Bus. Bus. Ferry. Bus. And we had crossed the Bolivian border, reaching La Paz a few hours later. Now we´ve said goodbye to the lovely Angel and met our new guide, the fabulous Fredy. They are pretty much polar opposites but both great so I think we´ve been lucky. As well as mourning the loss of Angel, we´ve said goodbye to two of our group, but have 3 more to get to know now.
La Paz, although we were only briefly there, was a really nice city and seemed to have lots to offer. The setting alone makes it worth a visit, nestled in a huge valley. We had a tasty farewell meal and even (accidentally) managed to find the only ´English Pub´ in the place (Oliver´s Travels), which contained our rival GAP group - noooo! It seems our paths are to cross all the way to Rio.
La Paz done, we had another long day of travelling to Uyuni, our starting point for exploring the salt flats of Bolivia. In the morning we set off in a convoy of 4x4 jeeps and pretty much the whole day was full of amazing views. Starting with snowy mountains and vicunas (like llama) scattered across the plains, the landscape soon changed to an immense expanse of salt. Just salt! We drove across it and because of recent rain, there were stunning reflections everywhere we went. It looks so much sand, but then you take your shoes and socks off and are met with a shocking exfoliation! We messed around on the salt heaps, took stupid warped perspective photos and finally had lunch on an island full of cactuses in the middle of what looked like a salt desert. More driving and we arrived at our hotel for the night - it was made entirely of salt! But of course. Really nice evening, ending in candlelight and a good night´s sleep.
The next day the landscape was completely different again - red mountains and lots of mud, with a few lagoons along the way - flamingo lagoon, stinky lagoon, red lagoon, to name but a few. We all went to bed exhausted from the altitude and fearful of our 0430 start the next day...
...Which wasn´t really that bad. We got ready and packed in the dark (so lots of people inevitably discovered they´d lost things later that day) and then set off in the 4x4s. Our first stop was a huge volcano crater and the setting couldn´t have been much more picturesque. It was starting to get light to the clouds were tinged with red and the sky streaked with crimson. We stood amongst hissing geysers, bubbling mud pools and steaming rocks. It was incredibly atmospheric and all rather mysterious, especially given we were standing at 5400m altitude. Good start to the day.
We then went to some outdoor natural hot springs that looked out across the plains and mountains. The water was 38 degrees and so relaxing - just what was needed after the early start. On getting out we were served with fresh fruit and pancakes - yum!
We headed finally to the green lagoon (algae give it an emerald colour) and create an amazing reflection from the red mountains that tower above it. We sat there in peace, near the Chilean border, and watched a herd of vicunas chase each other around. Absolutely stunning.
A long drive back and we arrived in Uyuni again, satisfied with a great few days, but ready for bed. We´re now in Potosi ´the highest city of it´s size´ in the world whatever that means exactly! We visit the silver mines tomorrow before heading down to a civilised altitude once more, in Sucre. Right, my stomach is rumbling and we´re all off for dinner now so lots of love and hope you´re all alright. We´re compiling a list of foodstuffs we miss and pine for by the way, so be prepared to talk food on our return and feed us goodies (you have been warned!)