Our interesting journey into Bolivia

Our trip across the Salt Flats has definitely been one of those trips that will be told for years to come. What a fun filled 3 days (she says in a sarcastic tone!). We greeted our group of 2 enthusiastic Canadians and a very generous Swiss girl (who loaned us some money when the lack of electricity in the town for 2 days prevented us from getting any money for our trip) in San Pedro and headed for the Bolivian border where we would be greeted by our guide and jeep. We attempted to have breakfast at the border where the wind had picked up and it was virtually impossible to stand outside the jeep which making eating very difficult! After a few official passport malarky we were on our way to the salt flats. Our guide, Teo, seemed quite reputable so we crossed our fingers and headed through the rest of the desert. As we stopped to look at roasting hot geisers and natural pools, we began to realise that it was becoming quite hard to stand outside the jeep without protection because of the strength of the wind and the sand it was carrying that was blowing forcefully into our faces...not fun! The first day we stopped in what can only be described as a shack for lunch around 1pm and were told this was where we were staying for the night. After lunch we spent 6 hours sitting in our sleeping bags, all shaking from head to toe with the cold and staring at each other with literally nothing to do. By the time dinner time came we had nearly hit breaking point. Although, apparentl e we had the best seats in the shack - next to the heater. Heater may be an over statement because you could have sat on it and still not be able to heat your arse up! But anyway we powered through the night and were looking forward to reaching a lower altidude than 4,200 metres where we hoped it would be warmer. We were to continue the next day towards the Salt Hotel which was, shockingly enough, on the salt flats. After being told to be at the breakfast table at 6am that morning for an early start, we were still sitting around twiddling our thumbs at 8am with no sign of breakfast. By 9.30am our guide showed up and told us the storm had gotten worse and we would have to wait another hour or so before we could get a move on. We eventually did...in covoy with 6 other jeeps in case anything went wrong. Two hours in we were in deep shit in the middle of the worst sand storm in 10 years (video posted soon). How fun! We considered going straight to Uyuni and skipping the salt flats but it looked like we weren't going anywhere. We practically crawled in the jeep to the next town and were put up in another shack for the night. Except the door on this shack didn't close! With 10 bolivianos on us we decided it was time for alcohol so used our last ration to buy a couple of cans...sur' we'd be able to get money in Uyuni anyway! We awoke the next morning the beautiful sound of silence...the wind was gone. We were over the moon! So with sand in our hair, eyebrows, pockets and other places you can't imagine sand could get to with all of your clothes on, we hopped into the jeep to finally get a glimpse of the salt flats. And what a sight!! Blinding white for miles and miles all around...there are no photos in the world that does it justice. After some unimaginative photos and full bellies we were on our way to Uyuni - hot showers and hot food was all we could think about...until the biggest bombshell was dropped on us and we were informed that there was no electricity in Uyuni. We think this was the low point of our travels so far. After spending our last ten bolivianos on 2 cans of shite beer we literally had nothing. Mitch suggested selling the ipods and did not get a good response so that idea was scrapped fairly quickly. But, Teo, our guide saved the day! After making a few calls we were quickly brought to a bank that was running on a generator and managed to get a cash advance from England (at a hefty price!). And let me tell you people, that was the best shower we've ever ever had...never to be forgotten...or the numerous beers that followed. Welcome to Bolivia!!