Uyuni 2009

3rd of March, Tuesday

8:15am – Kids kissed and off to school. Instructions given to care givers. Flagging down a cab to the bus station.

9:00am – Bus tickets bought. Friends found. The fearless foursome boards the ‘flota’ bound for Oruro.

1:00pm – After a scenic ride through mountainside villages we arrive in Oruro. Go to the train station to confirm departure time. Head to the plaza in the center of town to find lunch.

Traditional music, dance and costumes fill main street in the village.

Onlookers from the village

2:00pm – No one is open. Call friend who frequents Oruro back in Cochabamba to find out where to eat. Best place in town found.

3:00pm – Very satisfying meal of steak, fries, rice, salad and Pepsi paid for. Last trip to the bathroom. Gather gear and walk a block to the train station.

3:30pm – Luggage stowed. Seats found. Whistle blows. We are rolling.

DaRonn and me

Laura and Gary Bull

3:45pm – Flocks of flamingos seen on the huge lake we are crossing.

10:30pm – We pull into a drippy Uyuni. Donning our gloves and stocking caps we walk a couple blocks to the Tonito Hotel under the light of a cloudy moonlit sky.

10:45pm – Karina, our tour contact, meets us at check in. Heavy rains make the two day tour with an overnight on the volcano risky and ill advised. We will meet her in the AM to tell her our final decision.

4th of March, Wednesday

8:15am – Meet our traveling buddies, the Bulls, at the Minuteman for an amazing breakfast of yogurt, granola, coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice, varieties of homemade bread, and fresh fruit. We decide to do the one day tour. Divvy responsibilities for adjustments.

10:30am – Visit market. Meet Ismael, the tour driver, at the truck in front of the hotel. Santusa, the cook, takes her seat opposite the drive and we pile in the back. Extra sunscreen applied, caps and sunglasses in place, we bump along the sunny road.

11ish – First stop Colchani, a village dedicated to processing salt. A guide shows us the process. We buy some souvenirs and take pictures of the salt sculptures.

This is the drying room.

I am staring at a larger than life sculpture of a llama made of salt.

11:30am – Wheels finally make contact with the largest salt flat in the world: El Salar de Uyuni. Sunlight blindingly reflected by the wet whiteness of salt is brilliant. Incomparable and indescribable our silent gawk is broken only by the occasional wow. The immensity is staggering. God’s creation overwhelms.

DaRonn at the Salar

El Salar de Uyuni

The shape on the flats

Before noon – Stop for photos. Walk a bit on the standing water. The salt is crunchy. Go on a bit more to the famed hotel made of salt.

The Gals

Gary and DaRonn being silly.

Noonish – Pull up to the island, an outcropping of petrified coral where hundreds of cacti grow. Lunch. Trick photography. Exploration. Climbing.

Perspective

Cacti and Coral

1,203 year old cactus

3:45pm – Load up truck. Napping and chatting for the ride back into Uyuni.

5:15pm – On the other side of town we arrive at the train cemetery. Old steam engines have been replaced by modernized locomotives. These are the remains of times past. Back to the hotel.

Train Graveyard

7ish – Famished we order a huge meal at the Minuteman. Easily one of the best restaurants in all of Bolivia we are amused by the fun decorating and entertained by the attention from the owner, Chris, a Bostonian. His Latin wife’s family owns the hotel and tour company, he runs the restaurant.

8ish – Plates emptied of pizza, sandwiches and desserts are cleared by the spunky kitchen help. Cacho begins. It is a traditional Bolivian dice and cup game. Gary and Laura, our friends, teach it to us.

10ish – Heads marked by heavy eyelids, satisfied grins and wonderful remembrances of the full day hit the pillow.

5th of March, Thursday

Morning – Getting a slow start we order extra breakfast and eat late. The men head to the train station to purchase return tickets. The ladies sit in sun washed comfy chairs to wait. We tell love stories. One of the guys come back to explain their delay and call for reinforcements. The four of us spend the rest of the morning in the train station. Finally tickets are secured.

Uyuni Train Station

Afternoon – Snacking and wandering the city. We nap and chat. We shop a little.

Small town in Bolivia

Evening – Back at the Minuteman to feast and play Cacho. Somehow we fill the time until we have to take the brisk walk to the train station at 1am.

6th of March, Friday

1:45am – We have boarded the train and the last whistle blows. We are rolling out of town. After warm blankets are handed to all the passengers we sleep soundly for the whole seven hour ride.

10:00am – Oruro is our stop over point once again. The extra rain did not deter our trip. Snacks and tickets to the bus purchased.

10:30am – The bus is moving back to Cochabamba. The four hours drag by due to weariness.

2:45pm – Never before has the bus terminal been such a wonderful sight.

3:00pm – Last hugs and final kisses to our dear friends are given. We all had a fabulous time. We are all anxious to get back to our kids. To say that it was a great trip seems so trivial. Our vacation with friends will live long in my heart and bring a smile to my face whenever it floats up in my memory.

NOTE: Thumbnail pictures are links to an enlarged version and a description of the image.

Tagged as: Bolivia, DaRonn, friends, travel, Uyuni