and checking into the hotel / hostal, we started to look around for a tour. Most of the agencies have 100% the same schedule, but we wanted to have something special, climbing a volcano at day 4 and going then to san pedro de atacama. the standard tour includes 3 days and going back to Uyuni so we looked around.

After 3-4 companies, we shortly revised our options and talked to some people in the street that looked as lost as we were. And fortunately, we met 3 Dutch girls that wanted to do the same (how big is the chance that you meet 3 people from a country that's highes mountain is less than 100 m of altitude??) but anyway, we went back to the first company (that had good information) and booked all together.

Next morning, we left, 3 Dutch, 2 Swiss and 1 US to the cementary of trains close to Uyuni to take pictures (very nice!) before we headed thought the salar. We had a quick stop at the office because the dutch girls thought that they had left there LP guidebook there (but actually it was in their back packs ;-) ). 

Cementary of trains

The salar is a salt flat that receives water and salt from the mountains around and it's flat, flat, flat, white, white, white and hot, hot, hot. It's a good spot to take funny pictures (the dutch girls had 100 of ideas) and it's very impressive (not just the pictures, the site itself!).

Human Star

Salar de Uyuni

 In the middle of the salt flat, there is an "island" with Cactus which we visited and where we had lunch. After another foto session, we headed to a salt hostal where we spent the night. The walls and most of it is made of salt-blocks (no-the toilets not!) and it's pretty nice.

Island in the Salar

Salt hostal

Next day, we visited several lagunes that are beautiful in color, but very toxic so no place to swim. We had a really cool group and the driving between the spots was not boring at all (e.g. the US one is a fire fighter). All the lagunes are in the mountains and you have a great view, colored lakes, mountains and flamingos waling around close from you... the flamingos don't care that the lakes are toxic at all, they enjoy it there!

Flamingos

Lagune with mountain as background

Rolling Stones

On of the highlights was the visit of the "colored-lagune" (Laguna Colorada) or "red lagune" since it has several colors at the same time. Furthermore, it's still a desert, so there is not much rain and it's very dry all the time. In the evening, we were at a tourist-hostel and we had to get up early in the morning (04.30 leaving).  

Laguna Colorada

 

After a short night, (with one of the girls talking while sleeping and one other turning 180 degrees in here bed) we grabbed our swimming gear and we drove to the geyseres which we reached at sunrise (freeeeezing cold!) and there were also some "mud-pools" bubbeling and steaming there! Nice but cold.  Just another hour away, we stopped at a hot spring place where we got breakfast and where we could jump into naturally warm water (nobody knows why they locked the changing rooms close to the springs so that you had to get changed outside while it still was cold!). 

Steam / Geysir

Hot Pool

Closed changing room...

 Heated up, we visited the green-lagune with the volcano Licancabur in  the back (5960m) and we got dropped of in a hostal close to the border (there is nothing there: no water from tab, no shower, .., but a volcano to climb). We relaxed, talked to the guide and prepared for the hike to the mountain.

Green lagune

At 02.00 we had breakfast and we started walking around 03.15. Unfortunately one of the dutch girls was not feeling too good, so she had to go back and here friend went with her, so after 5150 m just 3 of us were left. Passing a grave (yes, the mountain can be dangerous) we continued and we arrived the summit after good 6 hours of climbing and we had a geat view to the lagune and it's surrounding!

The way down took us another 2-3 hours and it was hard and long, and after the car breaking down 3 times on the way back, we arrived tired in the hostal.

On the top

Green Lagune from the top

Our guide should call the transport company in the evening so that we would get picked up in the morning to be transfered to the border. He told us several times, that this is no problem, the bus will come at around 09.30... well, next morning at 08.10 the lady of the hostal shows up and tells us that the bus is there... ? so we rushed out and the diver said, that their cars have passed through 10 minutes ago and nobody had told him to pick up people :-( we packed quickly and we could convince the driver to bring us to the border (there the bus was waiting anyway). So it was not a relaxed morning but we finally mad it to the border, where the next surprise was waiting: we got told in Uyuni that we don't have to pay for the exit since we don't have a visa (just a stamp in the passport). but at the border it was different: 15 Bolivianos, please. After we asked why, the guy wanted to know our company and ¡tada! no, since you come with Andean Explorers, you don't have to pay...? :-) well, we talked to others and it seems that's a bit random: some pay 21, some pay 15 and some pay nothing... :-)

We were happy to arrive in San pedro de atacama (where custom controll found an apple in my bag which is illegal in Chile and I nearly had to pay $100 US but I could redo the form and the let me slip through :-) ).

We currently stay in the "Casa corvatsch" hostal and yesterday, we went for a star watching show at midnight in the desert (highly recommended!!) with a funny french astronomer and an annoying Israeli that was asking all the time very stupid questions... :-( but the show and the stars were great!!

The Moon

Now, tomorrow we head to Salta in Argentina and then further south, but this will be on the next entry!