Welcome to Bolivia – new country, new people
On the way to the Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt pan in the world
Refueling in Bolivia – a serious challenge
We have now arrived in Uyuni, the first city for us. We spent a few days on the lagoon route from Chile at over 4,000 meters. Far away from any civilization.
When we drive into Uyuni in the evening we are initially shocked by the cityscape, everything is very dirty and not very nice to look at. There is rubbish everywhere and the streets are often covered in clay. The city was founded approximately 140 years ago as a military base.
Today the city lives primarily from tourism. The reason for this is the nearby salt flat, the so-called Salar de Uyuni, the largest in the world with an area of around 12,000 km². Otherwise there isn't much here. The city's three other mainstays are the cultivation of quinoa, livestock breeding, especially alpacas, llamas and sheep, and the production of products from their wool.
We first have to recover a bit from the altitude in Uyuni. We are still at almost 3,700 meters altitude, but you can actually notice the difference when sleeping and we are a little more relaxed after the first night. And then of course we have to do everyday things like shopping and filling up with gas. The market in Uyuni is an experience in itself. Here you can get everything, especially a huge selection of fresh fruit and vegetables, at really fair prices. Diego is, as always, an “eye-catcher”. Everyone is excited about “Choco”, the blonde boy. Diego immediately finds a connection where we camp. Mateo is only 5 weeks younger.
By the way, refueling in Bolivia is pretty exciting. We have often heard from travelers that as a foreigner it is very difficult to get diesel, which is always in short supply here. However, with the election of the new president a few years ago, the situation worsened. The demand is much higher than the supply. And so you see kilometers-long queues of trucks, buses and cars waiting for diesel in front of every gas station. Although we as foreigners pay an international price that is officially about two and a half times higher than that for locals, we don't always get diesel. We are lucky in Uyuni. We cheekily asked the gas station attendant whether we would get diesel and at what price. And lo and behold. We can drive up directly and fill our tanks completely, at a fair price of around one euro. We are totally surprised and initially relieved. Unfortunately, things shouldn't continue like this...
From Uyuni we definitely want to take a trip to the salt flats, but not with our own car. Even though the Salar has very little water in the dry season, it is and remains a killer for every car. We decide on a guided day tour. Everything is possible, from one to four day tours with an overnight stay in a salt hotel. For us, the day tour seems most suitable with Diego. Every overnight stay “away” is like moving. We established our “evening routine” in the camper to put him to bed.
Together with our guide and four other tourists we set off at 10 a.m. Our first stop is the so-called Cemetario de Trenes in Uyuni - literally translated, a train cemetery. There are some discarded trains here that are over 100 years old and were originally used to transport goods abroad. All in all, it makes for great photo backdrops.
Then we continue towards Salar. On the edge of the salt desert we visit the small village of Colchani. All kinds of local products made from alpaca and llama wool are sold there. We also learn something about salt processing. Everything is done manually here on site. The salt is first dried and sieved, then iodine is added and finally it is bottled manually.
Now it's finally time to head to the salt desert. We all need to put on our sunglasses. Diego included. This is mandatory here because of the strong reflections.
We race across the salt plain at almost 100 km/h, directly towards the Dakar Rally monument. It is dedicated to the race that was held in Bolivia until 2018. We're really happy that we don't have to drive here ourselves, because it's virtually impossible to get your bearings. You automatically lose your sense of distance. There are no references, just endless white.
Our guide José explains to us that he navigates with the help of the mountains, which are far away, and the clouds. He knows the Salar like the back of his hand and has been touring for about 8 years. Diego is one of his youngest customers.
We stop somewhere in the middle of nowhere and off we go for the obligatory photo session. As in the Salinas Grandes in Argentina, you can take great photos here with a shifted perspective. José is of course a professional. He also has appropriate props with him, i.e. objects that he specifically uses as a photo opportunity. He skillfully directs each of us to our position.
Diego doesn't really understand the props thing and prefers to play with the dinosaur. We're all definitely having a lot of fun!
There are also some islands in the Salar. Some of them used to even be inhabited. We stop at the Isla de Incahuasi, which means “House of the Incas”. Today the island is uninhabited. For an entrance fee you can go onto the cactus-covered island and see the magnificent salt landscape from above.
Last but not least, we drive to a slightly lower part of the Salar. Rainwater collects here even in the dry season. That means you have the largest mirror in the world right in front of your feet. A breathtaking backdrop, especially at sunset. In true style, José serves red wine and a few appetizers.
All in all a successful trip. who showed us many sides of the Salar. And we're still glad we didn't have to drive here. The last station in particular can be damaging to the car if the salt water splashes into the engine compartment. It's not without reason that the guides only drive at walking pace and wash the company vehicles every day with high-pressure cleaners.
Now we move on to Cochabamba. We decide to drive via Sucre, the capital of Bolivia. The route is said to be very scenic. It continues to take us over many plateaus. We also pass the mining town of Potosì. Gold, silver and other minerals are still mined there today. Tours can be booked to visit the active mines during working hours. For the particularly sensation-hungry tourists, even with live explosions. We forego this stop. That's too voyeuristic for us. In the end, what is particularly sad is how many children already work there. From the age of 7 you can officially buy dynamite.
By the way, the Bolivian drivers are really bad (so far the worst in South America). No trace of foresight. As a pedestrian you have to be very careful, there is no consideration, even with a baby. Most people either look at their cell phones or their Coca bags instead of looking at the street. And sidewalks are a rarity.
Sucre surprises us a lot. In contrast to Uyuni, the city is very clean (and has sidewalks :-)). The pitches are immaculately maintained. There are very good cafes and also international fashion chains of all kinds. Unfortunately, we only have about a day to explore the city. Then we have to move on to Cochabamba. From there we want to fly to Rurrenabaque in the Bolivian jungle. We've decided to do this for a while because the road there is said to be modest, to say the least.
With the current diesel situation, the flight is even more valuable. There is currently no diesel available anymore, only on the black market. And even that is almost impossible.
The background is that Bolivia has held its currency reserves in Chinese yuan since the change of government in 2020. However, dollars are needed to buy fuel from neighboring countries such as Brazil or Argentina. So the majority of what is needed has to be purchased and shipped from Russia. The not exactly good diplomatic relations with Chile, where the ships dock, do the rest. Three tankers have been in the port for several weeks and have not been released by Chilean customs because Bolivia does not comply with environmental protection requirements for transport. For the country, the situation means that there is far too little fuel available, which stimulates the black market and leads to horrendous prices, even for locals. The liter is currently trading for around 5 times as much, and the trend is rising. For us it's just a crazy investment of time and a gamble as to whether we can even get diesel.
On the way to Cochabamba we buy 20 liters of diesel from Hernán, which he sucks out of his truck tank for us. Already bizarre. We've never fueled like this before, but it should become more and more normal. Nevertheless, the Bolivians are all helpful and very friendly. We hope that the situation will improve again because we would like to see more of this beautiful country.
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