Yaaaay! - Off on the Uyuni Tour

Photos probably do more justice than my limited vocabulary to describe the amazing beauty of nature, so I'll try to keep my entries short.

I made sure to have a loooooong, deep-cleansing shower this morning, having been forewarned that there would be no shower facilities for 2.5 days.

Had breakfast, packed, and was ready to get on the jeep.

Being Bolivia though, nothing tends to leave on time - storing our bags and getting the jeep ready seemed to take well over an hour. Patience.

We drove 1km, and stopped. The cook forgot to buy tomatoes, so she had to stock up at the market. Patience. But I learned my favorite word here, "Porfi!" I think they only use it in Bolivia; It's the short form of "por favor". Luv it!!!

15 minutes later, another stop. The jeep needed gas. Patience.

When we switched from paved road to dirt, I knew we were FINALLY on our way. I mean, there just didn't seem to be anyone or anything to stop for around here. Surprisingly, we did encounter a local bus going the opposite direction. Glad I wasn't in one of those…

Drove thru the Quebrada de Palala, also known as the "Valley of the Moon", because it looks like the surface of the moon. I wonder if that's true.

Some scenery that reminded of my Colca Canyon excursion around Arequipa, Peru. Rich green grass, water patches, and llamas.

We had lunch (create your own sandwich with a selection of cheese, tomato, cucumber, ham, and bread) in one of these fields, when it began pouring rain with thunder & lightening. Oh no!!! We all had to move back into the jeep to finish our food - a cozy and intimate mealtime : ) The storm passed by the time we finished eating.

Now, one problem with this landscape is that it's difficult for us humans to do our nature's call. Too vast and flat = no hiding place.

Stopped at a couple small villages along the way. No matter how small (I think less than 20 inhabitants in one!), there was always a church.

For the first night, we stayed in one of these villages. All 4 of us in the same room. Mattress and blanket provided, but we all used our sleeping bags because it was just too cold! (Yes, I rented one)

Let me introduce my tour group, as we surround the dinner table in our bedroom.

The young blond dude on the left is Matthew, a narcissistic Brit who cares greatly about his appearance and doesn't stop talking about girls. Nice, easy-going guy. Or at least I thought so for the 1st day.

The Chinese man in the middle is Michael. Of all the places in China, he happens to be from Harbin. Never met anyone from there before… Anyways, he must've had a successful business before he retired. He carries the biggest camera and the longest lens. Oh, and not just one! Meaning that he made us stop EVERYWHERE to take photos. It started to get annoying after a while. Not only that, he kept taking pictures of me and the others without even asking. I hope they're not publicly displayed somewhere…

The Dutch girl on the right is Nicole, who I met and hung out with in Tupiza as you know. We harbored a mutual dislike towards the Chinese.

As I went to the outdoor sink/toilet area to get ready for bed, I looked up - WOW! Thousands (millions?) of stars were out at night. Wish I could've taken a photo.