Day 266
We got up early, had yet another pretty basic meal and headed off further to the south.
We had to cover quite some ground on these sandy roads. This day was all about scenery.
Now, I have to really emphasize that despite all those calamities we had to endure (no showers, basic food, a guide that pretty much didn’t say a word most of the time and if he did every now and then I could not understand) the landscape was stunning. There were snow capped mountains, colourful lakes and lovely lagoons with plenty of bird life. We also stumbled upon a number of llamas (which are always a welcome treat to look at). 
So over the course of the day we stopped by various sights, some of them more, others less worth mentioning. I wasn’t bored a second.
We visited Arbol de Piedra at 4412m which is a stone tree that has been carved out of the howling, sandy winds.
Laguna Hedionda was a lagoon full of flamingos!
Edwin looked like he’d been partying quite a lot during the previous night. It’s not a good sign when your guide puts down his seat to have a quick nap every time you stop for a brief photo opportunity. At some stage he even asked Oscar, one guy of our group, to do the driving!
Later on we entered the Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa (150 Bolivianos). Laguna Colorada was the best and ultimate stop of the day. It is a lake coloured red by the algae that live in it. There were thousands of flamingos that shyly kept on wandering around in a close distance posing for perfect photos.
Our place for the night was nearby. Since we dropped in pretty early (thanks to the rain I reckon) we took the chance to explore the local settlement and buy some stuff… I mean beer!
The basic accommodation was in adobe shacks without heating. We enjoyed electricity for some hours. Also I was surprised that it was not as cold as we were promised it would be. After all, we were close to an altitude of 5000m.
Day 267
The day began early at 5am. The sun wasn’t up yet. We skipped breakfast and headed off to Solar de Manaña geyser basin (4850m). This is a collection of bubbling sulfur pools and a geyser that steams hot air. There are no railings or anything that protects you from slipping on the muddy ground and falling into one of the holes in the ground and die a hopefully quick death. However I was not really impressed. It was still pretty dark outside and cannot compare to Yellowstone National Park a bit.
Termas de Polques hot springs were next. They were adjacent to Salar de Chalviri. After we had breakfast Bettina and I decided to jump in and relax for a few minutes.
Laguna Verde was pretty much the final place on this tour’s sightseeing list. Apparently it’s supposed to be green. Well, when I looked at it, it was not. Who cares!?
It was still beautiful with a perfect reflection of Vulcán Lincacabur (5960m).
Soon afterwards we arrived at the border to Chile and we had to say goodbye to half of our group who continued to San Pedro.
Now that I am writing these lines I am certain we should have done the same–cross to Chile and NOT return to Uyuni the same way we came down. Well…
It took us about 8 hours to get back. A very tedious ride where sleeping is not an option thanks to the rough road layout.
Back in Uyuni we got ourselves a nice en suite room at Piedra Blanca hostel. This was however just for a couple of hours so we could enjoy a hot shower and some hours sleep.
Day 268
After not even 2 hours of sleeping we got up at 12:30am (!) so we could catch our 8 hours overnight train north to Oruro.
The Bolivian FCA train was meant to leave around 2am but (what a surprise) it was late. So we left at 4am having to sit around and wait in the cold of the night. We arrived too late in Oruro so we missed the 8 hours coach to Arica in the far north of Chile.
What a joke!
So our master plan of going back from the Chilean border to Uyuni (8hrs), then wait there till 2am (8hrs) and take the overnight train to Oruro (another 8hrs), and get a bus to Chile (2hrs waiting + 8hrs on the bus) turned out to take way longer than the accumulated 34 hours in pure transit. It was such a magnificent plan. We were very disappointed when it didn’t turn out this way!
We checked into Hotel Samay Wasi next to the international bus terminal and hung out there for the day not having been in the mood for sightseeing in Oruro!
The city was not nice; people seemed to be even less friendly than in most other places in Bolivia. Particularly at the bus terminal they don’t give a shit and cannot be bothered answering your questions. Argh! I have to say I really looked forward to getting out of Bolivia at that stage. In general people are just not as nice as in Peru or Ecuador.
