We finally managed to get out of La Paz and headed to Uyuni on a night bus .... this was the worst bus we have ever been on and was a complete bone shaker, the roads to Uyuni were completely unpaved so the bus was basically off roading the majority of the way there. We arrived at about 7am and we'd got talking to an English and an American girl so we decied to try and get on a tour that morning together as we'd have more bargainig power with the 4 of us.

We all wanted to go with a particular tour company called red planet as it had really good reviews but it was also pricey (this was as an alternative to going with a tour company that was cheaper but drivers were drunk etc), one of the girls couldn't afford it so as they both spoke Spanish (they had been teaching in Chile) they decided to go with a cheaper tour and we decided to wait for the more expensive tour the following day which turned out to be the best thing we did but we'll come back to that.

Uyuni is basically in the absolute arse crack of nowhere, there is nothing there other than tours out of Uyuni to the salt flats so we didn't really have much to do that day other than get something to eat and recover from the bus journey.

At the end of the day we decided that even though we were doing a tour that included the salt flats we were going to get up the following morning and go there to see the sun rise. So the alarm went off at 2.30am and we got dressed and made our way downstairs, the hostel owner had told us to ring the bell and he would come and let us out. I'd tried the front door but it was locked so we rang the bell .... and rang .... and rang. Firstly, the bell wasn't making a noise which was unusual as normally you can hear them through the whole hostel and secondly we were both thinking, if we can't get out a) we'll miss our tour and b) we've got up at 2.30am for nothing.

Casson then tried the same door that I had and it was actually open, apparently I'm not very good at opening doors in the morning .... but at least we made the tour!

The salt flats were about an hour away and when we got there we were given wellies as there was so much water on them. It was abosolutely freezing but totally worth being cold for. There was no light pollution at all so we could see the milky way and then to watch the sun come up was amazing. We've got some good pics so check them out when you get chance.

We got back to Uyuni at about 8am so we had time for breakfast and to get some supplies (cookies and jelly sweets for Casson, crisps, nuts and toilet roll for me) and our tour started at 11am.

We were in a land cruiser that seated 6 passengers but we were so lucky as there was just one other person in the car with us, a guy called Jeremy from the Netherlands so it was like having a private tour. We headed to a salt factory where we got some info on how they utilise the salt etc and then we had lunch .... oh my god was it good, we had marinated chicken legs, pasta salad, roast potatoes, salad and we were introduced to spicy tomato ketchup (and we mean really spicy). For dessert there was a home made apple crumble, tours do not get better than this!

In the afternoon we went to the salt flats to take the expected stupid pictures of giant people vs hobbits but it was loads of fun. Because there were only 3 of us in the group our guide took all our pictures for us so it was great. After this we went to the hostel, had the hottest shower we'd had in a long time and then had another amzing meal.

Day 2 was all about the lagoons, we went to so many different ones and all of them were beautiful in their own way, I don't know how they managed it but everywhere we went there were only the 3 of us, it was so quiet, we loved it! At the end of day 2 the hostel we stayed in was next to thermal hot springs so we spent the night in there watching the stars.

Finally on day 3 we stopped off at a few points of interest but it was really about getting back to Uyuni, we had a picnic lunch and then our last stop was the train cemetry. This was actually really interesting for the history behind it as the trains all came from England originally and they were used to transport stuff from the mines. They also played a part (as did England) in the war that occurred. Once the mines closed down the trains were no longer required and they were all just left there. We found one with a Yorkshire steel insignia on it which was pretty cool.

All in all this was the best tour we have done so far, the guide and driver were brilliant, the food was amazing (always important to us) and the sights were unreal!

Bolivia is vast, we drove for miles and miles and didn't see another vehicle on the road or if we did it was generally a tourist jeep. The views are amazing, it's definitely one of our favourite countries so far (although it's only our 2nd so that could change). We can't do it justice on here so check out the photo's.

General points

1: I'm banned from being on my own after drinking, when we got back we had quite a bit of time to kill before our bus out of Uyuni so we sat and had a beer each. Granted they were litre bottles but still it's not that excessive. Casson nipped to the bank and I was on my way back to the tour office to get our bags, I saw the hostel that we had stayed in on our first night so I instinctiely thought 'WIFI ... I can text my mum' and as I was crossing the road to get to it I didn't see a huge hole and I went over on my ankle and stacked it in the middle of the road, I was literally sprawled out! I ripped my trousers at the knee like a bloody child would and as the night progressed my ankle got sorer and sorer and swelled up until I had a massive cankle!

2: I got no sympathy for the above from Casson