La Salar de Uyuni

After a game of aeroplane ping-pong, during which I flew over the city twice, I finally touched down in La Paz. I had been warned about the possible altitude sickness, as La Paz stands at 3,640m above sea level, however, the only problem I encountered was a small marmite explosion when I opened my bottle. All this meant was that I enjoyed a lot of marmite with some Bolivians, who seemed very impressed! 

The following evening I headed South. My plan was to meet up with Xavier in Tupiza and do a tour of the Salar de Uyuni (Salt Flats). I had to wait in Tupiza for a few days before our group arrived and we could head off. I enjoyed relaxing by the pool and even did some horse-riding, during which I almost managed to get myself run over by a train; horses really aren't my thing... On Wednesday morning, my friends arrived. We were a group of 15 people, split into three jeeps. The delay had certainly whet my appetite and I was very excited. Our first day was devoted to the mountainous surroundings of Tupiza, including some spectacular views and windy passes. 

Day two was long, starting at 4:30 with a drive through a ghost town at sunrise and some beautiful, coloured lagoons, stretching across the vast, high, Bolivian plains. The highlight for me was the hot springs at lunchtime: a pool of boiling water next to an iced-over lake, a wonderfully relaxing setting. Both evenings, electricity was rationed and the starry sky was phenomenal. I was glad to have purchased a hat and gloves as the evenings were freezing. Even a football match at 4900m failed to keep us warm, although it did leave us completely breathless, as we were dazzled and destroyed by a group of Bolivian children. 

On day three, our jeep failed to start and while we were waiting I managed to break a window of the hostel. However, the previous day, a girl had lost her shoe in a lake and my Dutch buddy, Hylke, almost managed to drown in a geyser, so my accident went almost unnoticed. We spent the evening in a hostel made entirely out of salt; it was awesome.

We were up early again for the final day, the salt flat day. We had to cross some water to get to the salt flats and watched the sunrise reflecting from the water. The lack of perspective on the vast salt flat makes photos really exciting and we managed to take several. 

At the end of the tour we were dropped in the town of Uyuni; it had been an epic four days. Now I am heading to Potosi, the highest city on the world...