D280 – D300: From Potosi, Bolivia to Mendoza, Argentina - 19 December 2012 - 8 January 2013

On D280 in the company of Nina and Steve reached Potosi, once the richest city in the world. Here it difficult to not observe the perfect cone shaped Cerro Rico that protectively luring down as a guardian angel.

A visit to Potosi is almost implies a visit to the mines at this rich in minerals mountain. But I skipped this experience due to my mild claustrophobia. Instead on D281 I took a colectivo (minibus) up to the community and strolled around spotting abandoned mines filled with trash, curious coca chewing working miners and miner families having lunch in front of their very modest dirt houses. Most of the people working in the mines have no other choice just to sacrifice their lives to be able to provide the essentials for their families. The saddest part is that they are even children working as miners.

The plan for D282 was to go on a guided tour at the Casa de la Moneda, an old mint. This has a huge number of rooms exhibiting different items like the first locomotive in Bolivia called Pacamayo, religious paintings from the 17^th and 18^th century, a collection of silver coins used by the city from the beginning up to now, old safety boxes, reconstructions of old ways of producing coins, a collection of different minerals. A funny thing that I learned is that at the moment the bolivianos are made in Chile, Bolivia's enemy country. What an irony!!

Due to the Christmas shopping in town, in the evening we almost missed the overnight bus to Tupiza. We were not aware at that time that the drama for the night had only started. Once we were in the bus terminal we were put on another bus different to the one we bought the tickets for two days ago. What really pissed me off is that we purchased the tickets two days before just to get the panoramic view seats at the top and instead they gave us the first seats in the front on the lower floor. This passed but at the middle of the trip they stopped the bus to fix something on it in order to be able to continue. Next a handful of people stopped the bus saying that the driver was drunk and also requested the loud drunk lady at the front to be removed. The drunken owner tried to be the pacifier but he only aggravated the situation. Luckily the driver came to his rescue. As he looked sober and fine so this made everybody to calm down and ready to move on again. To top everything they dropped us at the main road outside Tupiza 5 o’clock in the morning of D283. Everybody who was getting off in Tupiza was fuming of anger and some who continued to Villazon were concerned to continue the trip as it felt unsafe. This was the first time when I could see Bolivian confront and protest against something. Luckily the terminal was one block away and shortly we could check in into Valle Hermoso Hostal. What a night!

After a short snooze we started sourcing out an appropriate agency for our Salar de Uyuni trip. We decided to go with Valle Hermoso Tours for the four day tour for five people starting Christmas Day.

D284 was all about Nina as she was celebrating her birthday. In the morning we went for a three hour horse riding trip passing through Puerta del Diablo a wall of red cliff with a crack In the middle, El Valle de los Machos stone formation similar to the male genitals and the Canon del Inca.

Moro, my horse was calm throughout the ride which made this experience much more enjoyable as anticipated.

We finished off the day with a well-deserved birthday dinner and drinks.

The 2012 Christmas Eve (D285) was one of the most unconventional and unforgettable ever shared with the lovely Nina and Steve. The only funny hiccup of the dinner preparation was how to get three boiled eggs for the tuna salad due to the lack of an available hub. But the problem was solved by asking an amused girl at a restaurant to prepare the eggs.

Nico and Falko, the missing Christmas presents arrived during the night leading to Christmas Day (D286) to start our exciting 4 day tours to the Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flat in the world.

The five of us with Andres, our guide / driver hit the road passing through huge valleys filled with strange rock formations, steep crevices; pampas with llamas, the Devil's Pass a red sandy viewpoint. The scenery started to change to hills and Cerro Santa Isabel, a snow-capped mountain was in our horizon for some time.

After lunch, the first village that we passed through was San Pablo de Lipez. Next we reached Pueblo Fantasmo backed by the snow-capped Pico San Antonio at over 4000m. This miner village was abandoned by its weird inhabitants 120 years ago. The legend says that due to the fact that they extracted silver and gold from the Cerro without making any offerings to Tio (the devil worshipped in the mines in Bolivia) they were punished. This manifested in killing each other and creating a cemetery in the centre of the village among others.

This was the place where I first spotted a vizcacha, a very agile rabbit lookalike with a long squirrel tail.

Next we drove up to 4,855m to Laguna Morejon, a lake naturally contaminated by a mineral called borax.

The last stop of the day was Quetena Chica a small village just a few families and each of them offered accommodation.

The next morning (D287) explored an area less travelled around Queteno Chico including a swamp filled with hungry llamas, a stone painting depicting a red devil, an old cemetery where the people from the surrounding areas bury the dead.

In Chaquilla, a few minutes away from swamp we visited a stone church built in 1912, a cavern covered by llama poo. Next we set out to find another mural painting by climbing up on a cliff platform which was found by Steve and Falko.

This was followed by a long drive to a windy - sandy - rocky plain just at the foot of Volcan Siloli where we had out lunch.

