Travel to Uyuni

South America Day 23

Travel to Uyuni

Our trip has now changed over to a new tour called the Andes to the Atlantic Experience. The first section would take us to the Uyuni Salt Flats. Our day was going to be a lengthy travel day starting on the bus from La Paz to Oruro where we would take a train.

Like Peru a few days previous, Bolivia was in the midst of an unstable period. There was a very good chance that we were going to be delayed on route to Oruro. We were on the go at 6.15am to get away hopefully before the protest march blocked our way for an extended period.

A couple of kilometres out of La Paz, we crossed paths with the march. The bus pulled over (with all the other vehicles) and we watched them go past. Some of them had marched from to outlying parts of the country. They were pretty worked up but they were still happy enough to smile & give us a wave.We didn't get delayed too long before we were on our way again.

We arrived in Oruro well ahead of when the train was due to leave. We were herded into a restaurant & fed lunch. There isn't much in Oruro but we wandered around for a little bit to kill some time. We then headed for the train station where the soccer fans could watch a game. I tried getting some sleep.

Finally we boarded the train (above) & were on our way to Uyuni. It was the start of a long dusty trip into the middle of nowhere.

Lago Uru Uru

Not too long after we got under way & clear of Oruro, we were suddenly in the middle of this shallow lake (Lago Uru Uru). I had no idea the flamingos would be so prevalent. It was a scene I thought was only possible in Africa. The flamingos were in greater numbers on the other side of the train.
After we cleared the lake, the sun started to disappear & the dust started getting into the train. None of the windows sealed properly & the dust was getting through any little crack it could. By the time we reached Uyuni at 10.30pm our heads we full of dust.

La Paz

South America Day 22

La Paz

Today was the day to explore La Paz. Had I not been coughing my lungs up we would have been off mountain biking the Death Road. (Look it up on the net if you haven't heard of it.) Mike, Hina & Smita had booked themselves in the day before. [Edit] Missing that ride is the one big regret of the trip. I guess you can't control everything.

We followed the walk trail that our trusty Lonely Planet had laid down. It was mainly markets & dodgy side streets. Somehow I stepped off the curb with one foot only to avoid a stall or something on the footpath (side walk for those North American readers...) only to get clouted by one of those crazy local vans! So (and Dad will appreciate the humour in this) technically I got hit by a bus.....The one highlight was the Parliament Building (above). Because of the political unrest in Bolivia, the place was locked down & guarded by heavily armed soldiers.

The afternoon was taken up with a city tour on an open topped double decker bus (just like the ones in London). Kerri took this photo (above) in the heart of the city & then nearly had her head knocked off by the overpass in shot.
It wasn't a bad way to see the city. La Paz is quiet a dangerous place (other than the chance of getting hit by a bus) and being away from bandits on a nice safe tourist bus was more my style. I don't like people much & La Paz has no shortage of them. There still wasn't that much to get excited about, but at least we knew what was there. It wasn't all boring.

Yes, La Paz has a San Francisco church (above) as well. Not one of the most spectacular we'd seen.

A bit of an engineering side comment now. I saw some wacky 110V wiring in Canada & the US, but La Paz really had some crazy stuff. I'm not sure exactly how the whole thing doesn't short out. This mess was typical of just about every street intersection.

This would be the highlight of the city tour. We got to have a look over the entire valley & the snow capped peaks that overlook the city. You'll be able to see the soccer stadium (below). The Bolivians, like all the South American people, are obsessed by football.

Later that day I managed to find a bottle of cough syrup that I haven't seen in Australia since I was at school, Neodiphen. I think they stopped selling it because it's packed full of codeine. It's the most awesome cough mixture because it knocks you out, let's you sleep & allows your body to fight the infection. How surprising that I started to turn the corner overnight & started along the road to recovery.
That evening we said our teary goodbyes to Em & Gem. It was sad to see them go because Kerri & I had become quite good friends with them. Lucky the world's a small place these days. I'm sure we'll see them again soon.