A chance meeting with a European couple whilst on a overnight stay in Potosi convinced us to do the 3 day Uyuni tour. Hearing their experiences made it sound really appealing... neither of us had seen a pink lake filled with flamingoes before and where else would you get the opportunity to see that?

We caught a day bus to the desolate city of Uyuni, literally in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by desert plains, definately not the prettiest of cities. Quickly found a cheap hotel for the night and tour company who we booked with to begin our 3 day tour the following day. With a satisfied appetite and alarm clocks set we rest our heads for the night in anticipation of our next adventure.

An early rise followed by a big breakfast we were ready for our 1st day on the road. Arriving at the agency only to find it closed and noone around.....not a good start to the day! An hour later and our tour operator arrived, baby in one hand, personal shopping in the other....well we are in Bolivia afterall. Shortly after we were put in a 4WD with 4 guys who would be our travel buddies for the next 3 days. 2 Irealis, an Argentinian and a Brazilian.

Our first destination was the huge salt flats......a very surreal experience! Firstly we visted a small town which contained a museam with numerous sculptures made from salt. Due to being the wet season the salt flats were covered in upto an inch of water making it look really magical as the salt sparkled underneath. We took our shoes off and walked along the salt, very rough on the feet but theraputic at the same time! Leaving the soles of our feet feeling smooth like a babies bottom :) there didnt appear to be any ending to the flats as they went on as far as the eye could see. The sun leaving reflections and creating various colours in the water.

Our next detination was the train cemetary, wasnt really sure what to make of it but from what we could gather from our driver they dated back to the 18th century and had been abandoned....left to rust away. Neither of us being train spotters, it didnt really have the same impact as the salt flats! Lunch consisted of Llama meat which I nicely declined and decided I was a complete vegetarian! Limiting options to overcooked Quinia, a few tomato slices and a tablespoon of mashed advacado......oh dear! Leaving us both with the impression that food was going to be a issue on this trip.

A long drive through desert terrain with lots of Llamas along the way (reminding me of lunch) brought us to our hostel for the night. A small room cramped with 5 saggy, creaky beds! One shower which had no hot water and one operational toliet that didnt flush.....at this point we both wanted to cry! Wouldnt be so bad if it was for 5 people but there was 50 plus people staying in this small hostel, all part of the tour but from different agencies. Nobody seemed impressed but in the middle of nowhere there wasnt much we could do and complaining didnt get you anywhere! Dinner was worse than lunch, overcooked rice, a handfull of greasy chips, fried eggs and a few chicken wings. Neither of us really ate that night.

An early morning rise, 6.30 brought us to the breakfast table where we had coffee and bread with marmalade. "vamos" said the driver and the 2nd day began. We visted numerous lakes filled with flamingoes who appeared to enjoy standing on one leg and saw amazing rock formations and mounatins with differing coloured stones along the way. Maz living upto her nickname monkey scaling as many as she could. For what lacked in the catering department was definately made up for in the scenery. Lunch consisted of sticky plain pasta cooked from the previous night and an apple. Luckily tomato ketchup was on hand to liven things up! We spent a while in a contemplative mood, sat on rocks looking out over the desert. It really felt like we were in the middle of nowhere.

Luckily our accommodation this night was remarkably better than the last even though it didnt have a shower either! The taps had running water at least :) dinner consisting of pasta with tomato and onion salsa....and a bottle of red wine!! Which always helps to make things seem better than they really are. Our driver informed us that we had a 4.30am start in the morning so an early night was in order.

4am rise, we all sleepily dragged ourselves from our beds into the 4WD. How our driver knew where he was going in the dark of night in the middle of the dessert with no road signs, mountains to show where he was going we will never know but he seemed to know exactly where to go. First stop were some active geysers, even more impressive in the dead of night as they spurted white steam with a strong sulphur like smell. Then it was onto a lake to watch the sunrise and have breakfast. There was an outdoor natural thermal bath but at 6am in the morning, freezing cold temperatures...we thought we would wait until we could get take a nice hot shower in a decent hotel! The sunrise itself was completely breathtaking, blinding us with its light as it rose from beyond the distant mountains. Definately worth the early morning rise and made everything negative on the trip seem totally irrelative for that one moment.

After breakfast we made our way onto see some more lakes before beginning the long drive home back to Uyuni. Stopping halfway in a luch green valley containing a small river where Llamas nearby were grazing to have some lunch.

Despite the food situation, not having been able to shower for days we didnt regret doing the tour as we were able to experience some of the spectacular landscape Bolivia has to offer. Another unforgettable experience in our adventure so far.