See salt sea
Once again we reach a site where the pictures are worth a thousand words. Well correction, we've reached about ten such sites over the next three days. To tell you the truth, I would have preferred to do this whole drive on my own, without a guide, if only the book didn't say that to do that I would need a car, a GPS, and a loose screw in the head. Honestly, this trip did not require a guide, just a driver, and that is exactly what we got from the tour company we chose.
There were nine of us in an old Toyota Landrover: us, Ian and Nikki -- an English couple on a year long round-the-world honeymoon, Mauricio and Natalia -- a Brazilian couple, Alex the driver, and Eli the cook together with her nine year old son Betto.
Train Cemetery
Salt Museum - (5 bolivianos)
Salt Plains
A white, sparkling field of salt stretching as far as the eye can see.
Salt Hotel
Where everything imaginable is made out of salt (except for the bathroom, I checked).
Fishermen Island
A miraculous site. A small island in the middle of the dry salt sea almost entirely covered with gigantic Cacti.
Salt Hostel
Our first night in the Salar we spent in a Salt Hostel very similar to the one we saw earlier that day except it only had dorm rooms. This was the first time we shared a room with anyone during the trip.
Volcano Ollague Overlook
Magnificent red rock formations that look like petrified waves with the active Volcano Ollague smoking in the back.
Laguna Canapa
The only wild life in the Galapagos Islands that I was completely unimpressed with were the flamingos. But here, in Laguna Canapa, they were so active and spectacular, I could not take my eyes off them. Also at this site, a fox who was carefully, but greedily, accepting leftovers from traveler's lunches.
The Stone Tree
One of the most anticipated sites on the drive featured in every brochure and every guidebook.
Laguna Colorado
Our second night spent in another dorm-room style hostel featuring a long hallway, and about seven other groups on tours similar to ours. In the picture,taken by Ian and Nikki, and then swiped from their website, the whole gang is playing "Stupid", a Russian card game we now proudly try to share with the world.
Geyser Field
Next morning we had to wake up at 5am and drive another hour to the site to be there in time for the geyser eruptions. Such early wake up call was TOTALLY worth it, as the Geysers ended up being one of the most impressive and unforgettable sites so far. Bubbling and spewing sulfur they obliterated the sun and sky in clouds of steam, fogging out everything from eye glasses to camera lenses on their way.
Laguna Verde
Although an impressive site up close, is probably best viewed from afar as only then it is actually verde (green). We then continued to the nearby Laguna Blanca, where we said goodbye to Ian and Nikki who continued with the 4x4 back to Uyuni, while we, along with Mauricio and Natalia, headed across the border into Chile.
There were nine of us in an old Toyota Landrover: us, Ian and Nikki -- an English couple on a year long round-the-world honeymoon, Mauricio and Natalia -- a Brazilian couple, Alex the driver, and Eli the cook together with her nine year old son Betto.
Train Cemetery
Salt Museum - (5 bolivianos)
Salt Plains
A white, sparkling field of salt stretching as far as the eye can see.
Salt Hotel
Where everything imaginable is made out of salt (except for the bathroom, I checked).
Fishermen Island
A miraculous site. A small island in the middle of the dry salt sea almost entirely covered with gigantic Cacti.
Salt Hostel
Our first night in the Salar we spent in a Salt Hostel very similar to the one we saw earlier that day except it only had dorm rooms. This was the first time we shared a room with anyone during the trip.
Volcano Ollague Overlook
Magnificent red rock formations that look like petrified waves with the active Volcano Ollague smoking in the back.
Laguna Canapa
The only wild life in the Galapagos Islands that I was completely unimpressed with were the flamingos. But here, in Laguna Canapa, they were so active and spectacular, I could not take my eyes off them. Also at this site, a fox who was carefully, but greedily, accepting leftovers from traveler's lunches.
The Stone Tree
One of the most anticipated sites on the drive featured in every brochure and every guidebook.
Laguna Colorado
Our second night spent in another dorm-room style hostel featuring a long hallway, and about seven other groups on tours similar to ours. In the picture,taken by Ian and Nikki, and then swiped from their website, the whole gang is playing "Stupid", a Russian card game we now proudly try to share with the world.
Geyser Field
Next morning we had to wake up at 5am and drive another hour to the site to be there in time for the geyser eruptions. Such early wake up call was TOTALLY worth it, as the Geysers ended up being one of the most impressive and unforgettable sites so far. Bubbling and spewing sulfur they obliterated the sun and sky in clouds of steam, fogging out everything from eye glasses to camera lenses on their way.
Laguna Verde
Although an impressive site up close, is probably best viewed from afar as only then it is actually verde (green). We then continued to the nearby Laguna Blanca, where we said goodbye to Ian and Nikki who continued with the 4x4 back to Uyuni, while we, along with Mauricio and Natalia, headed across the border into Chile.