We continued our trek up toward Bolivia, where we were introduced to the uncertain nature of how things get done here. We spent hours in a train station in the town just across the border, listening to officials tell us "there could be a train at 3, but we don't know" then "yes its coming", then "Nope, no train until Wednesday" (it was Monday!). It was unbelievable, but we finally hopped on a bus to take us to another town called Tupiza. After a horrific bus ride that felt like I was in a hot wheels car driving across a wash board, we arrived in Tupiza and began our Salt Flat tour. This tour was a 4 day adventure across the salt flats of southern Bolivia in a 4x4 jeep. There were 6 extranjeros taking the tour along with a cook and a driver… 8 people in a 4x4 = extremely tight quarters. But luckily we loved the people we traveled with. It was a lot of time in the car, but the things we got to see and do were incredible. First stop: a little village deep within the mountains where we had lunch. This "village" had a total of 10 families who made a living by raising llamas and lived in homes made of clay, stone, and straw roofs. We were surrounded by roaming llamas and donkeys as we sat and ate lunch. (also a little strange because we were eating llama- quite a delicious dish, but I recommend eating it when you aren't looking at them too!)
The next stops included hot springs (the whole journey we were absolutely freezing, so you can imagine how nice it felt to put on the bathing suit, hop in the steaming water, have a beer, and look out over the vastness that surrounded us), then a look out point at 5,000 meters high (a little hard to breath up there), lagoons filled with pink flamingos, and geysers, where we were literally standing on the edges and walking over areas that could possibly erupt at any moment. All of which were completely spectacular, but I think the best stop of all was on the last day- the Salar de uyuni. A desert of salt minerals that went on for miles in every direction. All you could see was white land lined with blue sky. Because it's the rainy season here, there was a thin layer of water covering most of the area, giving it a look of a frozen lake with melting snow layered across the top. Truly gorgeous. We took some pretty fun pictures here; my favorites attached. (no they aren't digitally altered… they are real photos)
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