16-19.02.11 Tupiza & Uyuni, Bolivia

Our first stop in Bolivia was Tupiza, an isolated mining town marooned in the harsh desert landscape of the Southern Altiplano. We understand that the Bolivians do not allow Argentine buses to travel into the country and it is only possible to catch a bus to the Bolivian frontier, where it is then possible to catch the 1-a-day 3.30pm train to Tupiza. Our bus from Salta was delayed which meant we got to the frontier at 3pm instead of 1pm.  Missing the train meant spending 24hrs in the ramshackle frontier town of Villazon with literally nothing to do.  The queue at the Argentine immigrations was huge and ‘Latin-American’ slow. We were stamped out at 4pm before walking across the bridge over the river to be stamped into Bolivia. Miraculously the Bolivian immigration process was 10 minutes max with no questions asked or dubious looks. A Spanish traveller asked me if I was getting the train. ‘We’ve missed it’ I replied ‘It’s 4.15pm’. ‘No it’s 3.15pm, Bolivia is 1hr behind’ replied the Spaniard.  ‘Go go go…' With 15 minutes to spare we exchanged some Peso’s into Bolivianos and dived into a taxi, at least we think it was a taxi! Our driver, oblivious to traffic or people, sped to the train station like a man on a mission. With no time to even buy a ticket we were ushered onto the train to Tupiza. We were literally the last people on the train as it started to move. Welcome to Bolivia…

The train from Villazon to Tupiza - through the cactus-strewn badlands

After a spectacular train journey through stunning cactus-strewn badlands and canyons Tupiza itself was a let down. We decided to stayed one night and took the opportunity walk through the nearby canyons we had viewed from the train window.  We got lost and I got sunburnt –again! 

That day I went for a hair cut.  It cost £1.50 and the guy, in his 70’s, used similar scissors to the ones I cut bacon with at home.  It was worrying to say the least.  I nearly passed out when he got the cut-throat razor out to finish off.  Yes, really! 

Check out his scissors - and my worried face in the mirror

That evening we caught a train to the cold railway town of Uyuni, the jump-off point for exploring the Salar De Uyuni, by far the largest salt lake in the world.

The Salar De Uyuni covers 9,000 square kilometres, which is a lot of football pitches. The salar is not a lake in the traditional sense. It’s upper layer consists of a thick crust of salt though below it is mainly saturated with water. In the rain season (Dec-April) the surface is mostly covered by water, usually only a few inched deep, but it is possible to drive over the surface. We hired a guide with a 4x4 which we shared with some other travellers. As we approached the salar the lake seemed very deep yet our guide, armed with his Land Cruiser, ventured into what felt like the ocean. 

 At this stage is wasn't at all what we expected!

After 2km or so the water became much shallower and we were able to venture onto the salt flats on foot to take in this natural phenomenon. It felt like floating in the sky and at times it was difficult to determine where the land stopped and the sky began. The photos say it all, here you go Mum.

The Salae De Uyuni - The following photos say far more than words

 

 

Back in Uyuni our guide took a slight detour to show us the Uyuni train graveyard. These trains have been resting here for at least 30 years, subject to the harsh desert environment. An ideal photo opportunity made even more atmospheric, in my opinion, in black and white.

 

Bolivia itself is completely different to any other country we have visited so far. The majority of the people here are of indigenous origin, unlike Argentina or Chile which are very European. Here the majority of the people are very poor, the buildings crumbling and the roads unpaved. It seems unorganised and chaotic yet so far everything has run like clockwork and the culture and the people are bewildering. We can’t wait to see more. La Paz and 'The Worlds Most Dangerous Road' next…Gulp.