If you haven't read the first part, about the Atacama Desert, here it is: Part I
So, let's continue...
Day 6: We left early from San Pedro de Atacama for our 3-day-trip to the Uyuni Salt Lake.
This pics are from the bolivian border. We'd seen snow the day before, at Salar de Tara, but this was the first time we got to go out, touch it, play with it... It was really fun :)
First, we went to see the Laguna Blanca and the Laguna Verde, both incredibly beautiful.
Then we went to this natural hot spring in the middle of nowhere, which was really relaxing, and after to the Geyser Sol de la Mañana. The geysers were quite big, but compared with Geyser El Tatio, they weren't so impressive.
Before heading to the Laguna Colorada, we went to our hostal, where we left our stuff, had lunch and rested for half an hour. For lunch, even though I'd told them I was vegan, they didn't have anything ready for me. At S.P de Atacama, I had managed to find vegan food with no problems, but there I didn't have a choice. So, that day I had to eat a couple of eggs, because it was the only thing they had in the kitchen, apparently. I felt terrible =/
The hostal was very simple, just a place with basic services, bathroom and shared rooms for 6 people. Also, there were some llamas wandering around.
Right before the sunset, we went to see the laguna. There weren't a lot of flamingos, but it was beautiful anyway.
We were really tired because of the high altitude, so we had some coca tea, had dinner (vegetable soup) and went to bed early. Thank God we had sleeping bags, because the couple that was on our group didn't bring one and they said that that was the coldest night they had ever experienced.
Day 7: We woke up at 7 a.m. and left to see some more lagunas and the Rock Tree.
We got to the Salt Hotel around 3 p.m. and finally had a hot shower. We spent the rest of the day talking to the other backpackers, 2 german girls and the swedish couple, about our coutries, the trip and much more.
Day 8: We woke up at 4:30 a.m. to see the sunrise at the salt flat. Totally worth it.
Then we went to see the Isla del Pescado. I didn't like it, because I was really tired and my knee was hurting, so it was very difficult for me to climb it. Plus, it was crowded and noisy...
On our way to the train cemitery, the tour guide stopped in the middle of the salt flat, far from the other cars, so we could take some better photos...
We passed by the first salt hotel, the Dakar monument, the salt mines and the train cemitery, before getting to Uyuni.
Uyuni is the most boring city ever. We got there at 3 p.m. and had to wait until 8 p.m. for the night bus to La Paz. It took us less than 1 hour to see the whole city and, after that, we walked around looking for a coffee shop with free wi-fi.
Day 9 and 10: We got to La Paz at 6:30 a.m. and went to our hostel, Maya Inn. We were tired, but didn't want to sleep, so we went for a walk. We had breakfast at a cute vegetarian place called Tierra Sana, near the hostal, and went looking for the Plaza San Pedro, the meeting point for the Red Cap Walking Tour. We got a bit lost on the way there, but eventually found it.
The tour was the only fun thing we did in La Paz. I wanted to go to Tiwanaku and the Chacaltaya, but my brother wasn't feeling well and I didn't want to leave him alone. So we just walked around the city, took some pictures of the main buildings and streets, and bought souvenirs at the Witches' Market.
Then it was time to get back to São Paulo :(
This trip was amazing and I can wait to travel again \o/ My first time abroad was great, but I'm sure I'll do much better with the planning and everything else next time.
And if I go to a place with beaches, I promise I'll take a lot of bikini pics ;)
=*
@missy @rambo @bloghomework
