Salt Plains

Our adventure in Tupiza started with a nightmare night bus. Feeling jammy after rocking up to the station and securing the last two tickets we soon found ourselves crammed into the extremely upright chairs of trhe back row, surrounded by sleeping children piled down the central aisle (with the exception of the kid with light up trainers- he chose to stamp his feet for the entire night rather than sleep, treating us all to an ongoing disco). Luckily for everyone else their chairs would recline to extremes- leaving us literally pinned to our seats. It is no exaggeration to say that the guys in front of us actually stopped he blood flow to our legs- we were continuously wiggling our toes in a failed bid to counteract the constant pins and needles we were suffering. Add to that an extremely bumpy road, knackered suspension and a 4am arrival and you have two ruined travellers.

We rolled up to La Torre Hostal on a recommendation from a couple in Potosi and were soon to be extremely glad for it. After a brief sit on the doorstep a gentleman led us inside to the comfy sofa of the dinig room where we promptly fell sleep until 7.30am when the hotel guests started to surface for their breakfasts (presumably somewhat put off by the pair of hobos sprawled and snoring in the corner!) At this time the extraordinarily efficient hostess gave us a free breakfast whilst we waited for our room to be cleaned and then talked us through the tour options available for us- the reason we had come to this hostel. By 9am we had been to the bank and planned the next six days- it was definately time to sleep! We flung ourselves into the crisp clean sheets and dozed soundly. When I woke up refreshed to a snoring Blakey I stared blankly at the cable TV whilst waiting for him to resurface.

By the end of the day we had wandered around the quiet dusty streets of the little town, eaten in a very slow restaurant (20 minutes after placing our order the waiter left and returned a while later with half the ingredients needed for our meal) and crashed out in bed again. Oter than answering a knock at the door from another English couple considering joining us on the salt plains (obviously checking out whether they could put up with us for four days!!) the nightmare journey here had rendered us completely incapable of activity.

The following morning was suitably slow and after a brief phonecall home (the only Mother´s day gift I could afford this year) and a further painfully slow restauarant meal we were to head out on horseback into the surrounding countryside. We soon found we were to be accompanied by Nina and Paul, the couple that had now decided to join us on the salt plains tour despite having seen us both in an unattractive state of undress and slobbering tiredness the previous night, and we all set out amicably into the bright sunshine of the afternoon.

After being handed authentic looking cowboy hats some huge horses were bought out for us- not what you expect for a novice horse trek as these powerful looking creatures were pretty full of beans!! Mounted and holding on tight we started the trot along the railway tracks to the edge of town- the horses soon letting us know we had little control! They stopped to chomp on grass and chose their own path regularly until the guide had hissed through his teeth long enough that they would slowly conform to his orders- rarely ours though!! Still, each moment that passed saw our confidence grow and we were all starting to enjoy ourselves.

The enjoyment increased massively when we reached the countryside. The amazing huge rock formations around here are technically known as badlands- a cactus strewn desert interspersed with huge red rock edifaces- it looked like a movie set it was so cliched. First we saw what looked like a giant jagged wall with a large gap through the middle- if a set designer had copìed it I would have asked them to create something more realistic! Then we came to the Piedras del Macho- extremely phallic shaped "man stones" and on to the atmospheric Canyon del Inca where we dismounted and explored a little way on foot. By this point it was clear we were going to get along with the other couple- they were fantastically laid back and just as scathing as us about try-hard travellers- great!!

After a long and satisfying afternoon the return journey with the horses saw a few spurts of energy as they broke into quick, bouncing trots that saw us all cling on a little tighter, hats fly off our heads and smiles spread across our faces. What a bunch of cowboys and what a brilliant afternoon!

Unfortunately the great afternoon came at a price. Not having taken antihistamines this time, when we returned to our room Blakey was rasping for breath- it was pretty scary listening to him. I felt utterly helpless laying next to him with nothing to offer that might ease it- then I truly did become utterly helpless as I pulled my old puking trick. We were both a state and getting quite nervous about heading off the next morning.

By the time we woke I was feeling a little better and headed out to get Blakey some emergency antihistamines and us some money for the journey. After queuing for ages at a bank, knowing I was already late for our pick up, I managed to ask for 5 pounds instead of 50- whoops! Still, it was all inclusive so that was going to have to do. As I rushed back it was clear the other couple were in a similar state to us- Paul had been kept up with agonising tooth ache and had spent the morning in a rushed visit to the dentist whilst Nina flicked through her translations dictionary to try and work out what was wrong with him. We had all considered postponing hte trip, but finding we were all as bad as each other we knew we could take it easy and headed out to our home for the next four days- the jeep.

We were quickly introduced to our driver- Carlos and our cook, his wife- Esperanza. Over the next four days we would come to love this couple- they looked after us so well. Carlos had a wicked sense of humour (he was extremely interested to find out how many women musicians get in England) and a great love of Michael Jackson. After listening to the greatest hits album on Nina´s iPod for far too long we tried to change to an alternative- unfortunately for us he spotted Shakira- our next soundtrack. Whilst he was bobbing his head along to the music we all discovered he would far rather be watching than listening to her, but the smile on his face let us know his imagination was doing a pretty good job!

