Oh my lord, what a treat I was in for; a three day adventure across the desert in a 4×4. I did not have any preconceptions about Bolivia, although Stewart said I’d love it here; how right could a chap be?
I began my trip at 8.30am, not the advertised 7am start which I was expecting – transport times in south America dictate their own rules! Set off on a mini bus to the border, as sometimes is the case I was the only gringo on the bus. Luckily, some folks from Uruguay took pity on me and translated! Border control was relatively quick, just an hour and before I knew it we turned off the main road and headed into the desert. We arrived at Bolivian border control and were divided into 5 groups for our 4×4 adventure. The two couples from uruguay who had kindly helped me en route, asked if I wanted to join them, so I had my crew all set and was ready for what was to become the highlight of my trip to date.
Aside from the salt flats, I had little knowledge of what the trip entailed… But here’s some of the wonderful treats I experienced on day one; I had to keep pinching myself to ensure I wasn’t dreaming.
It was so surreal, at one point you’d have your hats and gloves on, half an hour later you’d be sitting in a thermal pool in your bikini – all the seasons in one day. Whoosh! What a first day. Due to the weather looking decidedly dodgey we headed to base camp for the evening.
The hostel, in the middle of desert was very basic; no showers or heating. Regardless, we all layered up, got fed (albeit in our hats and gloves, oh i forgot to note that it was snowing at this point!) and met the rest of the group which included a 4×4 crew of english speaking folks who introduced me to the card game ‘shit head’, more later.
Day two, up and out for 8am and what a way to start the day.
Evening stop, a hostel with hot water! What’s more, steph and I scored by getting a double room with an en suite – result! The hostel was proper old school…
Pre dinner, I was somewhat delighted when Julian pulled out his trick for the evening, a coffee grinder an cafeteria; first proper coffee since leaving the uk. Well done that man!
We had steak and chips for dinner and even a couple of glasses of vino. The evening continued with a couple of hours of ‘shit head’, here’s the rules…
Day three, a visit to the train cemetery, a craft market (whereby I have begun the hippy demise by buying a sling bag!) and if course the salt flats. Enjoy xxx
House of Wendy travels... 