Salar de Uyuni and Moon Valley

Salar de Uyuni

The following morning the alarm went off at six o'clock sharp to head to the bus station. The journey involved travelling by bus to the city of Oruru, from which we would board a train to Uyuni: a total of more than twelve hours of travel, during which the further south we went the lower the temperatures dropped, reaching truly worrying levels, enough to freeze even the moisture on the windows. We arrived around eleven at night, and once we got off we realised it was really very cold; we quickly retrieved our luggage and followed a kind young lady who escorted us to the hotel. It was time to take a shower and get into bed, but unfortunately it was by no means easy. The room was obviously not heated and the shower water was barely lukewarm; we got into our sleeping bags and then under the blankets almost in the grip of convulsions, trying to keep warm until the following morning.

Departure was scheduled for ten, so we woke up in a fairly relaxed way and, just as calmly, repacked our backpacks and then went out for breakfast. The time has come to explain to you why we pushed on to the city of Uyuni... it's precisely from this city that tours depart daily to visit the largest salt flat in the world and then push on to the highly colourful mountain lagoons that are located at an altitude of 4,500 metres above sea level. Our trip would take place in a 4x4 jeep in the company of two Belgians and two Slovenians, not forgetting Alejandro, our invaluable driver, guide and cook. Departure was delayed by about an hour to allow for the supplies to be loaded into the jeep. Once the backpacks were loaded too, it was time to set off towards new adventures: after just half an hour of travel we arrived at the entrance to the salt flat...

the sky was clear and the sun beat down on a very white salt and made it almost impossible to keep our eyes open. Having put on our sunglasses and slathered on a good dose of sunscreen, we proceeded towards the heart of the salt flat until we reached a hotel built entirely of blocks of salt: our first destination. A stop to admire the interior of the building, which also contained furniture strictly made of salt, and it was already time to set off again. We proceeded across the immense white plain for another hour: it seemed impossible that our driver Alejandro could find his way in that expanse with no landmarks, where the horizon seemed to have no end. Our next stop was the so-called Isla del Pescado, named that way because of the singular shape that reproduced a little fish. Once we reached the car park and paid the entrance fee, we began a slow ascent towards its summit.

It is a sort of rock in the middle of a sea of salt, dotted with gigantic and spectacular cactus plants, the tallest of which reaches a height of about twelve metres. Climbing along the path that took us to visit the Isla del Pescado, we realised, even more so if possible, just how immense this salt flat is. The effect of a perspective seen from above makes the panorama of these places even more spectacular. Once we had descended back to the car, Alejandro had already prepared our lunch, and after eating it quickly we set off for our next destination: the galaxia. To reach this new goal we ground out quite a few more kilometres, pushing out of the salt flat into a desert area. La Galaxia is a cave that was recently discovered and even more recently opened to tourism. Inside you can admire a sort of stalactites and stalagmites with certainly unusual shapes.

Rather than the usual tapered limestone formations, this cavern has a much more articulated ceiling that in some ways resembles coral formations. Next to this cave there was another one called "Cueva del Diablo", a sort of Inca cemetery in which lay numerous tombs carved into the rock and brought to light by the tireless work of just three people who decided to turn it into a tourist attraction. The visit was very short, because another two and a half hours awaited us to reach the little village where we would spend the night. In an instant darkness fell and we ventured into the desert with only the light of our headlights and the skilful guidance of our driver.

As in every self-respecting desert, between the light of day and the darkness of night there was a considerable temperature swing, but all in all our worries were partly soothed: our accommodation was obviously built of blocks of mud and straw, which fully performed their insulating function and allowed an acceptable temperature to be maintained inside the dwelling. After taking our places in our little room, we all gathered together in a lounge, where expert hands had prepared a nice little dinner for us. The evening passed with a bit of chatting and a few glasses of hot chocolate, in the company of our travel companions. We went to bed very early because the following morning we would have to get up just as early.

The alarm went off at 06:00 to go and visit a place a few steps from our little house, in which the remains of some tombs and even of some mummified people, still preserved in excellent condition, were kept, perhaps thanks to the cold, dry climate. Back from our morning walk, we all gathered together again for a hot breakfast and then loaded the jeep and set off in the direction of the "Laguna Colorada", our next camping stop. The journey proved very long and also rough, passing through lunar landscapes. Along the way we also came across another car of tourists broken down: what with the harshness of the terrain and the bitter climate, the jeep these unfortunate colleagues were travelling in simply refused to start again. Fortunately our driver Alejandro solved this problem too, fixing up the damaged vehicle and allowing us to resume the journey.

A little later we stopped to observe the characteristic fumaroles of an still-active volcano, and then continued towards the first in a series of lagoons of the most varied colours. At the first one we stopped for two reasons: the first for the presence of some flamingos that, despite the harsh climate, persisted in their fishing activities; the second reason, no less important, to put something in our stomachs. We didn't stop for long, though, because time was passing inexorably and the road was still very long. We passed through incredible landscapes, reaching our destination only in the late afternoon. We scrambled out of the jeep in a hurry to drop our backpacks in the room and head off to observe the Laguna Colorada.

