After a quick breakfast, we took our bags out to the waiting Toyota Landcruiser and threw them up to the guy on the roof of the jeep. Once the bags were wrapped in a tarpaulin and securely tied down, they guy came down to introduce himself. Juan Carlos was going to be our driver/guide for the next 6 days and he then introduced us to Martha who would be our cook.

Our tour was going to be weather dependent, if the weather Gods were on our side, we would be climbing the 6,024m Volcan Uturuncu on day four of a six day tour ending in Chile. If not, we would be ending up in Chile on day four. The lady who organised the tour for us (forget her name) very patiently sorted out the possible cash refund for us with Juan Carlos and confirmed both the itineraries with him.

We left Tupiza and headed towards the dry riverbed. During the rainy season there is a powerful river running down it but today it was totally dry and we drove up it. We soon came out of the riverbed and started climbing up into the mountains on a windy dirt road. From the moment we left the houses in Tupiza, we entered the most amazing landscape. Every way we turned there was weather worn rocky scapes and colorful, red mountains. There were lots of llamas on the desert like area which had been brought by people who came from the altiplanos/highlands. Our first stop of the day was at Sillar, a 3750m high saddle sitting between fascinating red rock formations and an agricultural valley.

We carried on higher into the altiplano and past through the area of San Vicente, famous for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The two of them are reputed to be buried in the cemetery. Today, the area is gated as a working mine (partly government and partly private owned) and apparently a good company to work for with good housing and schooling for the staff and their families.

We stopped for lunch at a nice viewpoint and we were expecting maybe a sandwich. Everyone was surprised when tupperware boxes, plates and cutlery were neatly laid out on the tailgate of the jeep. We helped ourselves to the most delicious lentil curry with rice and vegetables.

As we continued our journey towards Uyuni, we had a few river crossings and drove past some snow but the 4x4 took it all in its stride as if it was driving down an asphalt road. We drove through Atocha, a small village with state housing in the middle of nowhere. It seemed a bit bizarre and we didn't quite catch why it was built there.

Driving further on, we were suddenly in the middle of a sandy desert, as far as the eye could see there were just sand dunes. Juan Carlos was keen to take photos on our camera so David volunteered to walk out onto the sand. The only other form of life we saw out there were Vicuñas, wild relatives to Llamas and Alpacas but with much finer wool.

As we neared the town of Uyuni, the closed silver mine on the mountain was pointed out. It was this mine that brought the railway line into the area with links to Potosi, Argentina and Chile. Nowadays, Uyuni survives from tourism and a new mine that is 100km out of town. The new silver mine is open, as opposed to the old closed mine with its tunnels, and 50 train carriages full of ore are brought out every day. This new found prosperity is helping the town, they have even built a new airport on the back of it.

Just outside of the town is a train cemetery, there are two long lines of abandoned old steam engines, some of them made in France and the UK and shipped to South America. When the mining stopped due to mineral prices dropping and recession hitting, there was no need for so many trains. The train company used to be government owned but now it's the property of Chilean company.

We drove into the centre of Uyuni but it didn't look as prosperous as was made out to us. The Sunday market was in full swing but on the whole we were glad we stayed in Tupiza before starting the tour instead of Uyuni.

After driving another 30 minutes we arrived to Colchani, the closest town to the Salar (the salt flat). The families who live there make their living from salt. They scrape up salt into big piles then bring it home to dry in a hot fire. Some of it is then ground finely and with some iodine added to it, it is sold as table salt while the remainder left untreated is used for cows.


As we entered the Salar, we passed a monument in memory of ten Japanese and Israeli tourists that died in a head on, car accident. Juan Carlos had shown he was a good driver but hopefully all drivers would take heed of the monument and consciously think about their driving.

A short way onto the salt flat, there were some salt sculptures - it really reminded us of the snow sculptures that we see in Lappish ski resorts.

During the rainy season (January to March) you are not allowed to drive across the Salar, only as far as the old Salt Hotel. People would get lost because they cannot see the landmarks and the reflection is disorientating, this can also lead to people driving off into holes etc.

The Dakar Rally, which is now held in Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, passes though this area in January but if it rains an alternative route is used to get around the surrounding mountain.

We drove past some fancy salt hotels and went further and further into the Salar. It looked just like snow but completely flat apart from the odd salt piles that had been scaped up.

Occasionally there are points where water rises up onto the surface and makes a small puddle but simply soaks back down to the salt flat.

We stopped at the historic Hotel de Sal which is not in use anymore as it can't handle sewage in the Salar. It was our first opportunity to walk on the Salar and it was quite weird because you were expecting it to be slippy like snow but it was more like walking on sandpaper. We walked over to the see the nearby Dakar monument, made of salt, with heaps of flags from countries that probably enter the race. It was good to see a Scottish flag flapping in the wind even if it did look a bit worse for wear, the wind obviously gets quite harsh here at times.

We drove straight through the Salar on what could be described, perhaps, as one of the best roads in Bolivia. Whilst it wasn't asphalt or even a road for that matter, it was a straight track that was very smooth and made for a very comfortable ride.

The sun was beginning to drop behind the mountains ahead of us so we stopped the car and waited. The sun was casting long shadows across the salt flat behind us and when the sun finally dropped behind the mountain it wasn't as spectacular as when it drops into the ocean's horizon. We thought that was it but it was only just beginning. The salt flat itself turned pink and the sky turned deep blue with bright orange and red clouds. Apparently we were very lucky because such vivid sunsets are quite rare.

It was only a few minutes more to drive to Chuvica, at the base of the mountains, and to our hotel for the night. The entire hotel was made of salt from the Salar; the floors, the walls, the beds and even the tables and chairs. It looked very much like the snow hotels in Lapland but not as cold to the touch.

We had hot drinks and biscuits brought out to us by Martha while she prepared dinner for us. It was a bit of wait but dinner was worth the wait and very tasty. We had a vegetable soup to start, followed by mince and mashed potatoes.

Juan Carlos gave us a briefing for tomorrow, the aim is tour round the Salar, visit a small island that doesn't get many tourists plus the main Isla Incahuasi. And of course, take some crazy pictures on the salt flat. As we were spreading our trip over six days, there was less time pressure to get round everything so there was no need to wake up until 7.30am whereas the other groups were going to be getting up at 4.30am.

Our room was surprisingly warm, there wasn't actually the need to use the sleeping bags (which were included in our tour price). We did leave them out just in case it got colder during the night.