The next 5 days were almost a dream. I couldn't have had a better group...Michelle and I got on so well with Edda and G it made the trip extra fun. We saw so many different things during the 5 days and you can see from the photos just how incredible it was. The food was great, the hostels were pretty comfortable too with 4 blankets each (yes it got a little cold at night times!) and we stayed in a hostel where some of the items were made of salt. Two of the mornings were 4am starts to see the sunrise but well worth it and we watched an incredible sun set in the middle of the salt flats on the 4th night too which was so surreal. The weather was perfect for us, the sun was always shining and when we went to climb Tunupa volcano (5200m high) on the 5th day, we had a few clouds to actually make the climb achievable. I think its best to look at the photos to see what I saw over these few days...just surreal.

The climb! Oh goodness did I struggle. I have never felt so unfit in my whole entire life before, I was out of breath after 4 steps at times and I had to stop to regain my breathing. I felt like this volcano was going to defeat me and also couldn't understand why the others seemed to be fine. That made me feel even worse, but Michelle was great and really helped me make it to the top. And what a rewarding view it was...we spent about an hour at the top looking out at the 12000 square metres of salt flats (which looked more like we were above the clouds, or like a sea that had frozen over, we had to keep reminding ourselves that it was actually 99 per cent pure salt). Not only that but the volcano itself was impressive which we didn't expect at all. It wasn't even very windy at the top, so we soaked up the sun whilst relaxing on the rocks chatting. What an incredible day: the hardest day but definitely the best day. After 7 hours of walking with a 5am start, we were starving and exhausted so enjoyed the dinner that the lady had prepared for us and took a shower before seeing a few last things on the salt flats before arriving in Uyuni at 7pm.

It was our final night together so we all went for dinner and said fairwell to Michelle who had to catch a 6am bus the following morning back to Tupiza. It was sad to say goodbye because we had been together for about 6 weeks in total...we were good travel buddies.

On Friday, it was Carine and Craigs wedding! (CONGRADS CARINE & CRAIG) ...so I spent all morning trying to send them a message and attemping to hook up on skype to watch the ceremony, but neither worked. Gutted and shattered, I booked a night bus to La Paz and went back for more sleep. I met with Edda and G for our last lunch and dinner together and jumped on the cama bus at 8pm. It is my first time on a cama bus, as usually I got for the cheapest which was 100 bolivianoes, rather than 150, but I was still feeling tired and a little ill i thought it was best to just pay the extra and get a good bus where I can actually sleep. I am so glad I did, the bus is amazing...you feel so much safer,the seats are huge, they proide blanekets and they have heating too so I am happy....

Ok, so this luxury didn't last long - the window opposite me had a massive whole and an hour into the journey the entire window shattered...so at the next town we had to hop on a standard semi-cama bed. Back to basics, but I was impressed how quick they were at organising another bus, we hardly had to wait at all. I slept a little, its all good :)