Harrowing Trip from Uyuni

After the Southwest Circuit we were suppose to head back to Tupiza, but the roads were all closed for the day, and so our driver just dropped us off in Uyuni with a quick wave goodbye and a whisper of suerte.

It wasn't the worst thing that could happen though, because the best pizza in all of Bolivia is to be had in Uyuni. A restaurant by the name of Minuteman, owned and operated by a guy from Boston, is the place to munch down on these delicious pies. The next day we took our chances on a bus heading to Tupiza. The bus company warned us that we may have to turn around because an important bridge had been washed out.

In this photo we arrived at the river without a bridge - there was a huge line of vehicles waiting for the water to lower, but our driver said the hell with it and we went for it. Tons of people started cheering and giving us the thumbs up.
This is what happened to the first bus that tried to cross.
Whew!!! We made it!!!!

Nice scenery
The place I would have gone had we not succeeded in crossing the river.

The Southwest Circuit Final Day

We woke up at 4 Am for the biggest attraction of the tour the Salar de Uyuni, the world's largest salt flat (7,522 sq miles). The rain was pouring, but our driver seemed confident.... that is until he got us stuck. We were followed by 3 other land cruisers of tourists, and after our rig got trapped, the second in line, revved his engine and promptly got stuck as well. The other two not wanting to be left out of all the fun joined the team and sunk into the salt soon after. The water was extremely cold and up to my ankles (the water is so salty that it will ruin your shoes - so you gotta go barefoot), but we all had to get out to try to free our vehicles. We luckily managed to free one Land Cruiser, but the other ones managed to sink even deeper into the Salar de Uyuni. For the next hour we tried to use the wench on the freed vehicle to pull the others to safety, but the line continued to snap, and the Land Cruiser just didn't have enough juice for the task.
The freed vehicle went for help, which came in the form of a big ol flat bed.
A stong cable was tied to each vehicle's undercarriage.
Then using the most technologically advanced Bolivian equipment and tactics we lifted the rear tires and placed wooden planks underneath them.

Finally, we all gave a shove while the big ol truck pulled - and in this manner we freed the other 3.
Then we celebrated!!!

View of the mountains around the Salar De Uyuni
Vehicle of choice on the salt flats - Land Cruiser
Me standing on top of a huge wine bottle.

The Southwest Circuit Day 3

In the Desierto Siloli lies the heavily photographed Arbol de Piedra (Stone Tree).

Me flashing the Y for a shadow photo.
Climbing this rock formation was a royal pain in the arse - thank the gods that I didn't fall

More rocks
Laguna Verde gets its green from high concentrations of lead, sulfur, arsenic, and calcium carbonates. The cone of Volcan Licancabur is is in the background.

1st section of the Rocas de Dali

2nd section - big ol rock garden
Train Graveyard
A bicycle fit for the trash

The Southwest Circuit Day 2

400 year old Inca village - no longer in use

Bolivian deer and some big mountains

Bathing in some toasty geothermal water at Termas de Polques
This is a very strange phenomenon - these massive rocks are scattered all over this desert, maybe if I grasped a bit more Spanish I would have understood my guides explaination as to why these rocks are here

Sol de Manana Geyser Basin is covered in mud pots and a couple geysers.
Llama giving me the look at Laguna Colorada. This lake is pink due to the algae and plankton in its waters.
The Laguna Colorado is also home to 3 different types of flamingos.

The Southwest Circuit Day 1

From Tupiza I booked the famous Southwest Circuit tour. The first day we headed out across the wild lands of Sud Lipez.

We stopped briefly in this village to snag a photo of St. Peter's Basilica.
Here I am throwing the big 5, because I'm standing at 5000 meters (16,404 ft.)

Tupiza

I crossed the Argentina/Bolivia border at the town of La Quiaca. Due to new visa regulations Americans are suppose to submit to the exact same requirements that they impose on folks visiting the USA. Before crossing I made sure to bring along my immunization record, travel itinerary, address of where I'm staying, proof that I have a flight out of S. America, credit card - showing that I have cash flow, and finally and most importantly $100. As I was waiting in line immigration officials were checking everyone's passport, and when they saw I was an American a big smile flashed across their face, and I was rushed to my own immigration booth. They gave me a bunch of documents to fill out and when I was finished I proceeded to pull out all of my various papers. The immigration official said thanks, but no to all the pages I'd brought, and merely ask for the $100, which he happily took and after throwing a sticker on my passport sent me on my merry way. I have no pictures of the event or the shoddy little Bolivian border town of Villazon.

Upon reaching Bolivia I promptly took a bus to Tupiza. Here's some urban art I ran into along the way.
The highlight of Tupiza is Cerro Corazon de Jesus, which displays the Stations of the Cross as you hike up to the top. Here's my Spanish name at the summit.
Shot of the Big Jesus at the summit.

Valley of the Moon and Salta

The Dutchman and I headed north to San Juan where we took a little side trip to Valle de la Luna. This place is loaded with fossils from the Triassic period , the beginning of the Age of Reptiles.

As you can see the weather was not up to par, the rain started pouring- destroying the roads and finally stopped us from completing our tour.

Interesting geological formations - the tour was in Spanish so can´t really explain what caused this

Me with Argentina´s very own natural Sphinx
Thousands of perfectly round rocks

Just wanted to see if a dinosaur could wrap its jaws around my big cabeza.

Our next stop was the capital of the Salta province, Salta.

Main 18th century cathedral of Salta lit up for the night

A real man´s steak - 2 inches thick for the slim tag of 6 bucks
Mark getting religious

The gondola ride up to the top of Cerro San Bernardo

Me at the top
Mark and I dining in style - I had the rabbit & he went for the bife de chorizo (New York Steak).
In Salta Mark and I rented a VW Golf and decided to follow the tracks of the famous Train to the Clouds. The roads weren´t paved most of the way, but the little car had a lotta juice and we paid extra for insurance - so we proceeded to fishtail 600km through the clouds.

One of thirteen bridges that the train crosses.

Fancy rock formations
Great landscape
More neato geology

The famous viaduct La Polvorilla, located 4,220 metres (13,850 ft) meters above sea level. The curved viaduct is 224 metres long and 70 metres high.

Standing on the Salinas Grandes salt flatsI hadn´t been behind the wheel for a while, and I´ve never owned anything that could go over the speed limit let alone rally, so I proceed to take our rental on a high speed cookie ridden joyride across the salt flats. There were no cars, people or buildings as far as the eye could see, hence nothing could go wrong......My bravado led to the car getting stuck, but minutes later in the horizon I saw a moving dot heading my way and after about a half an hour the dot, a man with a shovel, arrived and dug us out. I gave him a couple bucks and we promptly left the salt flats.