Salty and Sweet Views

Van in a Pan!

The highlight of many peoples Bolivian adventure is the Bolivian Salt Flats, also known as the Salar de Uyuni.  Although the conditions were far more extreme on the Salar then we expected, and received some of the worst sun burns in our lives we are so glad to have spent a couple days in the middle of it, 100 kilometers from anyway.  

We enjoyed south western Bolivia so much we ended up deciding to leave from one border and then reenter Bolivia from a different border on the same day just so we could enjoy Bolivia's beauty just a little longer.

November 21st - A Salty Surprise

We woke up next to the rusted out train engines and cars and were happy to have saw them at dusk.  In full daylight they are a bunch of rusty metal train cars and their magic fades into piles of rust. After a quick breakfast and one last look around the train cemetery it was time to do something we have been looking forward to since we first entered Bolivia, seeing the  Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest salt falts.

We dropped off our laundry since it will cost more to wash once we enter Chile, grabbed a few drinks, got the underside of the van washed and oiled and headed towards the Salar. The lady at the car wash place was disappointed in the car wash person since he only washed our underside and oiled it; which was exactly what we wanted and asked for. She just could not believe that he would not wash our whole car, but we assured her we would return for a whole car wash after the salt flats.  

Getting the undercarriage oiled.

The woman who was mad at the car washer for not washing the whole car.

On the way we saw an ad for Uyuni beer and figured we needed to stop and find some to enjoy on the Salar.  After a few stops we found Uyuni beer and craft beer, so it was our lucky day.

Now the salar is as you’d expect, flat and salty and if you are too heavy or go where the salt is thin you will learn that under the salt is mud.  A few travelers who are friends of friends of our ended up getting their Unimog stuck after it went through a layer of salt and they were stuck for 3 days. There is one company that will help you if you get stuck, but it will cost $1000 usd, flat rate for any vehicle. We decided we would stick to the main roads and not venture too far off.

Our first stop was an art instillation called Stairway to Heaven and was built by Gaston Ulgade.  It is completely made out of salt (which the layers of salt go from white to beige to brown) and is set to disappear once rainy season starts, which should have been two weeks ago.  Bolivia is as dry as Peru and everyone is still waiting for the rain to come.  While at the stairway to heaven we were surrounded by influencers/models doing a photo shoot for Honor 90, which we figured is for a new cellphone. It was entertaining to watch them but we had better things to see.  Next we went to the statue park where they build sculptures out of Salt.  Again, they cut the salt like giant ice blocks and pull them from the ground so they have a brown look to them.

Next was to tourist central, the Dakar Bolivia rally sign. The Dakar Rally was held in 2014 and we have not done any other research about it. There is a sign and every tour group and overlander we know stops here for a photo, so we had to as well. 

Finally we made our way 60 kms into the salt flats to Islsa Incahuasi, an island known for it’s views of the salt flats and cacti. We did a quick hike around the island and enjoyed the blinding views (people have lost their vision for a few days due to salt blindness in the salt flats).  Next we “completed the 10 boliviano bill”!  We made our way to Isla Pescada.  This island is featured on one side of the 10 boliviano bill while Bolivia’s largest cave in Toro Toro National park is on the other side.

We set up the van and enjoyed the views, looking out into the great white flatness with nothing impeding the view on the horizon.  At about 4:30pm the wind picked up and was relentless.  We could not cook outside of the van and had to use the van to shield the stove from the wind.  We had pasta with llama and cuddled in the van because the wind was chilly.

 

November 22^nd - Narcissistic Photo Shoot

We awoke unrested.  The wind on the salt flats is unreal and was rocking the van the entire night.  We have seen amazing photos from other travelers of the stars on the salt flats, but unfortunately we got a windy and cloudy night. We cooked breakfast beside the van because our stove would not stay lit with the intense wind.

Behind every photo is someone laying on the ground.

 

Next was our photo shoot. The Salara de Uyuni is a slat flat and because it is so flat you can do a number of optical illusions.  Kendra had a list of photos that she wanted to take so we set about doing them, one by one. We spent way too much time getting just the right shot and got each got our worst sunburns of the trip.  The sun reflects off the salt so the sun was hitting us from all angles.  Even with our awning out we were still feeling the sun bouncing off the ground.  We did talk about staying longer on the salar but the weather and sun just made it too inhospitable for our type of camper.

Stereotypical Photo

Aaaaahhhhh!

Watch your step

Pup in a Cup

Scary Giant Rupert

Rupertzilla

Walking the tightrope

Genie in a Bottle

Little Guy, Big Thirst

Hanging Around

Playing with Bearry

I'm a real boy!

