Our first stop was at the train graveyard where we roamed around the rusted locomotives, standing like dark skeletons against a bleak desert background, brought here to be used on a failed railway to the coast.
The little settlement of Colchani was our next stop, where a small salt production facility produced 20 000 tons of salt annually and exported it to various South American countries. We watched a stooped old man fill each plastic bag manually and melt it closed on a gas burner - not the most productive way of packing salt if you ask me.
Our transportation consisted of four-wheel drives as the terrain of the desert on the other side of the salt flats was treacherous and the salt flats themselves could be flooded in areas.
Passing by the salt fields we watched workers in wide brimmed hats shovel salt into even piles scattered across the area. The salt layer of these flats is four meters thick and depending on the amount of rain, it keeps producing more salt every year.
We stopped at a Salt Hotel for a lunch of llama schnitzel, potatoes and veggies which our lovely cook, Marta, prepared for us. The hotel, or more like a hostel, was completely built out of salt bricks, had a salt floor and we ate our lunch at tables and chairs carved out of salt.
After lunch we had fun taking funny perspective photos with giant wine bottles, sunglasses and humungous condors chasing us.
Off again and we headed towards Isla Incahuasi. The cars skimmed across the sea of salt effortlessly, leaving only slight tyre marks on the beautiful hexagonal patterns covering the ground. In the distance we could see the island floating in a sea of heat as the sun beat down on our two car expedition. After an hour or so we reached some water and had to shut the windows as the salty liquid sprayed up the side of the cars. Another half hour through more water, then dry salt again and the island loomed up ahead of us. I felt as if I was on another planet as I got out of the vehicle and started towards this mound of rock and fossilized coral covered in furry trichoreus cactuses. The howling wind whipped through my clothes and almost blew me over as I reached the top. Gazing at the view below me felt like nothing I had experienced before. The sea of white extended as far as the eye could see, with mountains in the distance, but only this little island as a beacon of vegetation in this desolate landscape.
Fighting the wind, we made our way back down past the teddy bear cactuses and scraggly grass tufts to the vehicles, now covered in a thin, crispy layer of salt.
The drive to our Salt Hostel for the night took another few hours as we encountered a pretty flooded area and had to drive at about ten kilometers an hour so as not to inject the salt water into every crevice of the underside of the car. At one point it felt as if I was in a boat, not a car as we drove through about two feet of water. Finally we bumped up onto dry land and left the salt flats for desert as we headed down the dusty road towards our white hotel, pale in the fading light of dusk.
Marta cooked up a delicious vegetable soup and some beef stew which warmed our chilly bones. A few glasses of wine, a card game or two, some star gazing and it was time to crawl into our salt beds for a well deserved rest.
It was a 5am rise the following morning as we had a lot of driving ahead of us. Around 6am the sky started to lighten and the rising sun bathed the mountains in a fiery red glow. We saw snow topped volcanoes, weird bubble shaped plants, steaming lakes with various species of flamingoes wading in their waters, active geysers blowing steam like a kettle, the Dali Desert, which had weird shaped rocks resembling the objects painted by the famous painter himself and desert landscapes which looked like the surface of Mars!
Our last awe inspiring sight of the day was Laguna Verde, lying at the base of Volcano Licancabur, who's summit is said to have once sheltered an ancient Inca crypt. The incredible emerald green colour is caused by high concentrations of arsenic, lead, sulfur and calcium carbonates in it's waters - a toxic lake that welcomes no life.
After driving through dust devils that looked like slinky toys dancing across the desert, it was time to relax in the little hot spring of Termas de Polques. As we soaked away the dirt of the day a herd of llamas passed by, nibbling on small bushes and giving us wary sideways glances every now and then. Leaning on the edge of the pool, I looked out across the Andean lake and snow sprinkled mountains surrounding it, took a deep breath and thought about another amazing day in the wilderness of Bolivia.
Our last day in this crazy wonderland consisted of a visit to Laguna Colorado, a lake the colour of ox-blood, due to the algae and plankton that thrive in its mineral-rich waters. Of course there were loads of flamingoes here and we watched them for a while through the rising steam as they fed, argued over who knows what and flew in pairs to different spots around the edge of the lake. The last part of our drive took us up over a mountain pass past a borax field and mining facility called Salar de Chiguana. The very steep, curvy road down the pass was slightly hair raising as we descended 800m. A shiver ran through me as we passed a memorial to six Israeli tourists who died when their car went over the edge.
Finally, flat ground again and a couple of frantic rheas (South American ostriches) trying to out run the vehicle provided some comic relief to lighten the mood.
At about 3pm we pulled into dusty Uyuni, dirty, tired and in desperate need of a shower.
Cleaned and fed, we boarded our night bus for La Paz.
As I pushed my seat back ready to collapse into a sleep deprived coma, the bus driver sped up on the corrugated gravel road. Not able to keep my head from knocking itself into oblivion, I lifted it and sighed. This is going to be a long night!
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