The first offer we got was for over £500, we ended up paying £60 for the 2 of us.
In the end what we have learnt is that the tour is only one, and the success of the tour is just a matter of luck (I will explain this concept in due course) so you might want to go for the cheapest one and keep your fingers crossed.
To start with all the agencies use the same car: a Toyota Land Cruiser with 6 seats + driver which, unlike other brands or models, has successfully survived the test of years of mistreatments without falling into pieces.
Sorry for the digression but I seem to remember that this is the same car that has been successfully used for years by the Afghanistan Mujahideens during their battles against the US.
Every morning at 10 am the various agencies line up on "ferrovia road" their Toyotas.
It is a Caravan of 20+ cars that leaves around 10.30 am after having picked up all the tourists that have systematically paid different prices via the different agencies (our agency begged us not to disclose our "good" price not to upset the other members of the group).
Sometimes people that went through different agencies end up in the same car.
Most importantly the choice of the driver is also a matter of luck.
Drivers are not employed directly by the agency. They are free lancers and as such today they work for someone, tomorrow for someone different.
As we jump on our car we immediately realise how hardly the car has been tested in its previous tours (18 years of tours!)
The wind screen is spectacularly cracked right in front of the driver and I don't mean "chipped".
There is a huge round hole with further cracks spreading for over 2 thirds of the screen like a spider net.
Being me I immediately query what happened. I am told that normally the cars in front shoot rocks behind like bullets........well, at least we know now.
By the way our driver (like any other drivers) does not speak any English so Elena and I are unanimously elected to sit next to him as we are the only Spanish speaking in the group.
I therefore take my place in what is called the "death seat" and fasten my seatbelt.
The driver switches on the Toyota and the dash board lightens up like a Christmas tree.
I don't think I have never seen so many warning lights on all at the same time. I do recognise a couple (oil is definitely missing) and yes some of them are absolutely obscure (like the one that says "CHECK", I mean check what? the whole car?!!!!).
Sign of the cross, a little prayer and off we go......who needs safety checks?
Our first stop is at the train cemetery, 2 kms away from town.
This is basically where over 100 years ago they dumped some old trains that are now rusting in the desert.
Next stop is at Colchani, 20 kms north of Uyuni where we can see a dozen of stalls selling some artefacts made of salt.
Colchani is also the official entrance of the salar. Ok the morning has been wasted but now, FINALLY, it gets serious.
This is what we came for and we did not get disappointed.
The salar is huge, the biggest in the world with its 12000 square kms.
Once you are in, right in the middle, you cannot see any landmarks in the distance, which means you can easily get lost in there if you do not know what you are doing.
Luckily our guide knows where we are going.
Our first stop is at one of the hotel de sal, where we can take plenty of pictures to the statues inside and most importantly make plenty of pictures outside playing with optical effects.
Then we head to the Isla de Pescado.
Like an island in the middle of the sea, this rock formation covered by over 40000 cacti stands right in the middle of this ocean of salt.
The view from the top of the island is breathtaking.
There are at least 30 other tourists around us and yet the silence is absolute. Nobody is saying a word, all completely absorbed in the admiration of the scenery around.
Time flies when you are having fun and we are truly enjoying ourselves to the point that the sun is already setting for the day.
We drive another half hour until we reach the borders of this desert.
The colour of the ground is now changing from white to brown.
I am told by our driver that this land is infamous for cars, and you can easily get bogged down in this mud mixed with salt.
This is in fact the destiny of one of the cars in front of us. They are stuck.
I would expect us to stop to help..... but we go on. Our driver is convinced that they will make it.
From our part we need to move as we need to check in various hotels whether they have room for 6 (whatever happened to our reservations?)
Well, apparently we are lucky, at our first attempt we are told there is room and most importantly a separate room for the 2 of us (as we originally requested).
I can only think that we might have just stolen the place from the people that got stuck earlier on.....mors tua vita mea.
The accommodation is basic, 2 beds made of salt, a door a window, floor and walls made of salt. That will do absolutely fine, and most importantly it is not too cold tonight (we heard terrible stories on the net of people freezing over night)
At 7pm they switch on the power so we can even recharge our phones and cameras.
The atmosphere is brilliant. 4 other cars stopped at our hotel so we are all sitting in the dining room around these big salt tables on our salt chairs, drinking wine and telling stories.
There are representatives of many European countries here, Spanish, French, English, Germans etc, most of them are young and most of them are travelling for a long time just like us.
After dinner we go out to check the sky.......well it is a bit chilly but then we are probably staring at the best skylight ever?
