High altitude ‘perspectives’

After a very hot then freezing cold bus ride we arrived at 6am in Uyuni. We had barely stepped off the bus before we were surrounded by tour guides telling us to ‘come this way’ to their shop and they will ‘give us a good price’. We basically had to shout that we needed to at least get our luggage before going anywhere. Eventually one guy talked us into going with him to the nearby cafe. We dumped our kit and spent the next 3 hours there whilst we had breakfast and got talked into the trip.

At 1030am the Nissan Patrol was packed, our bags hurled onto the roof and we were off. Our first stop was at a railway cemetery. Quite odd but worth seeing all the same. It was where they left all the old locomotives to rust once they were finished with them.

We then headed onto the salt flats. It was absolutely bizarre. Everywhere was covered in salt. The ground was very sharp and we soon had our first puncture of the trip. After a quick change over to the spare (which was definitely smaller than the other tyres) we were on our way again. We did the classic salt flat photos of us jumping and we even used our marmite pot as an accessory for the perspective shots! It was crazily hot and we had to keep running into the shade. At one point I was desperate for a wee so I had to ask everyone else to wait behind one side of the car whilst I went for a quick wee on the other side. There was nowhere else to hide! Sunset was spent in the middle of nowhere and we then made our way to the salt hotel. It literally was made of salt. The floor of our room was covered in salt and the bed frame was salt. Totally bizarre. After a pretty rank meal we got an early night after the night bus last night. As always Alex couldn’t sleep! Both of us couldn’t wait until we were no longer at a high altitude.

On the second day the terrain was very different. Our first stop was to get the previous days puncture fixed! We stopped at several lagoons where thousands of flamingos lived. It was cool seeing them but we were and still are very curious as to how they ended up living there. Apart from the lagoon the place is barren. We also saw a few chinchillas along the way which was fun. We then had our second puncture! We heard the air pouring out so knew it was a big one. Sure enough the edge of the tyre had a huge hole in it. Not good. The original tyre was put back on and we just hoped the puncture had been fixed sufficiently. We had to dodge dust clouds from passing lorries and by the time it was fixed everyone was covered.

Alex and I found our group both curious and boring. There was a delightful mother and her 10 year old son with impeccable manners. Then there were 2 guys travelling on their own, both in their early 20s. Neither of these guys offered to help when we got either of the punctures. They just expected someone else to do it. We were tempted to tell them to help but with another 24hrs to go in the same car it just wasn’t worth any disagreements. That night the altitude was the highest we had stayed so far. We slept for about an hour the whole night. Every time I closed my eyes I couldn’t breathe. It’s really scary. For once we were very happy that our alarm was 0400 as it was a break from trying and failing to sleep. The early start was because it was a long drive for those heading back to Uyuni. We however were headed to Chile. We had read that from San Pedro de Atacama in Chile, which was just 40 mins from the border, we could get a direct bus to Salta in Argentina which was where we needed to get to. Before we left for the salt flat tour there were seats available on the buses so we didn’t feel the need to book. Most of our buses during the rest of the trip we had only booked the day before. What a costly and emotional mistake this turned out to be. More on that another time.

Anyway. Back to our tour. We drove to see some geysers and then we changed cars, which we hadn’t been made aware of, so that we would be dropped at the border. Our bags were taken off the car roof, a final check inside the car was done to make sure we had everything and we changed to our own private jeep to the border. We got there just before 8am and the border was due to open then. We unloaded our kit and the car headed off. I looked at my backpack and had a sinking feeling. The guidebook on the side of my bag was missing. This was the same guidebook I had looked at this morning and considered moving it to a safer place but decided it was ok where it was. I was absolutely gutted. It had been a present from my brother and it was really going to come into its own when we wanted to travel in Chile. I was so cross and tired that I burst into tears. Totally irrationally as it was just a book but sometimes rationale goes out the window when travelling!

We got the shuttle bus through the border and then got dropped at San Pedro. It was boiling and only 10am. We hadn’t booked anywhere to stay and so wandered into town to get some cash and then try and find somewhere. I mistakenly tried to use Alex’s card and my PIN number so after attempt 2 I gave up getting cash. I then got lost going back to the main square so was pretty unimpressed by the time I got back to Alex. He went to get cash using the right card and pin and the right route! We found ourselves somewhere to stay. A triple room with the hope that a third person didn’t turn up needing a room. Our plan was to shower and then go back to the bus station to book the bus, but I said that maybe we should sort the bus first. 15 mins later and our afternoon took a very different turn from the relaxing one we had envisaged. The signs at the 2 bus companies running the infrequent buses to Salta said that they were all full until 23 December and then again until after Christmas. Of course we had forgotten to take into account that everyone and their dog were also trying to travel home to see friends and family for Christmas at the same time. After many expletives, pleading with the sulky woman at one of the counters and then many tears from me, we found ourselves nursing a shared sprite in a cafe, using the wifi and trying to work out what the hell we should do. It was the 18th December and we had a flight from Salta on the 22nd December, so the direct bus after Christmas was out of the question. We asked around and there were no local buses. Renting a car also wouldn’t work and the only flights available were via Santiago, would take hours, and were ridiculously expensive. Other people were now also arriving to get tickets with the same plan as us. A German couple, who had weirdly stayed in the same hostel as us in La Paz at the same time, also needed to get to a Salta. We headed back to town with the plan of somehow arranging to get to the border. We thought that if we could at least get there and into Argentina, we might be able to find some other way of getting to Salta in time for our flight. So began a rather exciting 48 hours, but I’ll let Alex explain the rest!