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Salar Uyuni

Bolivia

Bec
2004-09-17 11:34:52

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It was given the fancy alias of "Incahuasi" for the tourists.

We were counting that Doro would have time to sober up during the lunch hour but I soon realised that he had joined other drivers in a beer drinking bout in the thatched shack you can see next to the red SUV in this photo. I went in and challenged him to stop drinking or to give me the keys so I could drive. I somehow managed to drag him out of there after some haggling and we left to cross the 70 km expanse of salt to the town of Cachani due east of here.

Doro calmed down and we set off. The view was really stupendous but it would have been more enjoyable without worrying about our driver. We stopped to take this 360 degree panorama shortly after leaving the island.

Crossing a featureless desert like this is like crossing a lake. You aim for some feature on the horizon in order to maintain the same course. After a while I noticed that we were repeatedly creeping to the left and realised that Doro was falling asleep, waking up, correcting his course and falling asleep again! He was driving at 80 km/hr with fully closed eyes. What a ride!

Uyuni
Doro drove us first to the train cemetery to look at rusty locomotives before entering Uyuni. I was glad to have arrived and he appeared happy to have delivered his packages safely so all was finishing well.

I took a room at the Kutimuy hotel, visited the town and bought a bus ticket for Potosi the next day. Later, I had a decent dinner with Barbara and Peter before turning in.

I really enjoyed my three day, two night excursion in the altiplano and across the salar.I do recommend it to lovers of mountain scenery.

Looking over what I have written about it I find many negative comments that could be omitted because they are not very important. I will not, however, remove any of them because I think it is important to call things the way I see them and because this excursion could be first rate and world class with only a few minor changes:
- drivers that don't drink and that don't mind talking with tourists
- a minimal amount of documentation about the altiplano and the salar, including a detailed map.
- better food on the road and in the Colque Hotel.

Maybe these minor problems will be solved by the time you, the reader,

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