The Great Salt Desert and bitter cold in the driest place on earth

Over the past week, I have been doing some of the last traveling I plan to do in Bolivia for the time being. With a group of other volunteers working here in Cochabamba, I set out on a bus, then a train, the a four-wheel drive vehicle to explore the renowned Salar de Uyuni, with a span of 12,000 km squared easily the largest expanse of salt in the world. The Salar is in the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on the earth, at an altitude of about 4,000 meters, and we visited in mid-winter. The greatest obstacle that we would face would be the bitter cold, as we camped for three days without heat or fire and traveled to 4,600 meters at the highest point. But I (at least) will say that it was all well-worth the experience. As a quick google-search will prove, one of the highlights of any Uyuni trip is the incredible effect of the salts on perspective in photos. So, like the rest of our group, my companions and I took full advantage of this interesting characteristic of the place. The particular tour which we chose was on the cheaper end of the spectrum, and (who knows if price is a factor in this) the quality of actual "guiding" left much to be desired. At times we collectively felt that our presence was an annoyance and burden to our guide, as especially demonstrated by the quickness with which any of our questions was dismissed. I'm not positive that a pricier tour would have made a big difference, though, as dismissal of foreigners and tourists in particular seems to be an aspect of this culture that I have encountered often. Perhaps it has something to do with the abject poverty in which many people live, as well as a cultivated political animosity toward "norteamericanos" and blame of wealthier nations in general for hardships. However justified that generalization may be for developed nations and their giverments on the whole, my group still found it frustrating that these attitudes were being directed at us personally.

Last week, Aline came through Cochabamba for a spell and we had a merry reunion hiking in the nearby hills. It was good to see a familiar face.

And Saturday night the volunteers had a "robot/android dress-up affair" which was good for laughs. I pretended to be an android from the movie "Bladerunner"

And here's the Uyuni crew. Mostly it was easier traveling in a larger group for tour and pricing reasons, even though at time this can make logistics like cab rides more difficult.

Me in front of our night-train to Uyuni. There aren't many trains in Bolivia in general. This one was absolutely freezing.

In the morning, after spending only a few hours sleeping in a budget hostel, we set out to find a tour. Eventually we settled on Lipez, and at 11am we were off. First stop: The train cemetary (basically just a dumpyard of old parts from more auspicious train-travel days). After that, though, we saw what we came to agree was the most spectacular sight of our trip, the Salar itself. Perhaps beautiful isn't as befitting as strange--but it was an interesting oddity indeed.

There was one solitary island in the middle with some cacti where we could take a hike and get a better view.

That night, we slept in a "salt hostel": another spectacle, for sure. Even the beds were made of salt. Unfortunately, the tempuratures outside hovered around 0 degrees F and there was no insulation or heating system.

The next morning, we were glad to get out early and make it to see the volcanoes, almost 20,000 ft in elevation, that seperate Bolivia and Chile to the west.

At lunch on the shore of Laguna Colorado, we took the opportunity to do some stretching and watch wild llama-like animals calls vicunas grazing the salts. It was a good thing we took advantage, most of us became sick with food poisoning for the remainder of the trip not long after this stop.

"Arbol de Piedra" or Tree of Stone, formed by volcanic rock

On the morning of our last day, I was luckily able to rouse my spirits enough to check out the geysers and hot pools near the volcanoes. Unfortunately, it was too cold to strip down in order to get in all the way, especially with no way to dry off or get warm afterward!

Needlessy to say, our group was happy to make it back to sunny warm Cochabamba. I really value the opportunity to live with interesting and considerate people, as well as have some privacy here. At times lately it can feel like the people I see in the streets are cold and uncaring, and have little respect for women, foreigners, (pedestrains!) or even strangers in general. But perhaps my judgement is a bit harsh, as my weariness has been augmented by the knowledge that I'll be home again soon. I suppose it's only natural to be readying myself to take that step, and to be glad about it. It is turning out to all be part of a natural procession home for me, after all, and sooner than later my path will lead me far, far away.