Our Great Adventure: Southern Altiplano Day 249 25/05/2015

We were pleasantly surprised to have survived the freezing cold night however both had very disturbed sleep due to our fellow residents and their regular trips to the banos which were located near our room. Most of the ladies were in their early 20's but still had the ability to scream like 4 year olds. Luckily they'd all left before we ventured out in the morning so weren't able to take out our frustration on them! We headed off after breakfast leaving the national park and heading towards Desert Siloli where there are numerous rock formations created by the wind, including the famous Stone Tree (Arbol Piedra). We spent a bit of time climbing some of the structures before heading off. We stopped to take in the views across Laguna Ramaditas and continued on to Laguna Hedionda which is the site of a disused borax mine which was closed c4 years ago as the mineral started to run out. It must have been an incredibly harsh life for the miners living here at this altitude. Continuing north we reached Laguna Canapa, home to flamingos although at this time of year there were only a few feeding on the water. Lovely to see but nothing in comparison to the visit yesterday to Laguna Colorada. The landscape started to become a little less barren as we drove north and we started to see some vicuna but no other evidence of any wildlife. We stopped by a small laguna with more rock formations near the shore including one that looked like a face. Pablo told us about a theory that there was an ancient civilisation living in Bolivia with cities under Lake Titicaca and Salar de Uyuni. They are believed to have built a network of underground tunnels with the entrance to one being in this laguna. If you want to know more then JM Allen's 'Route to Atlantis' looks very interesting (we can't get it on ebooks so will need to get a hard copy when we get home). From here we drove for a short distance to reach the rock valley, a huge area of strange rock formations created from volcanic lava. We stopped for a walk around, spotting different shapes including a wolf and a condor (clearly helped by the effects of the altitude!). Afterwards we drove to a nearby mining town for lunch, a truly desolate place in the middle of no where. It's hard to believe there would be any kind of settlement here if it wasn't for the mines. Lunch was an enjoyable affair of soup followed by Llama (for Simon), rice, potatoes, beetroot and carrot. We'd agreed with Pablo that we would go off the standard circuit from here. The track took us through agricultural land and over a high pass before dropping down to the village of San Juan. Just north of here we travelled across a small salt flat which has a railway line running across it. The trains serve the mines and cross the flat early in the morning. It would have been a surreal sight to see one passing by as we stood taking in the views. We arrived in Chuvica, on the edge of Salar de Uyuni, where we were staying for the night just after 1600. After a bit of hassle over accommodation we checked in at a salt hotel. Topas hadn't pre booked anything and the hostels weren't keen to rent a dorm for only 2 people. Given we'd paid a premium for the trip we weren't happy to share a dorm. It all worked out in the end and we settled down to a game of cards before dinner. The hostel was almost entirely built of salt with salt floors, furniture and walls. Dinner was cooked by the hostel, soup followed by chicken. potatoes and rice. After a few more hands of cards we headed off for bed, pleased to have extra blankets although it didn't feel as bone shatteringly cold as the night before.