This was the final day of the tour. And should be the most exciting as we were heading to THE highlight of Bolivia - the Salar de Uyuni. The day was seriously like a photo shoot session - I took countless pictures that I don't know which ones to post right now!
Starting with the sunrise:
Bitterly cold. But the change of color in the sky and on the white salt surface of the salar was one of the most gorgeous landscapes I've ever seen. Only a warm, endless cup of coffee in my hands could've made the morning better : )
So a little info about the salar - it is the largest dry lake in the world. That's kind of deceiving because it's not really dry. Underneath the hard salt surface, there's water. See. There are holes in some areas (created by tourists I'm sure) where you can put your arms into the water and grab the salt crystals. Large and sharp, I wasn't expecting that!
The salt layer is almost about the length of my arms. Thick enough to enable the 4x4 jeeps to drive speedily (I've heard of several accidents) over the lake. Really cool, no?!I remember seeing a salt flat in Peru somewhere, but it is nothing compared to Uyuni! This one is REAAAALLLY huge. REAAAALLLY special.
Anyways, after we enjoyed the sunrise, we headed to Fish Island. Bizarre place - an "island" in the middle of the salar, covered with a bunch of cacti. According to wikipedia, it's made up of fossilized corals and the cacti are about a thousand years old, still growing. Interesting… The cacti did indeed appear ancient. While the rest of us went to explore the "island", Michael chose to first take photos of the island from afar. From atop the island, we had a great view of Michael running around, being chased by a stray dog. A friendly one so no worries. Haha. I can't help wondering, even now, where the dog lived and ate in this vast stretch of nothingness.
When we got back down to the jeep, breakfast was waiting. I finally got my warm cup of coffee. I was waiting for this moment!
On one of the other jeeps (the 3 Tupiza starters usually stayed close to each other, a good idea when the jeeps often had engine trouble or a flat tire - Twice on ours!), there was this woman artist, Joy (www.joylakinggallery.com). Instead of taking photos, she would paint the sceneries with watercolor. WOW! After breakfast, she started sketching her driver. We were totally mesmerized by her talent, and ended up sitting around watch her finish the painting. Plus, Michael was still missing - probably off taking more photos somewhere… She was done in less than 30 minutes, and gave the artwork to the driver as a present. That is soooooo nice! I wish I could do something like that too. It's such a great way to preserve travel memories.
As I mentioned earlier, the salar is a vast expanse of white (salt) and blue (sky). Many people come here to take silly pictures; some come prepared with props. My group wasn't very creative. But we had a lot of fun nonetheless!!!
Being picked up like those UFO catchers (what are they called in English?!) at the arcade:
Stepping on the ant-sized Nicole:
Fernando (driver) trying to stuff Matthew inside a cup:
Michael preferred to take pictures of us being silly (without permission of course) rather than participate.
And here is one of my favorite pictures during the trip, featuring myself and salar. I love the cracks on the salt surface. Kinda hexagonal, but not.
When it rains here, the salt surface is covered in water (duh!) and the reflections are supposed to be out of this world! Being the rainy season right now, I was hoping to get some glimpse of that. Unfortunately, this year was too dry so far. Darn it. I've met a couple of people who've come here more than once during the same trip to catch it wet, but I think I'll pass on that… Waru is happy and satisfied with what she's seen : )
As we neared the town of Uyuni, we passed areas where they were "farming" salt. Tasted salty.
Stupid me forgot to buy some before she left town, but I have a feeling that all salt in Bolivia comes from here so I'm not going to dwell on it.
End of tour.
Bye bye to group. Which had some interesting moments, to come in the next post.
Can't wait to sleep on a real bed!!!!!!!
As I mentioned earlier, the salar is a vast expanse of white (salt) and blue (sky). Many people come here to take silly pictures; some come prepared with props. My group wasn't very creative. But we had a lot of fun nonetheless!!!
Being picked up like those UFO catchers (what are they called in English?!) at the arcade:
Stepping on the ant-sized Nicole:Fernando (driver) trying to stuff Matthew inside a cup:Michael preferred to take pictures of us being silly (without permission of course) rather than participate.And here is one of my favorite pictures during the trip, featuring myself and salar. I love the cracks on the salt surface. Kinda hexagonal, but not.
When it rains here, the salt surface is covered in water (duh!) and the reflections are supposed to be out of this world! Being the rainy season right now, I was hoping to get some glimpse of that. Unfortunately, this year was too dry so far. Darn it. I've met a couple of people who've come here more than once during the same trip to catch it wet, but I think I'll pass on that… Waru is happy and satisfied with what she's seen : )As we neared the town of Uyuni, we passed areas where they were "farming" salt. Tasted salty.
Stupid me forgot to buy some before she left town, but I have a feeling that all salt in Bolivia comes from here so I'm not going to dwell on it.End of tour.
Bye bye to group. Which had some interesting moments, to come in the next post.
Can't wait to sleep on a real bed!!!!!!!
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