On the third day we
visited lots of flamingo lakes and visited some strange shaped rocks
where Jemma attempted to climb one only to be told off by Sylvia
because that particular rock was a national treasure. For lunch we
had a buffet of salad and chicken and against my better judgement I
tucked in (as a rule, I never eat chicken off a buffet, not even in
the UK). Well sure enough, a couple of hours later, it was like the
scene from trainspotting where all he wants is to find any toilet –
any toilet will do. Unfortunately at this point we were driving
through flat salt planes (the mini salt flats) with no toilets or
shelter in sight. Luckily, I managed to hold on until we pulled up at
a little shop in the middle of the desert that just so happened to
have the best toilets I have seen in Bolivia.
That night we stayed at
the most fantastic hotel ever – the salt hotel, where everything,
including the floor, the walls, the tables and chairs are all made of
salt. We all had our own rooms and the hotel was quite warm which
made such a pleasant change to the previous 2 nights. Also, you could
pay £1 to have a shower and after 2 nights of not showering it was
absolute bliss. You bought a ticket from the reception and then got
in the queue for the shower. Luckily our group arrived before all the
other guests so the waiting time was only about 40 mins.
 |
| Our salt beds |
We sat round on little
salt tables and played cards (we played poker using chips of salt)
and we enjoyed a nice bottle of red wine with our meal. It was a
really nice end to the trip and Sylvia and the tour guide Nico both
came to join us.
On the last day we got
up at 4.30am for the grand finale of our tour – the salt flats. The
salt flats are basically a big lake that is just made of solid salt
and stretches for miles and miles with nothing on the horizon but
blue skies. This means you can get some excellent photos because
there is nothing to give perspective. We drove out onto them and
watched the sun rise before spending about an hour taking photos.
It
wasn’t as easy as we had imagined but we got a few good ones
(mainly of Rachel and Dan though). The tour ended in Salar de Uyuni
where we left our jeep and said goodbye to our new friends before
wandering back into the reality of having to do everything for
ourselves. It was really sad to leave everybody because after 4 days
of intense bonding like that you really get to know people well,
including our cook and driver. I felt quite lonely and depressed when
we said goodbye.
More photos of Bolivia here:
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