Balancing on a Bottle

These areas are known for speed, the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah is the location of the land speed record, so we decided to let the horses under our hood gallop.  Its been a long time since we drove above 100 km/h, so we decided to go as fast as we could, 140kms/hr!

Once we got off the salt flats we returned to normal highway speeds.  We got the oil and salt washed off the van for 50 bolivianos (10 CAD), picked up our laundry, and struggled for the first time to get gas in our van since none of the stations would sell to foreigners.  Because Paul refused to leave Uyuni without a full tank and because we knew it was against the law he just ended up stopping the vehicle and refused to leave until we got gas.  After 20 minutes blocking the pump they gave us gasoline.

After grabbing some pizzas for dinner (Bolivia pizza always lacks sauce) we made our way along the 701 road towards Ollague, Chile.  We had been warned that the 701 road is not good, but it was better than any alternative.  We found a quiet place to camp among some giant rocks and had our last bottle of Bolivian wine.

 

November 23th - A double border day

We did not sleep well last night because we didn’t realize how much sun you get on a salt flat. Kendra’s face is blistered, the inside of Paul’s ears are sunburned.  We spent all night tossing and turning trying to find a comfortable way to sleep to not disturb our sunburns.

Ollague Volcano

Breakfast was leftover pizza for breakfast since we did not have a lot of food with us because we are crossing the border and Chile is strict about anything fresh, so we have some soup mixes, pasta, packaged pasta sauce and that is it. 

We made our way to the Bolivia border and got stuck in line behind a whole bus load of Chilian tourist  entering Bolivia.  We were not thrilled to be at the end of a line that had recently gotten long, but we found our spot, filled out our exit form online, and waited our turn.  It didn’t take long for us to be stamped out and for Paul to get the paperwork for the van to leave.  Next we had to drive a few kms to get to the Chile border.  Paul was working on getting us into the country while Kendra presented the SAG official (the agricultural inspector) with Rupert’s documents. Next we filled out our declaration form, had our vehicle searched, (handed over an apple and ¾ of a lime we forgot we had in the fridge) and got the temporary import permit (TIP) for the van to be allowed into Chile. In total to leave Bolivia and enter Chile took us just over 1 hour. 

A nice man opening the gate to let us into Chile.

Since the border didn’t take long Kendra decided we would do a second border crossing today something that we had promised ourselves in Central America we would never do because it is too stressful.  Our goal is to travel the somewhat infamous Laguna’s Route in Bolivia, but skip the boring parts which also have the worst roads.

Chile’s roads were refreshing: 100 kms/hr, smooth pavement, and no garbage to be seen. We drove for a few hours until we ended up in the town of San Pedro de Atacama. Kendra was in extreme pain due to the blisters on her face so she took some painkillers and laid in bed while Paul did our usual border day errands.  He picked up some Chilean Pesos, got a sim card for Kendra’s phone since his had the Boliva sim card still in it, and some eggs and meat for the next few days.  Chile is strict about bringing fresh items in, but they don’t care what you bring out, and Bolivia doesn’t care what you bring in. Paul also got additional photocopies of Rupert’s paperwork to enter Chile and some chicken and fries for lunch (the equivalent of $17 cad which is a lot when we’ve been paying the equivalent of $3-5 cad for lunches).  Finally, we got some gas and made our way back towards Bolivia.

We arrived at the Chile border and drove into a garage where they seemed confused why we were leaving Chile when we just arrived.  We explained that we wanted to see the lakes without doing the bad roads and they sort of understood but were still pretty confused. We left Chile with no problems and then drove 12kms to enter Bolivia on one of the most washboarded and rough roads we have driven…ever! For some reason Bolivia has separated their Immigration and Customs/Aduana office, so we were stamped into Bolivia and drove another 5 kms to do the TIP paperwork for the van and our customs declaration.  This went fairly smoothly and before we knew it we were back in Bolivia.

After crossing the border, we were officially in Reserva Nacional de Fauna Eduardo Avaroa, known for its lakes, birds, vicunas and llama and other fauna.  It is also famous for another reason, having the worst roads that overlanders attempt. It took us about 2 hours to drive the 50 kms from the ticket office to the hot springs, but it was worth every bump and bottom scrape.  We had a hot spring infinity pool looking out to the lake full of flamingoes and surrounded by volcanoes that look like mountains. While the day was long and rough, but this view made every part of this long journey worth it.

 

Paul in the pool while the flamingos enjoy their dinner in the lake.