After our post last week, we ended up staying in La Paz for an extra day to give the strike in Oruro a chance to clear. When we finally did set off south, we had a very interesting journey. We were told that the bus journey from La Paz to Oruro would take about three hours, after three and a half hours on a shabby smelly bus, we appeared to stop in the middle of nowhere for no reason. After pulling out the phrase book and trying to speak to a couple of local passengers, it transpired we had broken down! After all of the men hopped off the bus in a failed effort to help the driver jump start the bus, we found ourselves being ushered off of the bus and our bags being turfed off too!
Thinking that we must to close to Oruro by now, a taxi seemed like a good option, so imagine our shock when we discovered that we were still a two hour drive from Oruro! There had been many road works and minor diversions meaning that the usual three hour journey was now five hours.
Stranded in the middle of nowhere, the only option was to hitch hike another bus, which with the help of a nice young local chap we managed to do, hurrah! We were on our way to Oruro again!
Our relief and excitement was short lived however when we discovered that Oruro is probably the dullest place on the planet! It's quite a sizable town, with lots of buildings, but during our stay hardly any shops were open and the only restaurant we found (and were forced to eat at twice) was awful!
We wanted to catch a train to Uyuni, but the train only leaves twice a week, so we were in for a two day stay in Oruro. So we ate bad food, visited an old mine and told countless local women that, no we did not want to buy jelly and cream thanks very much.
Finally we got on the train and were en route to Uyuni, such a scenic trip and our first taste of onboard dining.
Uyuni is small and touristy and exists mainly for people to base themselves before heading off on a tour of the salt flats, which is exactly what we did. On the first morning we bumped into three other travellers who were in need of two more people to join there tour, so, little persuasion needed, we packed up and headed off with them on a three day tour.
This was probably one of the best decisions we've made so far as the trip was unlike anything we had ever experienced. The salt flats are vast and beautiful, and made a good back drop for hilarious photos......
Us with Gus at Laguna Verde
A flamboyance of flamingos
View of salt flats and Lisa from inside a cave
Our guide was great, he explained everything to us in Spanish but slowly and clearly so that we could understand. For the three days he was our driver, tour guide, chef and photographer and we really could not fault the service. If anyone is thinking of visiting the salt flats in the future, we would highly recommend Quecha Connections!
On our final day we were expecting a scheduled stop at the geysers and hot springs before a long drive back to Uyuni, but Gus had one more amazing stop in store for us. He drove us to an area which had been completely covered in solidified lava, the result of thousands of years of eruptions from the surrounding volcanoes. It was such a vast area of volcanic rock that it really left us dumb struck, the views were amazing!!
The road we had driven down
The formations... Quiet and surreal
This week we will be making our way to Argentina, steak and red wine here we come!!
The weeks highlights:
Best view: The photos will never convey just how amazing the sunset we witnessed over the salt flats was. The colours were just incredible, by far the best we have seen so far....
Gus asked us to pose like the evolution of man...
Best food: Given that the food we have had this week has been pretty poor, the meals we had whilst on the tour were really good, especially Gus' mums' apple pie, thanks Gus!
Love Monday Funday: Monday was the last day of the tour, and what a Monday it was! We started with an early 7.00am visit to some geysers and hot springs...
Bubbling mud and lots of steam at sunrise
A blissful 40 degree soak after treading on ice to jump into it
We then visited the lava rock site where Gus guided us up to a spectacular viewpoint.
Panoramic shot- spot our 4x4
Colin had an ace time too, his favourite was posing on an abandoned rusty train and the lava formations.
Number of hours on buses: 5.5
Number of hours on a train: 5.5
Number of hours in a 4x4: way too many to count, worth every second!
Number of layers worn on night 2 of the tour: 5 blankets plus the clothes we wore during the day, hat and gloves too!
Much love Lisa and Rach xx 
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