Chile to Bolivia – Salar de Uyuni

There are a few ways to visit Salar de Uyuni.  You an do 3 day trips by jeep either going to Chile or to Bolivia, a 4 day round trip returning to your start destination or you an simply visit for a day from the town of Uyuni in Bolivia.  We spent a long time searching for the right company to do the 3 day trip from Chile to Bolivia which turned out to be a massive waste of time as all the tour groups pretty much just join together anyway and go in convoy.

We had an early start of about 6am and the first few hours consisted of getting passports stamped at the Chilean and Bolivian borders and getting our national park passes.  Then we had breakfast and were split up into groups of 6 for each jeep plus a Bolivian driver who doubles up as the guide.  I think the beauty of the 3 day trip is that you are actually going somewhere and crossing the border at the same time.

We then visited Laguna Verde which looks a beautiful sapphire green colour when the wind blows, Laguna Blanca and some thermal baths which were actually very hot his time so I went in to relax.  Then in the afternoon we saw some different geysers which were lots of different coloured mud pools.  This was the highest altitude at 4900m and I felt a little dizzy and short of breathe but our driver gave us coca leaves to keep in our mouths to try and combat the symptoms. After that we drove past volcanoes onto the Salvador Dali desert (Siloli desert) where the rock formations look like a Dali painting and we finished the day at Laguna Colorada which has a red colour where thousands of flamingos feed.  It was an amazing sight seeing so many of the wild birds.   There are 3 types of flamingo that live here: the James flamingo, the Chilean flamingo and the Andean flamingo.  As we walked around the large lake, the sun started to disappear and the freezing temperatures set in.

We stayed in a basic hotel but luckily there was plenty of coca tea and blankets on offer…I had 10 blankets that night and was still cold in my sleeping bag!  We named the pet llama Llama Moss (Spanish word play). In the morning we headed early to the Arbol de piedra (stone tree) which basically didn’t look too much like a tree at all. There were lots of other big rock formations to climb on and I excitedly started running towards them only to find I felt like I’d run a marathon after a few steps due to the altitude!  We stopped at some more lagunas, Laguna Negra and more, each slightly different to the next and saw many viscachas, vicunas, alpacas and llamas along the way.  We saw the first glimpse of the old train tracks that used to carry the salt and the remains of an old salt mining settlement before ending up at the salt hotel which, yes you guessed it, is made entirely of salt!

We had a lovely meal and some wine and could all breathe a lot easier due to the decline in altitude.  We even had a few minutes of a hot shower each and the chance to charge our cameras ready for the millions of photos we would take the next day.

The final day is the highlight of the trip as you visit the Salar de Uyuni is the world’s largest salt flat at 10,582 square kilometres.  We woke up early to catch the sunrise on the unimaginable expanse of white salt.  The sunrise was amazing and caught the light of the tiny salt crystals and made fantastic shadows.  Our guide asked us to close our eyes and walk in a straight line for 300 paces and we all ended up in completely different spots.

We drove on to have breakfast at Isla Incahausi which is an island that pops up in the middle of all the salt flats that is covered with giant cacti.  I climbed to the top for a 360 degree view of the landscape.  There was a man singing with his guitar who had been travelling around for years sing his tips from busking!  After this we were given time to take fun perspective photos which was actually a lot harder than you may think! We spent a long time trying different angles and ideas but eventually came out with a few decent ones using props and each other.  We the stopped for lunch at the salt museum and monument.  Our last stop was the train cemetery where all the old steam trains that used to transport the salt from Uyuni have been abandoned in a big train graveyard. It’s a really eerie sight and a good opportunity to take some more fun photos.

At the end of the trip we finished in the town of Uyuni which is a big culture shock after coming from Chile. It was surrounded by rubbish and is not a nice place to be in general so we booked the next bus out of there to Potosi.

San Pedro de Atacama

After an overnight bus journey to San Pedro de Atacama and waking up about  hours away from the desert town, the stark contrast of scenery was apparent.  Miles and miles of barren desert sand and hills.  The town itself is small and is comprised mainly of very basic, mud houses.  We checked into the Youth Hostel International which was a few bunk beds in mud huts with some basic showers and toilets and a few tables and chairs.

Despite the high altitude, the sun shines during the day in Atacama and makes it warm but after sunset the temperature drops dramatically and hot water is very limited so it’s best to shower in the day.  As we searched in town for some reasonably priced goods for dinner (prices are higher in Atacama due to the remote location), I caught sight of one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen, the clouds shining reds and oranges.

