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BOLIVIA (7 - 13 February 2002)

When we crossed the Bolivian border, it started snowing. It was refreshing to see a white landscape after the infinite dry brown of the Atacama Desert. We were now high up in the Andes, at over 4.000 m, ready to start a 3-day jeep ride through the Altiplano and the Uyuni salt lake. Guillaume had done this route back in 1996 when he joined his sister Aurelie for ten days on her extensive travels through the Americas. Jonas and Hedda were slightly apprehensive about the picture he had drawn. Despite the promises of out-of-this-world landscapes, they couldn't stop thinking about the extreme cold they were to face and the Spartan standards of comfort and food that expected them. However, globalization has accomplished a lot since 1996 and although the route was the same, our three days were considerably more comfortable than the three days Guillaume and Aurelie had survived. A poster for telecommunications stated that "the winds of prosperity are sweeping through Bolivia". Although Hurricane Dollar was nowhere to see on the arid Altiplano, the food that our driver Clemente cooked up was delicious and one guesthouse featured both linen and hot water. The overland crossing from Chile to Bolivia is now a well-established feature on the �Gringo Trail�. We had craved a real adventure, but when the traveler crowds insist on ease, comfort and accessibility, the result becomes a much more palpable 'adventure light'.
It was great to be on the road with Hedda, who provided a less jaded perspective on the ordeals of traveling; her curiosity and humor became an antidote to our travel fatigue. You can check out Hedda�s own website by clicking here. Sharing the jeep with us was Pelle, a Swede who, just like us, was on his way up the continent. Everyone got along famously; it didn't take long before we decided to continue traveling together all the way to Peru.
The snow didn't last for long. It was soon only visible on the distant peaks of the Andes surrounding us. The landscape was once again dry brown, but cut through with colorful streaks of mineral rich soil. Lagoons full of flamingos were named after the colors of their tinted waters: green, red and white. Some lagoons we saw in the distance magically disappeared as we approached them. The frequent mirages played tricks on mind and eye. Tiny villages, mostly inhabited by llamas, sheltered us from the cold winds at night.
On the third day, Clemente steered the jeep on to a dirt road that seemed to end in a white void. It was the Salar de Uyuni, a massive salt lake that dried up after the Ice Age. Because February is in Bolivia's rainy season, 10 cm of rainwater was floating on top of the hard salt crystals, resulting in a most bizarre visual phenomenon. The crisp blue sky was perfectly mirrored on the surface, creating a bewildering scenario where we weren't quite sure where the horizon divided Heaven from Earth. The two jeeps on our tour looked like 4WD versions of Jesus as they cruised over the water. The camera clicked and clicked: this was probably the strangest photo op it has seen on its journeys around the world. Isla del Pescado, a rocky outcrop covered in cacti in the middle of all the white provided a nice lunch break to rest our blinded eyes.
We arrived in Uyuni, a town where the winds of prosperity had only covered the plains in windblown garbage. By the time we reached this ugly railway junction our traveling group had grown to nine. We were joined by the passengers of the second jeep: Stephan and Livia from Vienna and Olivier and Karin from Switzerland. Michael from Frankfurt who, on his way to Alaska by motorcycle, had followed our jeeps through the mountains also merged with the group. We felt like a whole tour group as we marched in to the restaurant where Guillaume had celebrated his 31st birthday back in '96. Together we fled Uyuni the same evening on the night train to Oruro.
Oruro�s carnival is a drunken fest that freely mixes Catholic, Indian and pagan traditions. UNESCO has declared it a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Realizing that �gringos�, were a prime target for all the water guns and shaving cream attacks allowed during the festivities, our group stuck tightly together and checked in to a big dormitory with nine beds. We formed a line for the shower, taking turns getting electrocuted since Latin American showers get hot water by leading naked wires directly into the showerheads. We loved this week of traveling in a big group. Not only did we make new and interesting friends, but fresh faces, funny stories and a sense of European community gladly interrupted the monotony of our own company.
Unfortunately we have no photos from the colorful carnival. Five minutes after heading into the crowds, Pelle got his camera stolen so we decided to leave ours behind as we darted trough the streets, holding on to our money belts and trying our best to stay dry. At times the line between fun and foul play seemed thin, as when Hedda and Jonas got water balloons thrown at them by force from cars speeding away. In our anger it reminded us of drive-by shootings. By the time we got to La Paz the carnival celebrations were coming to an end. Four days of alternating drunken euphoria with massive hangovers had left the Bolivians tired and aggressive.
We had moved very fast to La Paz, but once in the capital we got stuck. Our next destination should have been Lake Titicaca, but the roads out of the capital were blocked by �campesinos�, angry coca farmers protesting the US funded government policy of burning their crop. We waited it out for a few days, but after reading horror stories about fellow travelers stuck for up to three weeks in remote and not very safe areas around the country, we decided to outsmart the blockade by flying directly to Peru. It was time to say goodbye to our new friends as our French / Swedish quartet headed to El Alto above La Paz, the highest commercial airport in the world.

During the rainy season, salt pyramids expect collection on the Salar de Uyuni . Or is this a formation of diamond-shaped UFO�s flying in the sky?