March 14, 2000
Day 144: Day one Uyuni Tour to San Juan
We sleep in a bit and have breakfast at the hotel that is included. Our tour leaves at 10:30, so we have enough time this morning to re-organize our gear. We have decided to take camping gear in case the lodgings along the way.
As we walk to the agency we meet a Dutch cyclist from Rosmalen. He came up from Chile and is on his way to La Paz. He says he met Frank van Rijn twice in Chile. Our bikes get stored at the agency, the gear we take gets stowed, together with backpacks of four other travelers, on top of the Toyota Landcruiser. There are two Danish, one English and one German on the tour. A driver called Walter and his wife Mary is the cook and nurse.
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We leave town and head for the great salt lake of Uyuni. At the town of Colchari we see the salt mining in progress, then we enter the lake, literary! There is about 10 to 30 cm of water left on the salt flats, through which the car has to drive. The water on the lake reflects the blue sky, there is no horizon visible, mountains on the horizon seem to float in the sky.
We stop at a hotel built out of salt blocks, salt floors even salt furniture. Further on we have lunch on Fish Island where we also do a short hike over the volcanic surface amidst towering cactus. The contrast between the white salt, blue sky and black lava is striking.
We leave the salt lake after another hour drive and head south to the small town of San Juan, where we spent the night in a residencial. All of us share a room with 3 bunk beds. More french-fries and chicken for dinner.
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