After a nights non-existent sleep on the bus the previous night, it was a struggle to get up in the freezing cold darkness at 4am to go and see the geysers for sunrise.  We got there just in time for the sunrise and the guides made an excellent egg sandwich breakfast and I clung onto a cup of hot tea like my life depended on it!  After we went to a ‘hot’ spring pool which turned out to be tepid warm and there was no way I was going in there!  The guide put some hot water in a bottle for us to cling onto to stop our hands freezing!  On the way back we spotted viscacha and vicuña and a few flamingos.  The guide pretended to go and catch a viscacha and came back with a puppet on his hand which was quite amusing!

After some lunch back at the hostel, we decided we were too exhausted and cold to hire bikes to go to Valle de la Luna and last minute jumped on a tour instead. Moon valley is mad moonlike landscapes of sand and rock and craters.  We walked a lot and took in the views which were amazing before exploring caves and watching the sunset.

In the evening we hurriedly packed and prepared for the 3 day trip to the salt flats and onto Bolivia!

Valle de Elqui

To break up the 25 hour bus journey from Val Paraiso to Atacama, we decided to stop in the vineyard region of Valle de Elqui, famous for making wine and pisco.  We took an overnight bus and arrived in La Serena in the morning where we took a smaller, local bus to the region.  Luckily the sun came out and we hired bikes began a route taking in the pretty mountains surrounding vineyards.  The first stop along little dirt paths was a pisco factory.  We were given a tour to find out how it is made.  Before it is left in barrels it is actually a form of aguardiente.  The guide told us that they stock to many UK companies including Harrods and Harvey Nicholls!  We bought a bottle after tasting the options and had a little nap in the sun!

Next we cycled past a Hare Krishna eco finca where a guy explained his beliefs and invited us into the temple for some chanting.

Next stop was a brewery where we tasted some local beers and learnt their techniques.  By now the sun was going down and looked gorgeous on the vineyards and fields as we cycled back to the village.

In the evening we jumped on another overnight bus heading north to Atacama after a tiring but lovely day.

Vina del Mar/ Val Paraiso

On Friday afternoon Miguel, Camilo and Victor picked me up from the hostel and we drove to Vina del Mar.  We started our evening with empanadas (posh ones with goats cheese and other exciting ingredients!) and then I went to Nicole’s apartment where I was staying.  I met Nicole in Paraty, Brazil.  She has a student apartment with a great seaview.  She was studying for an exam so after a catch up, I got ready and went to meet Camilo by the collective stop whilst drinking piscola on the way on course!  We went to a gay night in another part of the city which was really fun as we danced the night away to songs such as ‘El Taxi’!

The next day I had lunch with Nicole and then walked along the seafront for miles and back. I watched a beautiful sunset on the sea wall. In the evening I met up with Dana and we had a cheap sushi dinner as a treat.  On the Sunday I went on the bus for about 20 minutes and checked into a hostel in Val Paraiso.  I bumped into Dana and we wandered around the cute cobbled steep streets of the old part of the city, looking in various little shops and markets.  The city is famous for it’s excellent street art and great atmosphere.  Dana and I went to a rooftop restaurant and saw the most spectacular moonrise over the city, it was really special.

In the evening Miguel, Camilo and Victor stopped by the city for a goodbye drink.  The next morning I met up with Aleix and Nigel who were also in Val Paraiso and went on the free walking tour.  It was really informative and took us to old elevators and interesting buildings and finished with some pisco of course!    In the afternoon we went on a boat for a view of the city from the sea and saw some giant sealions too.

Santiago

It was pouring with rain in the morning so I decided to take the 6 hour bus from Mendoza. Argentina over the border into Chile and onto Santiago.  As soon as I was out of Mendoza the sun was shining and I had a view of pretty mountains as I looked up between knitting a scarf on the bus.

I arrived to the bus station in he evening and caught the metro to the centre where I met Kato, my Dutch hiking friend at a hostel we’d planned to meet at.  It was her last night of travels so we celebrated with a night out which started with white wine and ended with a karaoke bar!  I was pleasantly surprised with Santiago right fro the start.  Many people had told me not to spend a lot of time there and that it was boring.  They were wrong!

