We left Potosi on a 6 hour bus drive to Uyuni that took only just over 5 hours ...

It was bumpy as all Bolivian roads seem to be, but breathtaking scenery along the way and a break that saw us rounding up llamas to photograph!

Uyuni is a small town and the jump of point to the salt flats (Salar De Uyuni).

As soon as we arrived we went for a walk to stretch our legs and checked out the local markets. We also used the opportunity to stock up on supplies for breakfast, buying a mango and banana for $3 Bolivianos (50 cents).

Back to hotel (think it was called 'Tonite') for the best pizza I've had since Sao Paulo (actually might have been the only pizza since then, and only had it cause there wasn't much else on the menu!!!).

I was still a bit trepidacious about altitude sickness even though we were 400 meters lower. So was taking it easy drinking which actually turned out to be about 4 glasses of wine and then got dragged out to the local bar 'Extreme Fun' for yet another.

For a change we actually did stay for just one! Had a nice Pisco Sour that had Coca leaf liquor in it (convinced myself the Coca will help the altitude sickness!) and spent our time there browsing the walls of names who had undertaken the 10 shot challenge (all different liquors), some doing it in about 30 seconds! 

There were also heaps of great pics of the salt flats giving us ideas for the following day...

Next day was April Fools!  We'd planned a group joke on our instructor where we were going to tell him that we were refusing to sign the itinerary waiver form (salt flats were flooded so we were only going for 1 day instead of 2) but everyone wussed out & we didn't end up pulling it off! 

Our transport for the day trip to the salt flats was 3 beat up old 4WDs with only one English speaking driver.

We all had big smiles on our face though, and loved getting out into the country side for the day. I was especially happy as I got to ride shot gun and enjoy the view :0)

First stop was the train cemetery.  Seems like all tour companies take the same route as arrived to find another couple of hundred people already there climbing all over the trains like big kids!

Of course we all ran in and joined them climbing through the rusty old trains and getting photos on top of them.

One of the trains even ties in with a story relating to Butch Cassidy & the Sundance kid, but of course I forgot it almost immediately!!! 

Next stop was the salt processing area.

First a loo stop where we all paid $1 boliviano (15 cents AUD) to use a tin shed with hole in the ground squat toilet! For that bargain price you also get issued with toilet paper (which I never new came in purple), but unfortunately no wash basin or soap.

The salt processing area turned out to be a man sitting in another tin shed with his bag of coca leaves.  He sits all day in front of a large pile of salt (that has previously been left to dry), bags it into 1 or 2kg sized plastic bags and seals the plastic by running the end over a burner.

This salt is of a very fine grade and not cut with borax or anything, just au naturale! It's also not exported outside of Bolivia as other countries usually have their own supplies ... Although doubting we use the same processing method in Australia!

Next stop was the salt flats!

The first glimpses were absolutely stunning and blew us all away!

The sand was pure white and the flooded areas were a beautiful blue making the area look like a Carribean Beach.

In the distance you could see the snow covered volcanic mountains and the water was freezing!

In the sun it was quite warm though, very easy to get sunburnt and with so much white and reflection around was wishing I had the foresight to bring polarized sunglasses, as 30 minutes into it my eyes were killing!!!

We first stopped on the edge if the salt flats to get some shots and at that point they let a few of us at a time, hop up and ride on the 4WDs roof racks (you gotta love the safety rules in Bolivia!).

From there we had another 30 minute slow drive through the flooded plains (about 10-20cm water) to the salt hotel and the spot we were to have lunch.

As soon as we arrived we set ourselves up to take our fun photos!

Very quickly we realised they weren't going to be as easy as we thought ... With so much water everywhere it was hard to find a dry patch big enough to set up props then lie down close to the ground to take the photos! And then when you managed to squeeze yourself onto a little island to do this, it was so glary you can hardly see your screen to work out how to set it up!

We then discovered some people have a knack for photographing the best perspective shot, where as others just didn't get it!

We had fun trying though and were happy to take a break for our BBQ'd llama steak lunch with quinoa when it was ready.

Later in the afternoon we took a few different shots trying to get arty with the setting sun and the reflections on the salt flats ...

It was a long but fun day and we just made it back in time to quickly grab a bite to eat them board the overnight bus for La Paz.

The bus was an experience in itself and did not have the toilet as promised!

It was no where near as comfortable as the overnight buses in Uruguay or Brasil that I'd been on, but once again we are in Bolivia!

The first hour of the trip I spent cursing as the bus had completely filled up with dust from the unpaved roads.

There was no air conditioning to clean it out and of course opening a window would let more in ... You could see the thick haze all the way down the bus, but then they turned the lights out and realized the overhead lights didn't work so instead just sat in the dark sucking it all in!  And to think I was worried about going down the mine due to my asthma with the dust ... Local transport was just as bad!

Fortunately the combination of bumpy road and speeding driver led us to get a flat tyre, so we had enough time to get off and squat behind some bushes (shouldn't have sculled that wine before hopping on the bus!) and wait for the dust to settle.

Once on the road again it didn't re-occur so assume someone had left a window open earlier. Now all we could smell was the lethal exhaust fumes from the engine which unfortunately did not send us to sleep but had most if us awake almost all night!

Although we are over policed you really do have to appreciate some of the laws we have back home!!!

Despite any fears I may have shared with some of you before leaving home about bus crashes in Bolivia (2 occurred the week I booked the trip!), we survived the trip and arrived early hours of the next morning into La Paz!