Bolivia- June 2010

During our 2 weeks in Bolivia we stayed mainly in its western part. We crossed the border in Copacabana where we camped at the Lake Titicaca next to the Isla del Sol. Mick made friends there with a little calf and they spent the whole arvo chasing each other. The nite at the lake was very dark, filled with stars, and so still that you could hear the silence. It really wasn’t a bad intro to a new country.
The next 4 days, including Corpus Christi, we spent in La Paz. I liked the capital city- dominated by spontaneous street life, seemed unlike other capitals I have seen. We found there good coffee, wireless and ATMs- a basic survival kit in any big city. As we ran out of gas in Peru, we needed to organise that before leaving La Paz, as there ain’t much out in the Peruvian countryside. This little task turned into a fucking mission which we payed for more than we ever bargained for.
Our way south to Salar de Uyuni (salt flats) consisted of shitloads of driving, mainly thru flat and open spaces with some cataclysmic looking towns in between, but we did find some cool spots too. The Urmiri hot springs was a little hotel-spa resort hidden in the hills in the middle of nowhere, with beautiful gardens, pools of hot water and a natural sauna. It was great. I sat in the water so long until I got sick. Then we drove out into the hills and camped there for the nite. And the nites in Bolivia are pitch-black with beautiful stars… which I certainly would have appreciated more if I only remembered to keep my contact lenses in after the dinner.
Now, the highlight of my Bolivian trip, and I think also Mick’s, was Salar de Uyuni. It is a salt flat which in rainy season turns into a shallow salt lake. It is huge, it is white like snow and navigating thru it is like navigating thru a sea- you take your course on islands, volcanoes or whatever you can see on the horizon; hopefully, not a mirage which is not unusual there. We hang out there for 3 days. The days were beautifully warm, and the nites, fucking freezing, but, again, the most amazing ever. The Milky Way was wider than elephant’s ass and shooting stars were like mosquitos. And when we played hacky sack, sky was the limit.
From Salar de Uyuni we drove south. There were hardly any road signs. There were no gas stations. All there was, was a maze of dirt roads and tracks going in all directions. But thanks to good people and not so good maps we eventually made our way out of the salt flats. Following instruction from a local, we discovered the underworld of Bolivian fuel supplies. When we arrived to San Juan, we asked for Don Cecilio. The infamous entrepreneur would professionally suck out some petrol from a barrel thru a hose and after 5 minutes we were ready to roll. It’s always pleasure to deal with people who know their shit.
Also, in the middle of nowhere, we bumped into some kiwis, Nevil and Sandra, cycling north from Chile and it was the nicest gringo fix ever. After talking to people in broken Spanish I definitely miss the language I can easily communicate in.
And so we arrived to Sud Lipez province which in vast majority consists of a natural reserve which Mick and I thought worth to check out, since it had a red lake, a green lake, hotsprings, geysers and fumaroles; and the supposed entry fee of AU$5 seemed reasonable for our dirtbag budget. Well, the price has recently been raised 5 times- just enough to annoy you at the very start. Unfortunately, the quality of our experience didn’t follow the price. The roads and road signs in the park were so good that we didn’t find the geysers and almost missed the hot spring. The lakes where like lakes, only one bright red and the other bright blue. Others than that, there were lots of rock and dirt. I realise I am bitching, but it was disappointing for majority of this park wasn’t any different from the areas we had driven thru for free. And when you are on a budget, $50 for nothing feels like a waste of money. Well, not complete waste though… that hot spring on the edge of the salt flat was actually really cool. The first day we had the place all to ourselves until after dark when a group of nude Spaniards and their guide joined us for a nite dip. The next day, it got really busy in the morning when guided groups arrived for the sunrise gig. Not being on the schedule, we jumped in the pool around noon to watch 2 vicunas come by really close; and the sun was hot and the salt flats shimmered in the light. It was great.
We left for Chile the same day, but it didn’t go smooth. As we found out on the border, it wasn’t exactly a border crossing; it was a tourist pass. The difference, you may ask? There is no customs on the tourist pass hence we couldn’t officially check out our car from the country. As we found out from our ‘kind’ migration officers, customs were 60km from the border and we were supposed to know it (from the legendary Bolivian road signs) and surrender our car permit over there. The only thing was, we couldn’t go back because we didn’t have enough fuel. So we had a little bit of a situation there. At first, the dudes on the border were not particularly helpful but eventually, generously offered to act out of their competence and hold on to our car permit with the intention of dropping it off for us at the customs. I don’t know if it ever happened and I don’t really care. Bolivia stayed behind me and it was good to be moving on.
We were not the only ones with the bumpy exit. On the border we picked up 2 English girls, two Clairs, dropped off by their guide that morning, waiting for an alleged bus to arrive. Surprisingly, before leaving he gave them some money back. As the bus was never to be there, they understood, why. It was maybe 100km to the closest town in Chile, with the traffic next to nothing. As we were driving along, the girls were saying that others than that, he was a really cool guide. I think they were just really cool girls.
We spent 2 days in Chile. San Pedro the Atacama is a cute, little touristy town, very pricy but it has its charm. We sorted out our stuff, paid the highest bill ever for fuel- AU$160, so we could continue our trip south… to Argentina.