Santiago has got a buzz to it, especially in Bellavista which is surrpunded by universities and nightlife.  It has cool street art, a variety of bars and clubs and lots of places of interest to explore.  The next day I moved to the fantastic Hostel Kombi which is one of the best hostel I have stayed in, and decided to go for a walk in the afternoon.  I began to walk up to the look up point on a big hill when I was stopped by a Chilean guy and a Colombian lady who warned me that it was not safe to go alone at that time because it would get dark after a few hours.  The guy then offered to show me around his city with the Colombian lady.  I went with them which was great as we went to the main places of interest and he knew a lot of information about his city.  Chilean people are very friendly and helpful.  We went to Santa Lucia hill for a great view of the city (better than Cerro San Cristobal as you are under the smog) and pretty fountains and plazas.  We also walked to the central downtown area and then back to Bellavista.

The next day Dana and Alexis arrived and we teamed up with some Brazilian guys too to visit the mercado central.  We walked round the fish market and found all kinds of creatures, some I’d never seen before in my life.  Surrounding the market are little restaurants so we stopped in one for fresh fish brunch.  After that I met my friend Miguel for lunch who I had met in Ilha Grande in Brazil.  He is a medical student in Santiago and showed me a nice restaurant area and treated me to a 3 course lunch…I wasn’t going hungry today!

In the afternoon I decided to visit the Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos.

To make known the systematic human rights violations by the Chilean state between 1973 and 1990 so that ethical reflection about memory, solidarity and importance of human rights national will be strengthened so that Never Again will these events that attack human dignity be repeated.

The museum was very powerful and sad especially knowing that some of these breaches of human rights are continuing in our world today.  Outside the museum was an exhibition called Flores en el Desierto which was photographs of the widows search for their missing relatives in the Atacama desert in northern Chile which was particularly moving.

Marble caves and hitch hiking madness!

Getting to and from the marble caves was an unexpected journey of epic proportions and although at times things were difficult, I wouldn’t change it for anything! It ended up being one of my favourite parts of my journey and adventure was certainly on the cards.

So, myself and others talked a lot about heading North from El Chalten because Argentinian buses are very expensive (typically $100 or more depending on journey distance).  We had all heard it was cheaper to travel on buses in Chile and I had previously heard about these marble caves that looked beautiful.  So quite a lot of us backpacker types decided to cross the border into Chile at Los Antiguos,  (9 hour trip from El Chalten), see the marble caves and then head north instead of just head straight to Bariloche on a ridiculously long bus journey.  I am not a fan of super long bus journeys and even more so since I lost my mp3 player!

I was travelling with Israeli guys who I’d hiked with in El Chalten and Kato had gone on ahead due to her being very short on time.  We arrived at Los Antiguos to find that there was one minibus crossing the border a day and it was full.  When we asked how to get across local people said walk and hitchhike so we walked to the Argentinian side to get our passport stamped which was about 3km with all our big backpacks and everything.  We started walking along the 9km  road to the Chilean border crossing and stopping to hitchhike along the way.  The border is only open out of season between 10 and 11am and then 1 – 2pm (check this if you are crossing because it changes all the time and depends on season). Noone was picking any of us up even when we split up and tried every hitchhiker trick in the book! I was struggling with the walk and my back and knees were beginning to ache with the strain of my backpack weight.  The Israeli’s pushed on ahead leaving me behind.  I kept going as fast as I could and hitching along the way.  Still no luck.  It got the point I had 15 minutes left before the border closed, there was no one around as it’s so remote, the Israeli’s had crossed and I still had at least 30 minutes left to walk.  And then suddenly my prayers were answered! A truck came past and said ‘jump in we’ve got 2 minutes until the border closes’! (In Spanish of course).  So I jumped in and we made it…just! I was so grateful, I could have been on my own with nothing but a sleeping bag in the freezing cold possibly the whole night!  The driver was stopping at the border but luckily some French guys had space in a Taxi to I went on to the town of Chile Chico.  When I arrived I found Kato who had booked onto a minibus to Rio Tranquilo (another 4 – 5 hours away) and there were no spaces left.  When I asked about the next one, I was told that it depends how many people want to go, maybe a few days!  You may think why hadn’t I checked this information first but there’s a few reasons why this is very difficult:     1. The internet in Patagonia is almost non-existent.   2.  The places are so remote that it’s very difficult to find valuable information.  3. Things change ALL THE TIME due to seasonal timetables, changes of the season (they decide when it’s low or high season timetables depending on amount of visitors) and dramatic weather changes so a lot of information you get is wrong anyway!