We had to reach the viewing point before the sun set, because it is precisely thanks to the sun's rays that the lagoon takes on a particular reddish colouration, due to the presence of particular algae contained in its waters. Here the temperature was truly unbearable: the wind blew furiously and our noses began to run without respite; our hands slowly lost all feeling and our ears were practically nonexistent. According to our expert guide, the temperature during the night would drop to -25 °C. Obviously there was no heating in our little room... the only consolation was that this time we would sleep together with all our fellow sufferers, hoping to warm each other up. We no longer knew what to do to fight the cold, until fortunately dinner arrived, which with the usual little soup and some boiling hot spaghetti warmed our stomachs.

After dinner we even found the strength to play cards, but not for long; the electric generator shut off shortly afterwards and we, under the light of our torch, slipped straight into our sleeping bags and then under two blankets, without even taking off the clothes we had on.

The alarm was set for 05:00, but the excessive cold made it slip to 06:30: we were still alive! After the usual breakfast, this time almost frozen, we set off again for the new day. The jeep seemed to struggle under the blows of the cold, but in the end it too warmed up and managed to climb up to five thousand metres above sea level, where our first stop was scheduled, to visit some striking geysers. Jets of scorching steam, in a still-frozen valley, with powerful spurts rising high towards the sky. After a walk among the hot vapours, we set off again to reach a hot water spring. It seemed incredible, but even at five thousand metres, with a penguin-like temperature, a very pleasant hot water gushed from the rock, which we took advantage of to thaw our feet, of which we had by then lost all feeling.

Here too the stop was fairly short because we had to reach the legendary Laguna Verde, the southernmost stop of our journey, right on the border with Chile and Argentina. After about an hour by jeep we arrived at our destination: perhaps we reached the lagoon a little too early, it was still completely frozen and unfortunately we couldn't fully appreciate its characteristic emerald green colour... no matter, it was equally fascinating! Once again we didn't have a great deal of time to enjoy the panorama: we had to return to Uyuni because our travel companions had to catch a bus in the late afternoon. Almost nine hours of rallying through the desert awaited us to return to base camp, interspersed only by a quick lunch break in a ghost town and a quick refreshment stop in a sparse cluster of houses near Uyuni.

Arriving around 18:00, we said goodbye to our adventure companions and went to warm our "little stomachs" with a well-deserved hot chocolate. The agreements of our tour included the return to the salt flat, where we were supposed to spend the last night in a hotel built entirely of salt. We had already arranged the appointment with our driver, and at eight we set off from Uyuni to reach our goal. After a half-hour journey in total darkness we arrived in front of the hotel, which, however, to our great astonishment and disapproval, was completely closed. After asking our good driver what to do, we returned to town to spend the last night in the very cold hotel that had hosted us on our arrival. It wasn't the best way to conclude a tour so rich in content, but unfortunately there were no alternatives.

After a mediocre dinner included in the tour, we headed despondently towards our accommodation to try to forget what had happened.

The following day we could only take the train that would take us back to La Paz late in the evening... we had a whole day left to spend in Uyuni. The small town didn't offer much and, thanks to the freezing temperature, we spent almost the entire day in the tiny office of the tour agency, where we took the opportunity to carry on with our "hard" work of updating the web page. Time flies when you're having fun and in no time it was dinner time. To cheer ourselves up a bit, we headed to one of the nicest and warmest places in town, which we later discovered was owned by a girl who married a fellow townsman of ours: what a small world! With full bellies we went back to the agency and flopped down on the armchairs where we even managed to doze off. Waking up just in time, we caught the train where we tried to resume our interrupted sleep, but not with much success.

We arrived in Oruro the following morning, where without wasting time we boarded a bus that took us all the way to the Capital. Arriving in La Paz noticeably worn out from the journey, we returned to the same Israeli hotel that had hosted us on our arrival. Dead tired, we spent the rest of the day resting. The following day we used it to explore the city. As usual, starting from the main square, we gradually expanded to the adjoining streets until we had covered a perimeter large enough to understand the urban structure. Besides the main square, where the inevitable cathedral stands, we were particularly struck by the frenetic life that characterizes this city, especially in the inevitable market area. We spent almost the whole day immersed in the crowd, among stalls and small bars until evening fell.

A usual dinner eaten in the usual hotel restaurant and then we headed to our little room to try to fall asleep as soon as possible.

Moon Valley

The plan for the following day read: "Valley of the Moon". It's an area located not too far from the city center, where it was possible to admire a particular landscape made of enormous earthen formations, shaped in a spectacular way by the tireless work of Mother Nature. The scenery was in fact not very different from what one imagines when talking about the Moon: that's exactly why it's called "Valley of the Moon"! Having woken up early, we caught the first available bus and immersed ourselves in exploring the valley. The visit lasted almost two hours, under a scorching sun that, for the first time since our arrival in Bolivia, allowed us to take off our sweatshirts. We returned to the hotel in the late afternoon, to take a shower and go eat what would be our last dinner in Bolivia.

The following morning a plane (actually more than one) would take us from the Andean cold to the Caribbean warmth. And so, waking up around five, we packed our bags and headed to the airport to carry out the usual boarding procedures... shortly after we were already in flight bound for Caracas, Venezuela!