At this point, the sun was up, beautiful skies, and my two Australian cohorts were ready to book a tour...we had traveled from La Paz without a reservation for the salt flats tour because it´s obvious that one can arrange better accommodations within the access city as opposed to a few hundred kilometers away. That being said, we fended off a bunch of guides selling their product in search for a reputable source that was recommended to me. They only had one spot for today...so we got this ladies recommendation to another tour agency and bam! "Come back in an hour and we´ll be ready to leave in the 4x4"..perfect, time for breaky!
This nice hotel, which I can´t for the life of me remember the name of, had a buffet breakfast filled with pancakes, fresh eggs, granola, yogurt and a bunch of coffee and tea...and guess what!? Us three were the only ones there! Free for all...we had heard that some of the salt tour companies can be a little stingy with food preparations and without truly knowing our situation, we indulged to the fullest!
With three surprisingly descent looking Toyota land cruisers in front of us, we took the one that seemed to be the newest. Green, clean, and only a couple of window cracks :) And we were off! We opted to not spring for the English speaking guide for we wanted some authentic Spanish practice...I bring this up now because the first location of the tour, only 10 minutes away, was the "train cemetery," which was either a result of the deceased railway in 1910...or created in 1910 and then later seized to run...or...well really this info is worthless cause my Spanish is merely at a need to survive basis...and lets face it...this yard of old rusty trains bared little influence on my overall experience. I´m not even sure if the guide said 1910. Wow, ok...I´m off topic...time for a bit of tea and I´ll return...
Mint, splash of condensed milk, and 6 tears of stevia extract...listo!
As we passed three SUV´s on the 30 minute jaunt to the famous Salar de Uyuni (salt flats of the town Uyuni) it increasingly became apparent that our young driver was a) in a hurry or b) not older than he appeared...he was just ripping down these dirt roads! I enjoyed it, ha!
Then it appeared...massive mirages at the base of the hills, almost like waves or translucent ghosts...quite amazing. We entered at a section of small rounded indentations that housed pools of water and were coincidentally like speed bumps, forcing our driver to yield his progress...nope, surely it was called "salt flats" for a reason...smashing over a hundred km/hr we arrived to a little building (apparantly a museum, I didn´t manage to go inside). This was our rendezvou point..."caminan para cinco minutos y despues almuerzo"...ok cool, later bro! We loaded my day pack with a toy walrus, a bottle of wine, a toothbrush, bottle of water, and our cameras...set out on foot and walked a staggering 100 meters away for some cliche photos on the flats! We took turns snapping ridiculous photos of each other holding up bottles of wine, leaping in the air over things, and cringing from the "attack of the walrus!"
Wow! This tea is amazing...I´m freezing at the beach in Chile and just guzzling hot hot tea as I recollect this great adventure...ok back to the goods!
"What about lunch?" The moment of truth...how much food do we really get? Oh, its put away, then the guide comes over..."5 minutes!" We obviously were engaged in the photos and missed our hot meal...he pulled it back out, we ate a few bites and back to the photos...good amount of cold food but the vibes from the guide shadowed the feast...done with it! As we reclaimed our strategic position on the flats so as not to get other people in our photos, we were accompanied by two very nice Swedish girls who were touring with the same company...they had been stuck with 3 older French people in one of the other SUV´s...we were a natural draw or the French were just a repellent! Anyway, lots of photos. Neat, quirky, and hilarious to say the least...I was a bit annoying solely because I couldn´t see. It was intensely bright and reflective out, and my sunnies were of little preventative use for squinting...needless to say...I took hundreds of photos and only a few are worthy of show...I guess I need a class on lining up horizons...whatever!"Oh what!? Who is that, are they yelling at us?" The three Belgian folks in our group, whom hadn´t spoken a word to us yet, were yelling and waving us in...apparently they were satisfied with a couple nude photos on the flats and were ready...we come to find out that the guide was a in hurry because we had overstayed our welcome by an hour or so...photos are really fun!
Ripping down the country dirt roads, passing llamas and vast open plains with subtle undulation, we couldn´t help but notice the wall of blackness ahead...Literally a 180 degree plane (geometric object) that screamed thunderous plight. Amazingly, our guide, knowingly or unknowingly, managed to circumvent this display of natural beauty as we merely traveled along side it. Breath taking views of lightening accompanied by the sunset that peaked through the gap of the horizon and the infinite wall of darkness...it was as if the hills were on fire and the lightening caused it...and as we continued head on into the fiery sunset, we came to a miniature salt flat abreast the hillside in front. We pulled over and ran out on to the flats, cameras in hand, like little kids unleashed on the playground...cognisant of our window of opportunity we feverishly began taking photos...one of the Belgians was out with his super nice SLR trying to capture a bolt of lightening...winded (elevation), chilled, and smiling ear to ear, the Aussies and I were last in the SUV...and the Belgian leaned over with his camera...he had done it...he captured the girls with a bolt striking down on Clare´s head! Amazing!
Then is started to pour! Only 30 minutes to the hostel in a small town San Juan del Rosario...thank god! We ran inside...crunch, crunch...looked down...and we were standing on a floor of loose salt...a salt hotel...the walls, the floor, the dinner tables...everything was salt! Our beds were in rooms of loosely packed salt floors...such an interesting day...a boring train cemetery to salty sleepy time! despite having to pay for a hot shower...just over a buck...the experience was unforgettable and our Belgian crew finally opened up and let their true colors shine(they apparently didn´t get a wink of sleep on the overnight bus from La Paz).
(Day 2)
Bright and early...we started off close to the hotel, maybe 5 minutes away, at the mummy cemetery (Situ) (weird pattern forming here). Massive oddly shaped lava rocks with man made holes that housed skeletal remains of the natives who perished during the era of Inca proliferation. The nearby pack of local llamas and endless fields of brightly colored quinoa (delicious seed/whole grain) were more interesting. 
There were amazing volcanic rock formations that stand out in my memory...Siloli desert...wind carved rock formations that seemed to be placed there by aliens or something...quite astonishing shapes! We spotted lots of indigenous "pecunas" which were like alpacas but protected by law. Beautiful little guys just hanging with the flamingos.
We finished at Laguna Colorado...an extremely massive and at the moment red lagoon filled with flamingos and protruding white peninsulas of borax! My favorite part was looking over the lagoon to the mountains that appeared to have molten gold spewing down the crevasses...my camera battery had just died and I couldn´t get a photo to do it justice.
We got to the hotel, a six bed dorm with warped beds and electricity that turned on after 7 pm. Sleeping at nearly 5,000 meters does have its advantages though...unbelievable views of the stars...you had to bundle up to fight the blistering cold winds but the shooting stars, planets, and southern cross were jaw dropping!
(Day 3)
We awoke at 4:30 am and were packed and in the jeep by 5 am...no breakfast yet...as the sun was just casting ambient light we could barely see the geysers...5,000 meters and negative Celsius...we didn´t care too much and only snapped a couple photos for evidence...the real draw and attraction was the hot springs. 5,000 meters, extremely hot, and right upside another lagoon, we stripped down with the rest of the tour companies and bathed as the sun split through the steam once over the snowy tips of our wake. Then I ate a crap ton of pancakes, sweet yogurt, and cookies...don´t forget the tea...and was a sugar high that lasted me all the way to the Chilean border. By 11am I was at immigration getting my temporary tourist visa for Chile in the town of San Pedro de Atacama. The rest of my newly formed friends stayed in Bolivia and returned back to Uyuni so they could endure another VIP bus ride back to La Paz...Best photos of my South American tour thus far!
