Salar de Uyuni

Written on 02-08-14 at Uyuni 

Thursday morning we wake up after a long but cold nights sleep. We roll out of bed, and excitedly dress up in our matching outfits - bring on the adorable pictures! 

At 9.30 we are greeted by our guide, a tiny piece of a man. We set off a little later, after having made sure that the "esleepingbags" are with us in the 4x4. The first day of our trek is dedicated to seeing several colourful lagoons due to the microorganisms and minerals inside them. 

Compared to the severe warnings of travellers coming from here we were pleasantly surprised by the mild temperature. Lunch came rapidly and was provided by our guide. We were very impressed. He even lay a tablecloth across the boot floor to set the buffet! 

After having our fill we continued our trip, stopping regularly to photograph the stunning scenery. 

In the middle of the desert, the Bolivian folk songs were starting to feel a little repetitive when suddenly Beyoncé broke out with If I Were A Boy. We all sang along grinning like lunatics - home didn't feel so far anymore.

Upon arrival at the refuge (needless to say no hot water or heating - something we now accept without questioning), inspired by Beyoncé we broke out into a little jig listening to commercial music from home in an attempt to warm up. We quickly stopped in our tracks though because the 4300m of altitude caught up with our heart rates. 

We sympathised with a group of Swiss and Belgians who told us horror stories about food poisoning and gingerly attacked our spaghetti. 

Knowing we had an early morning ahead of us we dressed up to go to bed. Yes you read us right: hats, gloves, multiple fleeces, sleeping bags and three covers later we were still shivering.

Well Capucine and Cécile were, five minutes later Francois was bragging about how hot he was and started shedding layers! 

Glad to get up and moving we emerged the next morning without changing a thing to our outfits. After a breakfast of pancakes (our guide/ driver also seems to be quite the chef!) we set off to a shivering start. We started the day by driving to the highest point of the trip: 4850 at the top of an active volcano. The geysers have it quite a mystical and magical feel. Francois and Cécile even got the sleeping bags back out and curled up in them in the back of the car. However, a pleasant surprise awaited us - hot springs! 

We couldn't have wished for anything better. We splashed around gleefully for a good part of an hour and didn't even flinch when it was time to get dressed again. 

Feeling considerably more human we continued zooming through the fabulous deserted plains. 

Our driver must have noticed our enthusiasm for Beyoncé because after playing the Spanish version of the same song he treated us to:

The Backstreet Boys 

Nelly Furtado

Evanescence 

James Blunt 

REM

Robbie Williams

Green Day

And even Justin Bieber (named "le petit mec qu'on aime pas" by Cécile who lacks musical culture) who we all agreed did not belong on that list.  

Après ces chants joyeux, nous arrivons à dans un petit village refuge, notre guide nous dégote une chambre dans un hôtel entièrement fait de sel (du sol au plafond!). 

Après un petit tour dans le village, et une bonne douche bien chaude (présente mais payante!), le marchand de sable passe tôt ce soir: réveil à 5 heures du matin oblige ! 

Après une nuit bercée par les aboiements de chien et un petit déjeuner spartiate, nous empruntons la route, direction Salar de Uyuni pour voir le soleil se lever sur cette immensité de sel (12000km2). Bien que nous ayons été avertis de la beauté du site, les paysages nous coupent le souffle.

 Nous passons la journée à nous prendre mutuellement en photo sous toutes les coutures. 

De retour à Uyuni, nous sommes actuellement dans un café, mangeant des banana Split douteux. Nous discutons de la suite du voyage, on vous tiendra au courant bien sûr! 

Capucine, François et Cécile