We walked into the little office of Cordillera Traveller and was able to set up a tour for the next day. Early the next morning we were climbing into the mountains in a small tourist bus toward the Chile/Bolivia border, which was nothing more than a hut in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, we had an issue with getting our visas that took up a significant amount of time and was quite frustrating. As American citizens we had to pay a large fee in only US dollars. The problem was that the serial number on the bills we received in San Pedro were recorded as counterfeit. Thankfully, our guide had enough cash on him to help us out, and we were able to continue on into the country with the promise of paying him back.
The next few days we were crammed into a jeep with five other people that took us off-roading into phenomenal landscapes. We visited a series of colorful lakes lined with shores of stark white borax and dotted with pink flamingos. We saw vast, open desert with occasional weathered stones in strange shapes. Colorful volcanoes towered in the distance, and we even got a close up view of boiling springs and streaming geysers. The sky was clear and incredible day and night, albeit cold. Surprisingly enough, there was life out there. Llama and alpaca were a common occurrence with a smattering of vicuña. A couple of foxes made an appearance, and we fed cookies to a group of adorable rabbit-like creatures called viscacha.
The third day was all about the salt flats, Salar de Uyuni. We woke up before dawn in our hotel made of salt in order to make it there in time for sunrise. It was entirely worth getting up so early. The salt flats are so wide and open, and so bright white. The reflection of colors was beyond words. No picture could actually do it justice. This is the reason why we went to Bolivia. We spent most of the day taking pictures and speeding along the flats. Of course, we had to create some iconic perspective photos, just like everyone else who goes there. We stopped at an odd island in the middle called Isla Incahuasi that was a major contrast on the landscape, and even more strange was that it was covered in tall, spiky cacti.
The last of the tour before a long day of travel back to Chile took place on the edge of the nondescript and not so pretty town of Uyuni. There, being eroded away by the desert and sinking into the sand are the remnants of old stream trains. Rusted engines and cargo cars were stripped of their important parts and left to disintegrate in the Train Cemetery. It was an interesting sight,and a great way to end the tour. The last highlight of our four days in Bolivia was a small town we stopped at on the way to our hotel. While the town wasn't much, it had a great little church made of stones and a grass thatch roof. It was an unexpected site on an unrelated bathroom break. Overall, this trip was a bit expensive, but worth every penny. Salar de Uyuni is now officially checked off my bucket list.
Arica, Chile
Hotels:
Hostel Sunny Days
Restaurants:
Transportation:
Colectivo to Cusco: 20 soles/ea
Bus to Arequipa: 120 soles/ea
Bus to Tacna: 30 soles/ea
Taxi over border: 25 soles ea
On foot
Activities:
San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
Hotels:
Hostel Corvatsch: $51/night
Lodge Licancabur: 48,000/night chilean pesos
Restaurants:
Adobe
Las Delicias de Carmen
Transportation:
Bus to San Pedro de Atacama: 22,000 chilean pesos
Activities:
Salar de Uyuni jeep tour with Cordillera: 140,000 chilean pesos ea + $15 tip + $44 Uyuni park fee
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