Bolivia’s Southern Altiplano: Colourful lagoons, majestic mountains, geysers, hot springs and thousands of flamingos
Day 266
We got up early, had yet another pretty basic meal and headed off further to the south.
We had to cover quite some ground on these sandy roads. This day was all about scenery.
Now, I have to really emphasize that despite all those calamities we had to endure (no showers, basic food, a guide that pretty much didn’t say a word most of the time and if he did every now and then I could not understand) the landscape was stunning. There were snow capped mountains, colourful lakes and lovely lagoons with plenty of bird life. We also stumbled upon a number of llamas (which are always a welcome treat to look at).
So over the course of the day we stopped by various sights, some of them more, others less worth mentioning. I wasn’t bored a second.
We visited Arbol de Piedra at 4412m which is a stone tree that has been carved out of the howling, sandy winds.
Laguna Hedionda was a lagoon full of flamingos!
Edwin looked like he’d been partying quite a lot during the previous night. It’s not a good sign when your guide puts down his seat to have a quick nap every time you stop for a brief photo opportunity. At some stage he even asked Oscar, one guy of our group, to do the driving!
Later on we entered the Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa (150 Bolivianos). Laguna Colorada was the best and ultimate stop of the day. It is a lake coloured red by the algae that live in it. There were thousands of flamingos that shyly kept on wandering around in a close distance posing for perfect photos.
Our place for the night was nearby. Since we dropped in pretty early (thanks to the rain I reckon) we took the chance to explore the local settlement and buy some stuff… I mean beer!
The basic accommodation was in adobe shacks without heating. We enjoyed electricity for some hours. Also I was surprised that it was not as cold as we were promised it would be. After all, we were close to an altitude of 5000m.
Day 267
The day began early at 5am. The sun wasn’t up yet. We skipped breakfast and headed off to Solar de Manaña geyser basin (4850m). This is a collection of bubbling sulfur pools and a geyser that steams hot air. There are no railings or anything that protects you from slipping on the muddy ground and falling into one of the holes in the ground and die a hopefully quick death. However I was not really impressed. It was still pretty dark outside and cannot compare to Yellowstone National Park a bit.
Termas de Polques hot springs were next. They were adjacent to Salar de Chalviri. After we had breakfast Bettina and I decided to jump in and relax for a few minutes.
Laguna Verde was pretty much the final place on this tour’s sightseeing list. Apparently it’s supposed to be green. Well, when I looked at it, it was not. Who cares!?
It was still beautiful with a perfect reflection of Vulcán Lincacabur (5960m).
Soon afterwards we arrived at the border to Chile and we had to say goodbye to half of our group who continued to San Pedro.
Now that I am writing these lines I am certain we should have done the same–cross to Chile and NOT return to Uyuni the same way we came down. Well…
It took us about 8 hours to get back. A very tedious ride where sleeping is not an option thanks to the rough road layout.
Back in Uyuni we got ourselves a nice en suite room at Piedra Blanca hostel. This was however just for a couple of hours so we could enjoy a hot shower and some hours sleep.
Day 268
After not even 2 hours of sleeping we got up at 12:30am (!) so we could catch our 8 hours overnight train north to Oruro.
The Bolivian FCA train was meant to leave around 2am but (what a surprise) it was late. So we left at 4am having to sit around and wait in the cold of the night. We arrived too late in Oruro so we missed the 8 hours coach to Arica in the far north of Chile.
What a joke!
So our master plan of going back from the Chilean border to Uyuni (8hrs), then wait there till 2am (8hrs) and take the overnight train to Oruro (another 8hrs), and get a bus to Chile (2hrs waiting + 8hrs on the bus) turned out to take way longer than the accumulated 34 hours in pure transit. It was such a magnificent plan. We were very disappointed when it didn’t turn out this way!
We checked into Hotel Samay Wasi next to the international bus terminal and hung out there for the day not having been in the mood for sightseeing in Oruro!
The city was not nice; people seemed to be even less friendly than in most other places in Bolivia. Particularly at the bus terminal they don’t give a shit and cannot be bothered answering your questions. Argh! I have to say I really looked forward to getting out of Bolivia at that stage. In general people are just not as nice as in Peru or Ecuador.