To top this up, coming from the northern hemisphere, these constellations are all new to us. What a view!
Lights are about to be turned off. It's time to go to bed.
Day 2 begins almost immediately with a small rescue.
On our way to see 4 lagunas we spot a car stuck in the mud.
This time we stop and drag them out.
The road is seriously rough.
After day one, when we drove on the flat salty desert, this time we are covering hundreds of kms in treacherous dirt roads.
Today Elena is sitting in front and we all wonder if this was a good idea, since our driver seems a bit distracted......so distracted that we end up outside track a couple of time in the space of 20 minutes.
Luckily only dry bushes welcome us rather than a huge canyon!
For everyone’s sake we demote Elena to the rear seat and I retake my place next to the driver: this time for good.
My job is to keep him on the right track.
The nature on this part of the world is absolutely raw, wild, extreme, nothing like anywhere else we have been too and somehow we all understand that pain and risk are part of the game. This is not Disneyland and you have to be prepared to endure some discomfort to earn your reward
Like the arbol of rock, a rock formation in the shape of a tree, eroded by the wind over millions of years....as you can imagine the windstorms in the area are seriously blinding.
We stop over for our second night at the Laguna Colorada, a red lake where flamingos linger.
This second accommodation is much more basic than the first one.
We all sleep together in one dormitory.
There is no heating, no lighting no running water...etc you get the picture, and this time it is cold!
Some of our companions opt for alcohol to fight the cold. We go for layers.
When we hit the bed we look like the Michelin man, wearing pretty much everything we brought with us in our luggage and lying under a good 8 duvets. We can barely move or breath.
Next to me, Max, a young engineer from Germany only wears slips and a T shirt in his sleeping bag......? COME ON! (my pride has been dented forever)
We begin day 3 at 5am.
With minus 5, no running water and 1 bog for 24 people I leave to the reader’s imagination the following 30 minutes of our tour.
We jump in the cars heading to see the geysers.
At 5000 meters this is the highest point of our tour.
You really need to watch your steps when you are in the geyser’s fields as they come and go and you do not want to be standing on one (even a small one) when they kick off.
Brilliant!
Next are the hot springs.
Normally we would not strip naked at minus 5 to jump into unknown water, however the promise of hot water (in particular after this morning) tilted the balance.
And we are glad we did it. That was pure heaven. A 35 degrees natural pool surrounded by mountains and a lake.
Brilliant again!
Then off we go to see the Dali desert, a landscape that looks exactly like the great master’s painting.
Someone even says that the rocks have been shaped and placed there by Salvador himself.....i don’t think so.
Anyway, did I say brilliant?
And finally the cherry on the cake: The green lagune.
Unfortunately it appears that the lagune only turns green with a specific weather (windy) and the right mix of minerals.
One of the other drivers says today is not windy and therefore it is not going to happen.
Our driver asks us if we want to try or whether we prefer to head to the Chilean border (where the rest of our group will head to S Pedro de Atacama).
We decide to give it a go....and we get the reward: an emerald lagune!
It is now time to go separate ways.
We wave goodbye to our companions and we head back to Uyuni, a good 7 hrs drive.
Since we dropped all the other passengers at the border our car is now empty, just us 2 and the driver, but not for long.
Ahead of us there is another car, going very slowly, clearly struggling.
They stop, the car has now broken down and the engine is cooked.
We pick up the 4 tourists and leave the driver and the broken car behind (they tell us he will be fine).
After one hr we stop again as we cross path with 2 polish tourists driving a 125 cc bike purchased in Colombia.
They have been travelling for days covering over 1000 kms in these impervious lands with no roads, no shelter nor petrol stations, sleeping in a tent......and they have done it. (a bit more denting for my pride).
We shake their hands and wish them well.
During our journey back we see 2 more cars breaking down, in particular one cracked the front axes.
Unfortunately we could not pick up any more stranded tourists as we were now full (once again we were told that other cars behind us would eventually oblige).
While driving through a narrow canyon we reach a corner where we were able to see a cross with a broken windshield on one side.
Our driver told us that last year there was an accident when a car went straight into the canyon, killing the driver and the tourists inside. Apparently if they had not tried to break they could have jumped at the other side of the canyon, saving themselves.....??
The truth is that these people drive in very precarious conditions, in terrible roads, with terrible cars and often they are so tired that they fall asleep on the wheel.
I can see our driver’s eyes are heavy. He is drinking coke and listening to laud music in the attempt to make it to Uyuni.
My task is clear and for the following 5 hrs I keep talking to him with no break.
It is a record of small talk but by 6pm we make it to Uyuni, in one piece.
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