Esperanza was much quieter and very kind. As our cook she won all of our hearts- her vegetable soup became legendary! Each meal she served was huge but really wholesome with a fantastic veggie option for me. Everyday we ate until utterly full though all the fruit and veg meant we felt satisfied rather than guilty- it was a real treat. En route she kept the smiles on our faces with lollypops and biscuits- like having a mum for the road!

So we set off with a jeep full of instantly likeable people- thank goodness- we were to be in each others company for the next four days straight! Many people head off to the salt flats from Uyuni but the tip we received recommending heading from Tupiza was well worth it- offering a full extra day of sights. The first day of driving took us far deeper into the dramatic badlands with amazing red stones and sweeping valleys. It is going to be difficult to come up with enough adjectives to describe "picturesque" or "beautiful" in relation to each sight we saw- but we were all spellbound. We climbed higer and higher into the mountains- the majority of our trip being between 4000 and 5000 metres above sea level (which saw us stuffing icky tasting coca leaves into the the sides of our cheeks, a habit that leaves the teeth and lips covered in green bits!) and took over a hundred pictures each day. On the first night we ended up a little mud hut with a four bed dorm in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. We sat around a table of tea and crackers with Nina and Paul and enthusiastically reflected on how lucky we had been so far- great sights and great guides- whilst the village children pleaded with their long eyelashes and chubby cheeks for some of our crackers. Only too happy to oblige we passed the plates to them for them to stuff great handfuls in their pockets, leave the room and come back pretending to be someone new! It kept us entertained but after they each had enough to construct a small shelter we took the remainder back to Esperanza- she must have thought our appetites were huge!

That night on a mountain top in the middle of nowhere we went outside to se the stars. Needless to say the cloudless, lightless atmosphere led to a spectacular night sky. Dressed in hundreds of layers we stayed out as long as we could but soon sought the warmth of our sleeping bags. It wasn´t hard to doze off quickly.

The next two days saw more of the same- the landscape forever changing and offering magnificant sights. Now we were getting into the lakes territory where huge pools in a range of different colours harboured a wealth of minerals. The minerals bought flocks of beautiful flamingoes to their shores which saw all of us trying to sneak through grotesque looking mud shores in a bid to get a decent close up shot- an activity which saw the flamingoes slowly sneak to the middle of the lake each time! Still, it wasn´t hard to frame some stonking pictures (if I do say so myself!) when the lakes were bright white, turquoise or my favourite, Lago Colorado- red like tomato soup! Seeing that lake as the sun rose was a real highlight- the surounding mountains reflected in perfect symmetry in the still surface of the water, flamingoes stalking through and the colour becoming more intense as the sun ascended.

Another highlight over these two days was our arrival at a hot spring- 4000 metres high yet surrounded by higher volcanoes and mountains of the Andes. We were allowed to bath in the perfectly temperate waters with the sweeping plains, vicuñas chomping on th sparse shrubs and birds flying in the clear blue skies- it was pure luxury and we had the place to ourselves. We would have been reluctant to ever get out if it weren´t for the fact that Esperanza was whipping up yet another delicious meal whilst we indulged.

The highest point we came to at 5000 metres above sea level was the geysers at the top of our trail. A smoking landscape of otherwordly holes omitting a sulphury stench as mud boiled and bubbled in the deep caverns. It was not the first time we felt we could be on a Star Wars set.

By the third night we had reached the edge of the salt plains- the only sight we had heard about in advance- the amazing lakes, springs, volcanoes, deserts and rock formations had been a fantastic surprise! This night we were staying in a salt hotel- a building made entirely of the white stuff giving everything a bright and clean glow. It was easy to enjoy our last dinner together gossiping about all we had done and giving opinionated views of other tour groups-needless to say ours was preferable!

So the next morning offered our grand finale- the salt plains themsleves. Another early start saw us driving through the dark over this long, flat expanse. As the sun started to creep over the horizon it was like waking up to find snow- everything we could see was pure white. By the time the sun was showing in full we couldn´t wait any longer- we stopped the jeep and got out to play around.

After a number of silly pictures we continued a little further to a coral island- a rememnant from when this was a huge inland sea. The island was covered in humoungous cacti- some were over a thousand years old-and after a brief but tiring climb allowed views to show how huge this expenase was- it was massive! Whilst we were happy to snap away by the time we descended we were more than ready for Esperanza´s delicious breakfast- as was the emu trying to steal things from our table!

The tour finished with a drive to a spot in the middle and some silly pictures. It is becoming a tradition for travellers to do silly things with perspective here- a task a little trickier than we anticipated but stilll a lot of fun! We were sad when it was all over and after a final meal we had to pack up for the short drive to the town of Uyuni where we were to be dropped off. It had been a brilliant four days awith a brilliant four people and we weren´t quite ready to say goodbye.