Salar de Uyuni Bolivia

We re-entered Bolivia , from Argentina , at the border crossing at La Quiaca / Villazon

Unlike some of the borders we have crossed, the exit part of Argentina and the entry part to Bolivia were adjacent to each other.

The Argentinian part went well, however the entry stage had a little drama. 

The Bolivian immigration officer opened her window about 2 inches and peered at our vehicle. She then stated that no vehicle this big had previously entered Bolivia before "Ever" and we could not come in. The window was then promptly closed and we could see through the glass that she had now knuckled down to some serious Whatsapp messaging and that her interaction with us was finished.

Luckily for us we were approached by one of the Argentinian Border Customs Officers who, for no reason other than pure kindness, took up our plight and after a few hours it was decided that truck was now looking a bit smaller and our entry was allowed. 

The window re opened 2 inches, papers passed in an out several times and we were in.

I must admit that my first impressions of Bolivia at this stage weren't favourable. 

We headed off in the direction of Uyuni in the company of two wonderful ladies " Sarah and Clara" who we had met the night before.

Well it wasn't long before  my frustration at the border started to melt and within a few kilometres we realised that Bolivia was quite nice and the scenery was starting to apply the "Wow" factor.

We camped that night with Sarah and Clara on a high Plato and the next day we arrived in the Town of Uyuni.

I am afraid that my first impressions of Uyuni town remained with me throughout our stay there. I Didn't like it , in fact I really didn't like it. I could try to flower it up a bit , but this would be like trying to polish a turd. It wasn't, in my view, a nice town.

We opted to stay out of  town in a cemetery for broken steam trains .

This was an amazing place. We parked for two days right between them all . I must admit it was a bit spooky in the dark when all the tourists had left.

Despite the town being a bit of a disappointment, it didn't matter as nobody comes here for the town.

The only reason people come to this part of Bolivia is for the "Salar de Uyuni" 

The Salar is one of the worlds biggest salt flats and covers an area of nearly 11000 square kilometres and is at 3650 meters in altitude. It has recently been host to a section of the Dakar Rally in 2018.

It obviously used to be a sea bed and has somehow, over billions of years, manged to get pushed up to this altitude.

Most overlanders who tour this continent have this phenomenon high on their list and we couldn't believe that we were  actually here.

On the morning of entry onto the Salar we , by sheer chance, bumped into Hartmut and Lisa a German couple that we had last seen near Punta Arenas Chile.

We decided for safety's sake to set off together.

I cannot describe the immenseness of the Salar. It is huge and because there is nothing to focus on or even a visible horizon as such, everything gets out of perspective.

You can see that I was loving it

We started of slowly and Hartmut was particularly cautious as he, understandably, didn't want to smother the underside of his vehicle in salt. 

Unfortunately first 200 meters onto the Salar found us up to our wheel arches in deep salty puddles. 

Well after a few minutes I realised that the damage was done and I hadn't come all this way for nothing so it was foot to the floor for us 

Stolen from Hartmut and Lisa, thanks.

I know, I know.  But hey, why not make the planet a bit warmer. Seriously everthing struggles at this altitude including us.

You should only go on the Salar when its dry, this is why we did it in the wet.  By the time we finished being silly everything we owned was totally contaminated with salt. 

When you leave the Salar, if you drive like me, you need to get the vehicle cleaned.

Luckily there are many placed where you can get this done 

Bucket list....... Tick

Hasta Luego

North West Argentina

We finished our last post saying that we would be very sad to say good bye to Chile and its wonderful people. Well we have said goodbye and are currently in Bolivia at the Salar de Uyuni. This is an amazing place and I will add more detail about it  in a later post.

So how did we get here.

We left San Pedro and climbed up to nearly 5000 meters up the  toward the Border with Bolivia.

Our aim was the "Eduardo Avaroa" National park which is only about 20 km inside Bolivia.

Most of this park is between 4500 meters and 5000 meters in altitude. We really didn't know how the truck would perform at this level. Anything that requires combustion is really affected up there.

We needn't of worried the truck and its appliances worked well although with diminished power. However, we felt like we were wearing lead boots and breathing through a straw. Just a short walk and were were puffed out.

The park has three main lakes. Laguna Blanca, Laguna Verde and Laguna Colorado. We spent the first night on the shore of Laguna Verde trying to aclimatise.

The next day we drove the 60km off road track to Colorado. This was a tough drive and I actually didn't relish the idea of the return trip .

It was however, worth every lump, bump and swear word. Both lakes were amazing.

We checked out of Bolivia the way we came in, back into Chile , and set of towards Argentina over the Jama Pass . We were lucky the pass was clear as it had been close due to snow just a few days before. 

After a quick stop for a leg stretch in the very pretty tourist town of Purmamarca we settled for the night in the town of Tilcara.

From the main road the town looked almost unremarkable but once inside it was a very pretty centre with a night market and many great restaurants and bars.  We opted for the restaurant "El Nuevo Progreso "

We were a bit shocked when we got the bill, it was a bit bigger than we expected . It was a peice of A3 paper .

You can clearly see that I had the Llama, Pat had the lamb and the coke was diet coke, obviously.

Probably the best meal we have had in South America so far.  We enjoyed it so much that we altered our future plans to ensure we got another go a few weeks later.

A few days later we found ourselves in the city of Salta. 

We had learnt that the road to Salta from Lago Cienaga was very narrow and at most just one vehicle width wide . Research told us that you should never do this journey at the weekend as meeting oncoming cars is a problem. So we waited until Monday. 
Little did we know that it was in fact a Holiday Monday and that every day tripper in Argentina was heading our way. Pat did not enjoy this trip.




Now we are not really city people but we did like Salta as it was small enough to walk comfortably , and it was very clean, tidy and friendly.

Ruta 40 from Cachi to Cafayate was blessed us with some amazing scenery.

On this route we made a stop at the Colome Winery and did the tour . Neither of us  really drink wine but you have probably realised that we seem to be attracted to Wineries like moths to a lantern. The tour was fantastic, a great meal and the bonus was that the owner had created a museum of light, dedicated to the art work of the famous American "James Turrell" . 

Its ok we hadn't heard of him either.

Who would have thought there would be a modern fully climate controlled Art Gallery in the middle of the desert. 

Anyway, back to James Turrell. I know some of you are about to throw your ipads down in disgust shouting neanderthal , but it was all a bit modern for me.

The exhibits were all rooms with coloured light projected onto the walls. Some were very clever giving a false sense of depth and perspective. 

I am just not sure when fairground type illusions becomes art. Either way it was a great experience and  I dutifully nodded at all the right time giving the impression I understood it like everyone else. The Emperors new clothes comes to mind.

I think Pat got it.

That night we parked in a nearby dry river bed and met a wonderful Brazillian couple called Romulo and Aline. 

We travelled with them to Cafayate .

Cafayete was a nice town but in our usual style we hit the local winery . El Porvenir Winery  is a much smaller family affair but still a great tour .

The Brazillians appear to have a very accurate way of measuring things 

The question is will our truck fit between those trees 




Not entirely sure what Aline is measuring here

Ruta 68 back towards Salta should have taken about 4 hours but actually took a day and a half.

We stopped for lunch in a dry river bed about 40 minutes out of Cafayate and in our common style we just could be bothered to carry on . It was a beautiful spot so we decided to stay the night . 

The next day we discovered two geological features known as the "Amphitheatre"and the "Garganta del Diablo"

After a quick stop back in Salta and then back to Tilcara for another great meal, we set of for Bolivia.

Hasta Luego