Uyuni: A world far away

So close, yet so far. At the end of the
three day journey, we ran out of gas
25 minutes from Uyuni. There
are absolutely no gas stations, so you
have to travel with your own supply.

The Salar de Uyuni and south-western Bolivia were landscapes that we had planned on experiencing. And experience we did! After a 12 hour overnight bus ride like no other, we arrived in Uyuni ready for a three day tour in a 4x4.

Just as we stopped vibrating from the bus ride (seriously, words cannot describe just how much we rattled and rolled on the kilometres of unpaved roads), we jumped into the 4x4 along with Johnny, the driver, Anna from Germany, three adventurous gals from Norway, Cathrine, Rut and Tonje, and our cook Clementina. We then started our (long) road trip (between the bus to Uyuni, the tour of the area and the bus back to La Paz, we clocked 46 hours in vehicles) that brought us to some magnificent natural sights and over barren landscapes and kilometres and kilometres of absolutely nothing but space and more space.

Jan and Inga doing the Salar jump. This is a 12,000 square km
salt flat in south-western Bolivia. Easily visible from space
due to its super bright whiteness.
Anyhow, it´s actually hard to get  the shot in the air ...
 we´ll leave the analysis of styles to you.

Yup. Just salt. Dry and hard.
And endless.

One, two, three, jump.  Our friends Rut, Tonje and Cathrine
doing it with style. (Yes, Jan did get this one perfectly!)

View from Isla Pescada
across Salar de Uyuni.
These cacti grow 1 m per
100 years, and some are
9 m tall! Quite something
to see something living that
is 900 years old!

Isla Pescada is covered with these giant beauties.

Cacti in bloom. Pretty awesome to see.



When surreal meets
surreal - Jan takes a pic.



First night accommodations in
Santiago de Agencha. Brand new
"tourist complex" complete with salt
floors, salt blocks for bed frames, and
electricity from 7 to 10 pm.



Our abode for the night. Architecture
is inspired by a local peoples´ housing.



Jan likes rocks. She can climb them!
This is one of many volcanic formations
in the region.



Jan also likes yoga - especially after
4 hrs in the 4x4 going cross country.



And now playing with the wind at
Laguna Colorada. The red is due to
algae and the white is borax.