I waited by the minibus and begged the driver to take me, there was no space except on the floor but luckily Kato managed talk him into letting me on with her saying we came together! Phew!  We all squeezed on the bus with our bags.  It was so tight that to go to the toilet you had to climb of the bus window.  The road was incredibly rough and bumpy so sleeping is impossible but the views on the journey were spectacular and we watched the sunset over the mountains as we reached Rio Tranquilo.  When we arrived it was pitch black a clever business minded lady met us and offered us accommodation, trip to the marble caves and onward bus to Coyhaique.  I cut a group deal for us all and we were taken to shared little wood cabins with fires.  We went to the local shop and bought a few things to cook quickly for dinner as we were all exhausted and cold.

The next morning I had my usual porridge breakfast and hot mate to wake up, we put on big rain ponchos and headed out in the clouds to the marble caves. The driver and guide was the lady’s husband, a local fisherman.  The lake seemed still from shore but we made our way out there were choppy waves. The caves are made from 6000 years erosion of a soft rock calcium carbonate.  There are amazing pillars and caves with swirling blue and grey patterns.  We went inside the caves as our guide pointed out ones that look like animals! We went round the capilla de marbol which a stack broken off from the mainland that undercuts showing the marble colours.  The weather held out for us and the sun shone through occasionally.

After another bumpy ride to Coyhaique we went straight to the bus station to book a bus going further north.  The town was quite large compared to anything we’d seen for a while so we assumed there would be a decent bus connection…we were wrong!  We were told that the next bus north was on Thursday, it was Friday a the time! We ran around flight offices and a private bus companies until we found one that was leaving the next morning to go Chaiten where we were assured we could travel further north.  We found a lovely homely hostel in the evening and had the place to ourselves apart from the owners 2 teenage daughter who curiously questioned us while we drank a well deserved bottle of Chilean red wine!  We got up before dawn and waited for the bus in the rain.  After a few hours of the  hour trip we stopped for lunch at La Junta, a pretty town but with nothing much open .  Luckily we’d made a big lunch and dinner the previous night, knowing what remote places we could end up and having no idea what to expect!  After the stop a Peruvian lady called Rosa advised me not to go to Chaiten as there had been an earthquake there which destroyed everything a few years ago and there would be even less transport options than Coyhaique!  She was living in a town called Futalafeu.  We decided to go with Rosa and attempt to get to Futalafeu as it was on the border to Argentina where buses are expensive yet regular!  Rosa didn’t know how she was getting there but she seems determined! We stopped at a tiny village and waited in a house of some of Rosa’s friends until a bus came which would take us half way,  The plan was to hitchhike the rest of the way.  We passed zero cars on the hour journey and Kato and I were beginning to think the 3 of us would have to sleep in her 1 person tent on the side of the road with our pasta to eat.  But when we got there it was some kind of miracle as a truck passed with road workmen and Rosa talked them into taking us!  When we arrived in pretty Futalafeu it was almost dark and Rosa asked some friends if we could rent their spare room for the night.  There was nothing open so we were grateful for our pasta!

The next day was Sunday , with no buses passing the border. and it was raining.  Still, we were determined to get across so we stood outside the town hall to hitchhike.  I asked a policeman if he could help us and he said yes, for an extortionate price which I refused to pay out of principle!  Eventually a farmer came and picked us up but only took us close to the Chilean side of the border.  We walked the rest of the way, and the 300m to the Argentinian side where we waited for anyone passing in hope of a lift!  The Argentinian staff thought we were crazy and said they’d taken us back to Futalafeu if we didn’t get a lift by 7pm (it was currently about 10am!)  We waited about an hour until a man called Daniel agreed to take us to the nearest town with transport 40km away.  We got about 10kms down the bumpy road when the car broke down!  There was no one around to help and we were a long way off so we helped jack up the car and took a look.  The steering had come completely away on one side.  Daniel found a piece of material and tied it together.  We got back into the car and to our surprise it worked so we crawled along a snails pace.  We passed little villages and towns including Trevellin with is a Welsh town which was strange!  We finally reached Esquel and booked the last bus of the day (phew) to El Bolson!  There’s not much to do in Esquel so we had lunch and waited for the bus.  What a journey!