Chile to Bolivia through the saline Abyss

03 Jan Up at 7am to catch our 3 day 4WD tour across the Bolivian desert and through the Salt flats to Uyuni in Bolivia. On our way out of Chile we needed to pass through customs but Fiachra lost his entry documentation he recieved when he entered Chile a couple of weeks ago. He got a new form and filled it in with customs officials signatures and all (copied from mine) He argued that they forgot to stamp it and with a bit of babble between our driver and officials he was allowed through. The poor lad following after him had a bend in his passport and was refused entry. The journey was across the most hostile of deserts and over rocks of all sizes. En route we reached 5000m above sea level, visited hot springs, Turquoise lakes & bubbling mud. We are a group of 5 (Me, Frog, Caroline, Ben & Liz) and in a jeep with Bolivian driver all to ourselves for E65 each including meals and accommodation. Was good value, but it all comes at a price as our first nights accommodation was discusting. My pink faded, threadbare Bart Simpson bedsheets didnt look like they were washed in weeks, my pillow was about as comfortable and as heavy as a bag of onions. There were no showers, sinks were blocked and the toilets smelled of piss and shite. It gets worse. The beds sagged so much, Ben put his mattress on the floor and in doing so moved my shoes. That night I woke to go to the toilet and couldnt find them in the dark so went to the bathroom (Electricity is turned off at night) with only my socks on. Some lad previous couldnt find the toilet in the dark and settled for the bathroom floor. I walked in, looking for the urinal and stood in his piss. As I had to go anyway, I remained in that spot for a minute or two longer. So, Pissy feet here had then had the task of walking back to the room with no option of cleaning them in the blocked sinks and get back into bed with the smell of another lads piss on my feet.

04 Jan Had breakfast at 7am consisting of herbal tea and ice cold bread. We were told off bysome auld Bolivian cow for taking coffee from another groups table, as i heaped the coffee in my mug I explained, in lenghty detail, to her that I i didnt understand her and hadnt a word of Spanish. Later that morning we stopped at this rock known as `Tree rock´. It is a famous rock as it was painted by a well known artist, Salvador Dali. Frog did his customary nude pose at great haste due to an arriving 4WD laden with snap happy tourists. We stopped at other sights including rock formations like the `Bungle Bungles´ in Western Australia, laked with Flamingoes, an active volcano with smoke billowing out of it and crossed a mini Salt flat. We arrived that afternoon into a small dusty town called `San Juan´. Our accommodation there was a dump too but not as bad as the previous night. Our trip stated we would be staying at the Salt Hotel, A hotel make from Salt. We were informed that it was rainy season and it was flooded so this alternative accommodation ws provided. It turned out to be bullshit and was a convienient way for the company to make extra money by giving us cheaper accommodation. Theiving gypsies.

Later that day we checked out the town and went to the cemetery to see the open dome tombs. The tombs had skeletons in them on full display with clothes on, and with pots around them. Although we had no explanation as to the background of the place, the bodies seemed to be in a huddled position indicating that they were buried alive. On our way out of the place a woman was waiting for us. She wanted the 50 cent payment each for our visit which was Ok as there was a sign on our way in with the price but nobody collecting. We didnt have any small money and she had no change, we then had to parade all around town with this woman trying to get scare change from the shops.

05 Jan Up and out at 6am with the usual slice of bread and a cup of tea for breakfast whilst smelling the aroma of fried bacon destined for our drivers belly. We kindly helped the driver pack his roofrack with lots of lifting etc. only to experience the height of ignorance from him. He was getting frustrated with having to depart later than he intended and started to reverse the jeep while I was getting in and frog was standing on the back wheel tie-ing down his roofrack! What a prick. The fat c**t did his own packing after that. We drove to the Salt flats (12,500 sqkm) the largest in the world, it ws rainy season and a lot of it was under water. The jeep followed the submerged road and as we were driving along it felt like we were in a boat. The first day of the trip I asked the driver if I could drive the jeep and he gabbled some reply. I didnt pursue the issue but he then today he offered me the opportunity to drive on the flats. I didnt kow if he was being nice or didnt like driving on the flats but I jumped at the chance. The driving was really wierd. The flats were a brilliant white and the sky was pure blue and that was all I could see. The jeep (a petrol 4 litre Toyota landcruiser) was 28 years old, the driver reckoned it had over 1.5 million kms up on it, and nothing worked (including the brakes) so I couldnt even guess how fast or slow I was going. I started feeling hypnotised and blinded by the glare even though I had my sunglasses on, hat on and was squinting my eyes. An hour later we spotted a elevated spot which was above water and we stopped there for some photos. Later we stopped at the Salt hotel, that wasnt flooded, for a look and then on to a Salt factory to see how the stuff was made. On then to another (less exciting) train cemetery and then on to Uyuni to end our trip. Uyuni was a crappy town so we hopped on a bus south to Tupiza. The roads were incredibly bad with no Tarmac, no safety barriers stopping out of control vechicles careering over the edge and down the mountain side. Its a wild place and feels like a scene from the wild west. In fact the movie and the real life characters from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid were played out in this area.

6 Jan Was a quiet day today, did internet stuff, Frog had his hair cut a little shorter by Caroline and we booked our 2 day horse trek.

7 Jan Frog and Liz caught a 24 hr bug and could not make the horse riding. Ben decided to opt out too and stay withLiz so it was just me and Caroline. Although conscious of my allergy to animal hair, I mounted my nag, aka Geronimo, and headed off into the desert. We saw stunning rock formations, rode along quiet tracks, through fast flowing rivers up to our knees, plodded through mud and galloped aswell. i felt like I was a cowboy with my cowboy hat and leather leg protectors. We got to our hostel that evening and joined a few other similar groups. After a walk around town, some local kids were playing soccer. The gringoes vs the locals game progessed quickly and we had a blast, the kids were great but were no match for our foul play and dirty tricks.

8 Jan Didnt sleep at all well last night due to swarms of flies, unventilated room (with 8 of us in it), a sleep talker and a snorer. The bed was shite too, and noise continued outside for all hours. Up then at 7.30am for a breakfast of crackers and jam before mounting up on our horses again. My arse bones, tail bone and my knees were killing me. we went a bit slower today which was a welcome relief. During lunch on the way back we met Frog, Ben and Liz on their way as part of their one day trek. Saw a few interesting things on the way back including gorges, canyons and a waterfall, but to be quiet honest I was in too much pain to care.