Day 1 Salar Trip

Dear Mom and Dad,

I forgot to mention one thing about the "bus ride from hell." There were 15 people sleeping in the aisle of the bus.  We have come to realize  that this is very normal in Bolivia. They sprawl out on the floor and take up all the floor space. It's hard not to get too upset because you have no foot room, and they're laying on the dirty ground.

We have so many pictures from the Salar trip that I will have to make three posts, one for each day.

Day One:

The first day started off horribly. We were told that we would need to be at the meeting point at 10:30 am. At 8:15am, there was a knock on the door. The lady from the company found where we were staying and told us to be ready to leave an hour early. We scrambled to get up, pack, and find a breakfast place. We picked out a breakfast cafe that had no people thinking we would get served right away. No. They ended up running to the nearest grocery store to buy our food. By the time we got our food, it was 9:30am, so we grabbed our breakfast to go. We got to the meeting point, and the owner kept saying, "leave in 10 min." Finally at 10:45am, we left to another agency to pick up four more people. It was clear that our company had sold us to a cheaper company and pocketed the difference. 100 Bolivianos. We were not the happiest because we spent the entire previous day searching/researching which company was the best. We decided to make the best of our situation. Afterall, there was nothing we could do at this point. One hour into the drive, the car broke down.

At first it was all fun because we read that every vehicule breaks down at some point. The Bolivian community is amazing. Everyone stopped to try and help. Some cars just stopped to wait with us. There was always at least six cars waiting. We joked around because we thought for surely someone would be able to help. Our guide, was clearly incompetent about fixing cars because he didn't have any tools on him, and he just kept hitting the car battery.

I even tried to help....

Eventually, everyone left us including the guide. Yes, the guide got a ride back to Uyuni and said he would send someone for us. This just sounded like a bad horror movie. Six strangers in the middle of no where. After five hours of waiting along the roadside, smiles start to leave...and desperation starts to set in.

Finally, the tour company sent a guide who actually knew a thing or two about cars. He fixed the Jeep in no time, and we were finally on the road again. They even sent a complimentary cook to help fix our trip. They both were very nice people, but made the car smell of B.O., the entire trip. On the road again....

Here we are visiting the Lagoons. Flamingos and llamas were everywhere.

Once we reached above 15,000 feet, it got really cold. Here's Charlie getting warmer clothes out.

The next picture is called the "Piedra Arbol." Rock Tree. Made naturally from the dust and high winds.

Pictures from the Colorado Lagoon.

Once we got to the hostel, we were all so tired from the stressful day. Our hostel didn't have any rooms left, so we went from hostel to hostel to find one with six spaces available. I think this is how Mary and Joseph felt. No room in the Inns. I thought we might be camping out in the car or a barn at that rate. We managed to find one without heat or electricty. After two hours, they hooked up a small generator, so we at least had running water and light. The night would have been freezing cold even with the provided blankets, but I had my trusty sleeping bag!

Charlie and I also had a first on this trip. They provided wine with our dinner, but we were actually too tired to have a glass. All we could do was lay down and sleep. Fifteen hour stressful day!

Last night we bused directly from Uyuni to La Paz. Thirteen hours is a very long bus ride! Today we are leaving for Cusco at 2:00pm. I believe we will be stopping in some towns along the way, and I will keep you updated. Salar day 2 and 3 will be coming shortly as we will have some down time in between bus rides.

Love always,

Matti Jo and Charles Dale