We arrived in Uyuni and our tour guide, Gerry as he liked to be called, was waiting for us at the airport. While we were waiting for luggage he told us he was excited to have Americans on his tour. His dad is American and he used to live there for about 6 years. When we asked him where he said "Maryland". No way. Apparently he lived in Bethesda and his parents still live there. And even better- he went to the same high school as me! Magruder class of 1992. What a crazy small world! Anyways, he's been back in bolivia for 20 years and his excellent English and enthusiasm for American culture was welcoming.
He took us to a breakfast where he let us hang out, eat, clean up, and he went with our "crew" to buy supplies for our trip. Apparently we were to leave in 1 hour for the desert for 3 days. No stores, no supplies. They used this hour to shop, stock up on gasoline, and whatever else and then just like that... To the desert!
We met our crew who included our driver, Fabio, and our cook, Christina, both who spoke no English and very quiet, mumbled Spanish. They were very shy but also very sweet and we were lucky to have them. It was quite the contrast from our extroverted Gerry who knew everyone, spoke 6 languages fluently, had a degree or certification in every subject, and had stories for eons.
We started out the tour at the train cemetery right outside of town. Bolivia and England agreed on a deal to lay thousands of miles of railroad track and run steam locomotives full of exports for large profit. However the deal and the construction took so long that the trains were only in operation for 7 years before becoming obsolete when the Diesel engine came to the market. Unable to afford the steam locomotives on their own, Bolivia had to abandon the railway and all of the trains they invested so much in. This part of the desert is just full of abandoned and highly looted trains and track.
Warning: the axels don't move.
Next we began the salt tour in a small town outside of the salt flats, where most of the people worked in the purifying and packaging salt business. We watched as a man carefully ionized the salt, cooked it, packaged it, and stacked it up for shipment. It looked like an incredibly monotonous profession but this is how most of these people made a living.
We then stopped real quick to see the largest salt llama created, and heard some stories about how real life hunger games existed amongst Bolivian village children and on that note... Were off to the salt flats!
First we had to stop and pay homage to some of Gerry's "friends". He lead us to these small huts carved into the mountain side and led us into one of the caves. There lied the remains of four corpses of some ancient indigenous people. Their bones had been placed in a ceremonial fashion and a shrine was created out of rocks and offerings such as coca leaves, alcoholic beverages, and cigarettes. Apparently locals come to this spot, supply offerings and ask for favors of their ancestors. Gerry then warned us not to be afraid and showed us a Titi (an extinct breed of puma) corpse who was nailed to the wall to protect the people. This large cat still had teeth, skin, and pads on his paws. Similarly, the people still had some hair and tissue on their skeletons. Apparently, the climate here is perfect for body preservation due to the altitude (lack of oxygen), cold temperatures, and salt and minerals in the air and soil. Crazy.
We said goodbye to our friends and ran into some new ones- very alive and cool looking vicuñas. These look like a mix between a deer, antelope, and llama. They are protected by the nation of Bolivia and it is very illegal to hunt or own these animals. They used to be nearly extinct due to hunting for their highly desirable fur - which still goes on the black market for upward of $20k USD for one garment. They are pack animals and we saw a ton of them throughout the plains and deserts on our Bolivian travels.
Finally, the time came. Gerry asked us to close our eyes and not open them until he told us to. We complied and after about 1 whole minute straight of bumpy jeep riding he said "OKAY OPEN!"
For about 3 seconds, you can't see anything. When your eyes adjust it is just white. White everywhere. We had officially arrived in the salt flats.
This has got to be one of the strangest places on planet earth. There is 10,582 square kilometers of salt desert, located at an altitude of 3.6km, aka 12,000ft. We drove around and the contrast of bright white ground and bright blue sky was stunning. There were pounds where they were working to excavate the salt and we had a little fun with those.
The salt was full of cracks that made interesting polygonal shapes. And there was just nothing. Nothing as far as the eyes can see. No roads, no people, just salt.
It was such a weird, beautiful, and breath taking place. Truly like nowhere else on planet Earth.
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