Salar de Uyuni (three day trip)

Sitting in Uyuni, drinking a beer, going through photos of the past three days.

First, let me set up the contrast of the fact that Uyuni is literally the worst town I have visited in South America. There's one main strip of over-priced restaurants and hostels, a ton of travel agencies all offering the same exact thing, and some fountains that I have yet to see flowing. But that's just the town. Ben (my temporary travel buddy) and I arrived and went to an Internet cafe to do some research on the best travel agency. We found our top three: 1) Red Planet 2) Quechua Connections 3) Oasis Tours. The first two were full, so we went with Oasis. Set to leave at 10:30 the next morning.

We arrived and were in a Land Rover with two Chilean guys, one German girl, and one Brazilian girl. I love the international mixes you find in popular tourism trips.

We first left for the salt flats--they were INCREDIBLE. Miles and miles of pure white salt as far as the eye could see in every direction. We spent about 45 minutes taking fun photos; because of the pure white ground you lose all depth in pictures and can take lots of fun pictures with people meters away that make them look like tiny people. We also visited some of the flooded parts. The flooded salt gives a perfect mirror effect!! We also got to see the hotel built completely out of salt. It was strange walking on a surface that looked so similar to snow and yet had a soft, squishy feeling unlike anything else.
The flooded parts were interesting because it felt like warm water, but the minute you remove your feet a salty white crust forms over your skin.

After the flats, we visited a train cemetery, where old Bolivian cargo trains were laid to rest.

We continued on to our hostel for the night. A villa style complex in a town with only 800 inhabitants. All were either hostel owners or farmers. On the way we drove through a storm. Needless to say it was both nerve-wracking and exhilarating to watch lightning striking all around us. None ever hit us thankfully.

The next day we first visited the valley of rocks. It was insane!
Thousands of massive rocks all in a huge valley. We got some awesome photos and spent a while enjoying the scenery.

It was really cool to spend hours driving through the desert on roads that were no more than worn parts of earth from cars taking the same route. As we transitioned from one landscape to the next so seamlessly I really felt the incredible splendor of Pachamama (or Mother Earth). The sights were absolutely breathtaking!

Over the next day and a half we passed a small black lake, a green lake, a red lake, a volcano, a mountain range with seven different shades of brown red and green; we observed flamingos in all of the lakes and every road had llamas all along the sides; we saw volcanoes and geysers; we bathed in a hot spring and ate llama for lunch.

I had an absurd number of moments staring into myself and trying to figure out how I ended up in an SUV touring southern Bolivia taking in the most picturesque sights I've ever seen. It's crazy how easily travel can open your mind and your eyes. I'll never again think of going 70 miles per hour on an LA freeway as the open road. I'll have computer backgrounds for every month for the rest of my life.
Talking to people who every day have to journey into this beautiful environment to tend to their quinoa was so inspiring.

Anyways. Now I'm back in Uyuni (blegh) waiting for my bus back to la Paz. I will spend a few days in a hostel, exploring the city and meeting up with the director of the program. I'll move in with my family in a few days!! I'm really excited to meet them and begin this new chapter of my South American experience.