C & C globetrotting around the world…

We did a 3-day tour from Uyuni to the Salar de Uyuni, deserts and lagunas and it was cold, but wonderful. Salar de Uyuni (salt flat of Uyuni) is the world’s largest salt desert at 10,582 square kilometers. It is located in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes, and is elevated 3,656 meters above sea level. The Salar was formed as a result of transformations between several prehistoric lakes. It is covered by a few meters of salt crust (more than 10m at its centre), which has an extraordinary flatness. Aymara legend tells that the mountains Tunupa, Kusku and Kusina, which surround the Salar, were giant people. Tunupa married Kusku, but Kusku ran away from her with Kusina. Grieving Tunupa started to cry while breast-feeding her son. Her tears mixed with milk and formed the Salar. Many locals consider the Tunupa an important deity and say that the place should be called Salar de Tunupa rather than Salar de Uyuni. In our jeep we were 6 people and it was a fun group. Our first stop was the Cemeterio de Trenes where old locomotives have been left to rust. The town of Uyuni served in the past as a distribution hub for the trains carrying minerals enroute to Pacific Ocean ports. The rail lines were built by British engineers arriving near the end of the 19th century and formed a sizeable community in Uyuni, but have been abandoned.

Then we entered the actual Salar. The crust serves as a source of salt and covers a pool of brine, which is exceptionally rich in lithium. It contains 50 to 70% of the world’s lithium reserves, which is in the process of being extracted. The Salar contains large amounts of sodium, potassium, lithium and magnesium, as well as borax. Of those, lithium is arguably most important as it is a vital component of many electric batteries. With estimated 9,000,000 tonnes, Bolivia holds about 43% of the world’s lithium reserves; most of those are located in the Salar de Uyuni. It is estimated to contain 10 billion tonnes of salt, of which about 25,000 tonnes is extracted annually. All miners working in the Salar belong to Colchani’s cooperative. The salt layer is between 2 and 10 meters thick here, so there is plenty of salt to be had. When extracting the salt, the workers make small cones so the water can drain more easily. Then they are loaded to trucks before being brought to the salt factory to be purified. As we went deeper into the Salar, the salt got progressively whiter, as there was less soil residue blown there by the wind. We stopped at the Salt Hotel, a hotel made entirely of salt. This is actually not allowed on the Salat anymore because of the environmental damage, so the Salt Hotel is now only a museum. The Salar is virtually devoid of any wild life and vegetation, except for some giant cacti. The center of the Salar contains a few “islands”, which are the remains of the tops of ancient volcanoes. We stopped at Isla Incahuasi for a pic-nick lunch. This island in the middle of the Salar is quite spectacular. It is covered by giant cacti who grow 1 meter per 100 years. The oldest one we saw was 9m tall! (they grow up to 12m high). Further in the Salar we stopped in a spot where all you could see around you was white. Salt for miles and miles! Here we took some interesting pictures playing with optic illusions. It was windy, but we had lots of fun. Then we passed a spot where the salt crust had formed hexagons and it was interesting to see before exiting the Salar. We slept in a salt hotel (made of salt blocks) on the edge of the Salar and had dinner there. We also watched the moon rise, which was very cool. In this area it gets really cold, so we dressed up and cuddled to keep warm at night. That was our first day and certainly on of the highlights of our world trip.

We had an early breakfast and start on our second day. The area was covered in volcanic rocks and we passed many different lagunas. One of them had a huge colony of pink flamingos feeding on the microorganisms living in the salt lakes, which in turn gives them their pink colour. It was very windy and freezing outside, so we kept wondering how come the flamingos aren’t cold! We drove on to a spot where we saw some Bolivian vizcachas, wild rabbits. Then we drove some more, arriving at the Arbol de Piedra, the stone tree. It has been carved by the wind and looks interesting. It was cold outside, so only the guys ventured out to take pictures. The rest of us admired the sight from the car. We arrived at Laguna Colorada, a red lake. Its colour is due to algae that blossom when the sun shines and the water temperature rises. Therefore, it isn’t always red. We were lucky that we got to see its magnificent colour. After lunch we set out to walk to the lookout point over the Laguna Colorada, but the girls turned back since it was too cold and windy. We were angry at the driver that he didn’t take us, especially since all the other drivers took their groups. Later we played cards in the room and hoped we would warm it up a bit before going to bed. The eating area was even colder because the wind was blowing between the wall and the roof and it felt like the roof would get torn off at any moment. Then at dinner we got a bottle of cheap red wine, but it worked out well as today is one year since we left Montreal for our big trip! Before going to bed, we got extra blankets from other rooms and dressed up to keep warm. This night was even colder than the first night.

The next morning, it was -25 degrees. Wow, that is cold when you don’t have an insulated house or heating!!! But we survived. After a 5 o’clock breakfast, we drove to see some geysers in this area full of active volcanoes. At 5,000m altitude, it’s cold and it smelled like sulphur, but we got out to see this natural phenomenon. A bit later we arrived at some thermal baths, but only 2 guys dared to go in and loved it. The rest of us were afraid of how cold it would be coming out. That morning we also passed Laguna Blanca (which was frozen over) and Laguna Verde (only green in September). Here we took some group pictures as 2 people got dropped off at the Chilean border to cross to San Pedro de Atacama. Later we drove through the Dali desert, a rock desert with figurines reminding of Dali’s paintings. After lunch we stopped shortly in the mining village of San Cristobal before returning to Uyuni. That evening after a good dinner we took an overnight train to the border and crossed into Argentina in the morning.

