Another breakdown one hour into the day, but what better location than Árbol de Piedra and the moonscape like surroundings to be stuck for a while. It was magical, being so high in the Andes being dusted lightly with snow. We amused ourselves by climbing up the rocks and exploring around, plus humouring the most remote toilet we’ve ever seen. And a rigorous snowball fight was in order! This beautiful, and unique, setting was incomparable to the wonderful Laguna Colorado where we watched hundreds of pink flamingos: Some were sifting for algae with their long, dodo-like beaks, others were swooping over the surface and revealing their stunning, large black and rosy wings. The baby flamencos had white plumages and created a variety in the setting. And the laguna was topped off by steam produced by more peripheral hot springs.
Later at Laguna Hedionda, we watched on even more flamingos going about their business, this time tucked in a valley of rainbow-coloured mountains. Continuing on our way, we made it to the foot of Volcan Ollagüe, which is still active. The only visual barrier was the huge, low-lying, inky cloud that prevented us from being able to see the smoke that drifts from the peak’s crater.
On the way to our stop in Uyuni, we stopped in San Cristobal for a hearty empanada. It was delicious and resembled very well a Cornish pasty, only the crimping followed the centre, rather than one of the edges. On the way into the village we saw the large, unfriendly-looking Japanese machines that were reaping the value of the Bolivian’s ‘terra madre’.
On arrival to the town of Uyuni, our hostel was a stunning courtyard where all the small, cosy rooms looked out onto each other. Each room was like a small, single-storey terraced house with a straw roof and white walls. Quiet by comparison to the real street outside with Bolivians going about their daily chores and packs of wild dogs roaming and rooting for food.
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