Well, I am now in Bolivia. I left you with a teaser about where I was about to go and guess most will know it was to the salar de Uyuni. So let's go to that story....

I always thought I was lucky to make it here, even though I made it happen, and some of he reasons are sad toi say the least. However, I am here and did not imagine it would be as good as it is. More on that later.

I left San Pedro as part of a group of 12 in 2 Toyota Land Cruisers. These ancient beasts of burden are probably the world's strongest and longest lasting cars. Ours was surprisingly comfy and not too cramped. In our 4x4 were Julie (Oirsih) who I'd grown to really appreciate on the trips we'd done in SPdA. Then there were Dave and Leigh from NZ, Martha from Germany (but living in London) and Kathy from USA and Eire.... Yes she was a bit loud and american but has a good heart there too. In the other 4x4 were 4 more Oirish lasses and 2 english gals. Amazingly we all got an very well very quickly although it was natural that the 2 car's groups got closer together. This wasn't helped by the fact initially it seemed we were to do 2 separate tours as although we booked with the same company we had 2 companies feeding and driving us.... The firsat lunch break and night were therefore a bit of a challenge as we felt we were being divided and the driver of the other 4x4 wasn't seen as being that good- sultry and too fast. So in my pigeon Spanish I used my social worker skills and insisted this change. It took 2 'interesting' conversations with the driver but credit where it's due he did change and all went well. Sitting here 2 days later and hgaving spoken to others whoi did the same tour we seem to have been lucky to have no problems with the 4x4 so I am more happy.

The tour. Can I simply start by saying it was the best thing I've yet done here.... I am so humbled by what I saw and the fact things can get better. So what did we do? At the Bolivian border we got our 4x4's and off we went. We didn't need the border crossing to know we were in Bolivia as this main road was in effect a constant dirt track (at best), often only passable by 4x4 and with such challeneges it was impossible to not do without a guide who knew where the 20 paths went in the desert.... Yes the desert. I think I'll do the journey day by to TRY to explain what we did and saw.

Day 1 saw us go past Laguna Blanco (blanco as in white due to borax), then Laguna Verde (verde as in green due to aresnic, iron ore, copper + another mineral), all at high altitude, with that same pollution free azure blus sky, flamingo's filtering their food, live volcano's all around, a mix of high altiplano and high deserts with ever changing countryside, colours and pleasures to see. We had a break at a thermal bath(ooooh, those no yet aching bones) before going to Laguna Colrado (no translation). This was the most amazing lake for me because it was a few shades of red. Aha, you read right, I said red..... Amazing. With 2 types of flamingo + many other birds to enjoy i their natural habitat. I also had the bonus (as if 1 was needed) of a lovely conversation with Martha. And another bonus- no problems with the high altitude. Of the 12 only 4 could say this. And having seen the others I am very glad of this, especially as I plan to hike near Macchu Piccu which is lower altitude. The first hostel was barely more than a shack with beds, high altitude cold (even for me!!!) and battles between our drivers and cooks making for an unpleasant at times atmosphere. The local ethnic women who ran the hostel were also anything but friendly and seemed simply to see us with distrust and as a quick buck.... Still, bar the altitude sickness, we had a good group.

Day 2 saw more desert and altiplano driving, real offroading to simply get to where we were going, a race with an emu (that bird was FAST), the highest volcano yet (a bit dull being far away but viewed at lunch within amazing land erosion scenery), a very different type of geyser landscape (video's hopefully to follow), the arbole de piedra (tree of stone), a drive past an army barracks where the soldiers tried to bribe the driver to let us through (good driver said no) and on the the Hotel Porteño.... This is what they call a salt hotel... Not only because it's on the edge of the world's tallest and biggest salt flat, but because it's built out of bricks of salt. And yes it's true- I gave it the taste test . We had a good night's sleep as light's went out 9.20pm but couldn't see the sunset on the salt C'est la vie. However, I did get another reaction to the kilt- a group voluntary round of applause... Really sweet.

So to day 3. The salt lake. I simply cannot explain how magical and beautiful this place is. Please try to see it in your lifetime. It is huge, all white, flat, yes surrounded by hills the way we drove (including a stop at the Isla de Pescado- fish island: a former coral reef that's really sharp but beautiful). And if you do go, do as I did. After the first stop on the lake (for lots of photo's- 2 of which will be in an ace bar in Uyuni as they collect amazing salar photo's for their walls. The ones I gave were the 12 of us jumping in the air + ..................... errrmmmmmmm if I was to say 2 ladies wanted me to prove I was a true Scot would this help define the third photo? No? Well, if I was to say I wore the kilt for 4 days would it help......... Hope so!!! If not there may be a copy on the blog later....) came the drive to the Isla. Now, a bit of advice. health & Safety isn't quite up to UK standards... So I asked the driver if he would let me ride on top of the 4x4 to the Isla, a few miles away.... And he said YES!!!! What a pure adrenaline rush. Did he go slow? Errrr, no!!!! I gues we drove at 40- 50mph... yeeee and haaaaaa. Was it cold. OH YES- do dress up well and don't forget the gloves. Did the kilt behave?????? What do you think (answers on a post card to 'Salar Madness in a Kilt, c/o looney tunes, USA')..... This was a literal buzzzzz. I feel it simply writing this. And then it was a visit to another Salt Hotel (with salt statue + more unpleasant female staff), San Juan (where I wandered off and held the tour up) and Uyuni. My first night in Bolivia. And not the best introduction to the country. Do try and do this trip, and do it the direction I did. It is a very dusty experience but worth everything. And it's not even expensive in real terms (okay you have to get there...)

The place is full of tourists, eateries are extortionate and again staffed by unpleasant ethnic females, the place is dirty, but it does have a great bar with ace guys who met their first Scot in a kilt and accepted 1 very dubious photo for their wall... But accommodation is very cheap and clean. You will have to get used to using a bucket to flush with, assuming you've remembered the loo roll....

After this trip, and again being in company all the time I decided not to take the invite to stay with Julie, Martha and Kathy and go somewhere else. I can feel so much emotion, tears and pain needing to come out I need some space to allow me to do this. So I decided to come to Potosi, to take then kilt off and be more invisible and let the emotions out....

As I'm in Potosi I can't say the latter happened. ¿Porque? Porque the bus bust before it was to leave. So a bus journey due to take 6 hours started 5.5 hours late... And of course everyone tried to find out what was going on but my Spanish got more info and I ended up with a NZ couple, 3 english guys and a small group of Israelies. The bus was late, but we found accommodation in the world's tallest city. In a beautiful old colonial building, possibly a former convent. I spent today walking and looking and it's beautiful. I also climbed a mirador (viwpoint) with a young local guide and managed an interesting a meaningful conversation on life with her. I am now going to see if we've to meet for tea as last night's group... Madness reigns. Tomorrow is another special visit and likely go to Sucre for a few days reat and planning the future visits.

Take care all

Love

Alan xx