Although it was really freezing most of the time on the 3-day Uyuni tour, we still had fun. The incredible things we saw and the fun group made it all worth it.

La Paz takes your breath away, literally! As the world’s highest capital (3,660m), it clings to the sides of a canyon. As you approach from “El Alto”, you wonder where the city is. Then it appears in the valley and it’s a spectacular sight, especially with the Mt Illamani (6,402m) in the background. Founded in 1548 by the Spanish conquistadors at the site of the Native American settlement, Laja, the full name of the city was originally “Nuestra Señora de La Paz” (meaning Our Lady of Peace). The name commemorated the restoration of peace following the insurrection of Pizarro four years earlier against the first viceroy of Peru.

The city is not built around a main square like most other colonial towns, maybe because of the geography. Instead, it has many irregular-shaped steep streets and alleys. Many colonial buildings have also been torn down over the years. Partly because of our persisting cold, but walking a few blocks is exhausting since you are constantly going up and down the cobble-stoned streets. The ladies have colourful skirts, long braided plaits and bowler hats, so it was great to watch them.

One evening Christoph went with some friends to a “Cholitas Wrestling Show” which takes place in the “El Alto” part of the city. Like the general population of El Alto, which consists almost entirely of Aymara and Quechua residents, the Cholitas are indigenous. They wear braided hair, bowler hats and multi-layered skirts in the ring. It’s quite the unusual sight to see them fight and pull eachother’s plaits. Besides the Cholitas, another interesting custom of La Paz is buying a llama foetus and burying in the foundation of a new house for good luck. We saw them being sold on the street – pretty gross. Usually, if they wish for something, Bolivians would buy the article in small (eg a toy car) hoping they would soon get it for real. There are packages sold at stores with things one can wish for. It’s funny to see marriage certificates for people wishing for a husband/wife. Other than that, there is not so much to do in La Paz, except wonder around to take in the beat of the city and its markets, as well as having great empanadas and llama steaks.

We then continued by bus to Oruro and then onwards by train to Uyuni, which was a very pleasant ride. We passed through Poopo lake, a salt lake home to thousands of flamingos. It was amazing!

Lake Titicaca, the largest lake in South America, is more than 3 times larger than Luxembourg and straddles the border between Peru and Bolivia. We took a bus from Cuzco (Peru) over the border to Copacabana (Bolivia), having to wait in the morning for the border to open, although the locals were crossing anyway. When we arrived in Copacabana, we were exhausted because we both caught a cold. Because of this, we didn’t really get to explore it as much as we would have otherwise. Instead we spent lots of time in the room sleeping to recover.

Titicaca is notable for a population of people who live on the Uros, a group of 44 or so artificial islands made of floating reeds. These islands have become a major tourist attraction for Peru and can be visited from the lakeside city of Puno. Their original purpose was defensive, and they could be moved if a threat arose. Many of the islands contain watchtowers largely constructed of reeds. Besides the floating islands of the Aymara people, there are many other natural islands on the lake. Amantaní is a small island populated by 4,000 Quechua speakers. There are two mountain peaks, called Pachatata (Father Earth) and Pachamama (Mother Earth), and ancient ruins on the top of both peaks. The hillsides that rise up from the lake are terraced and planted with wheat, potatoes, and vegetables. Long stone fences divide the fields, and cattle and sheep graze on the hillsides. Another island, Taquile, is also accessible by boat from Puno. Culture is very much alive on Taquile, which can be seen in the traditional cloths everyone wears. Taquile is especially known for its handicraft tradition which is regarded as among the highest quality handicrafts not only in Peru but in the world. The Taquileños run their society based on community collectivism and on the Inca moral code “do not steal, do not lie, do not be lazy”.

On the Bolivian side, the small town of Copacabana is the starting point for excursions on the lake. Isla del Sol (“Island of the sun”) has many hills with agricultural terraces, which adapt steep and rocky terrain to agriculture. The main economic activity of the approximately 800 families on the island is farming, with fishing and tourism augmenting the subsistence economy. There are over 180 ruins on the island. Most of these date to the Inca period circa the 15th century AD. In the religion of the Incas, it was believed that the sun god (Inti) was born here, making the island a very important place. We will have to explore the area another time.

While in Copacabana, we walked a bit around the lake, but even the slightest physical activity was exhausting at 3,808m altitude and with a blocked nose. However, at dinner we met 3 Luxembourgers and chatted with them for a bit. The last Luxembourger we met was Henri, the Grand Duke! The next day we hopped on a bus from Copacabana to La Paz and it was a very nice ride. We saw Lake Titicaca from different angles and enjoyed the view of the beautiful sapphire water. At San Pablo de Tiquina, we took a ferry across since it’s the narrowest point of the lake. The passengers took a small boat across while the bus was put on a ferry-type construction. It didn’t seem very stable, but it worked. We continued on the altiplano, passing village fiestas, until we arrived in La Paz.