From here we drove to the geysers through deserted high sand flats. This was the first time in my life to see this interesting natural phenomenon. The earth below was boiling at a max of 200 degree. On the surface you could see colourful sulphate puddles some of them visible boiling.

Huallajara was our final destination of the day and from here we drove to the Laguna Colorada to spend time leisurely exploring it. Its red colour is thanks to the pigmentation of some algae and the white islets are the combination of different minerals like borax. These white islets within the lake are favoured by its main inhabitants the flamingos. This area is populated by three types of flamingos: Chilean, Andean and James’s the first being the biggest and the last the smallest. It was pretty awesome to watch these beautiful birds.

On D288 we had a long drive ahead of us with many stops, the first stop being the Arbol de Piedra a natural volcanic rock formation of a tree.

Continuing we stopped to admire the amazing vizcachas and their babies relaxing on some rounded stone formations.

Next we checked out the horse whip shaped Laguna Honda, the second lake out of five. But in myy opinion the fourth lake, Laguna Hedionda was the most impressive one due to its location and the chilled flamingos.

Leaving the rocky area of the mountains we continued through flat grasslands reaching the viewpoint of Volcan Ollague, an inactive volcano with one steaming peak shared by Bolivia and Chile. Here we had our lunch on a curiously carved cliff.

Next we descended to San Juan to check out the Aymara mummy cemetery passing next to quinoa plantation and the edge of the salt flat in the horizon. This cemetery had many tombs containing crossed armed skeletons inside and in some cases some ceramics. Some of the skeletons they even had their clothes preserved.

For the night we stopped at a Salt Hostel in Puerto which was built of salt blocks and had furniture made out of salt. The afternoon activities included climbing up a cliff full of tall cacti and visiting the nearby Galaxi cavern with cocoon like formations inside.

We left at 5 in the morning of D289 to observe the majestic Full Moon and the rising Sun in the middle of the Salar de Uyuni, the biggest salt flat in the world. 

Due to the bitter cold we continued to Isla Incahuasi famous for its old and very tall cacti. One of the many cacti had 9m and another dried one had 1,203 years and 12m.

The trip continued to Ojos de Aguas were some natural holes can be found through which the Salt Flat breath. Also the salt bricks are more defined here than in any other places. These are 50cm blocks that people can lift up with special equipment and use it for construction.

Just after leaving the Salar de Uyuni we had a small stop at Colchani, a village selling ordinary souvenirs and some made out of salt. Also here they have a salt refinery to process the salt taken from the flat.

Once in Uyuni we visited the train cemetery surrounded by garbage hills. 

The 4 days tour officially ended with a last lunch in town and goodbye to Andres our responsible and considerate driver and guide.

In the afternoon we checked into Hostal Vieli and chilled in Uyuni, which at first seemed a shithole but with time it grew on me. The day finished with a farewell to Nina and Steve after almost two weeks travelling together. I definitely consider myself lucky to have been sharing this amazing trip with four awesome people!

In comparison to D290 which was a “doing almost nothing” day, D291 proved to be a totally different kettle of fish. At 4 in the morning we got on the bus to Avaroa to cross to Chile. Once in Avaroa, the Bolivian immigration wanted to charge us an illegal 15bs exit fee which we declined to pay. I was lucky with Nico who was in front of me and declined the payment. This gave me strength to say no otherwise I would have paid it knowing myself, the law abiding citizen. This was the moment to say good bye to my love – hate love affair with Bolivia where I spent more than a month. It was amazing experience with daily cultural shocks.

Moving to Chilean territory in the middle of nowhere only with the Volcan Ollague fuming behind us, the waiting period of 8 hours started. First the connecting Chilean bus was late for two hours, and then the Chilean immigration made us wait hours and hours because they were too comfy to let us go through.

Finally at 4 in the afternoon we hit the road again to Calama. Stepping into the bus terminal in Calama felt like I was isolated from the world for more than a month being in Bolivia. Everything was modernized with proper Internet access. It felt heaven for the moment. From here the three of us took an ultramodern TurBus to San Pedro de Atacama with blankets and plugs available on-board. Once in the dusty desert town of San Pedro de Atacama, available accommodation proved difficult to be found in the middle of the night. So I ended up in a claustrophobic and relatively expensive dormitory with no windows but I was happy to be horizontal. But what to expect on the last night of 2012! What was I thinking?!

In the afternoon of the last day of 2012 (D292) we cycled around the village through sandy dirt roads in the strong sun sheltered by nothing. Luckily we followed Falko's urge to get off the beaten track and we managed to find the amazing narrow path passing us through immense orange rock formations called the Devil’ Gorge.

The trio celebrated New Year’s Eve with a splurge dinner and drinks at Todo Natural. This was also our last dinner before we parted ways. It was great to celebrate the turn of the year with Nico, my loyal Latin American travel companion and Falko, my new cool friend. 

Since 15 March 2012 I have been living my dream. So the last 10 months of the past year were pretty awesome filled with loads of adventures, sunshine (it is important to note after living in West Coast of Ireland for 12 years), encounters with new cool people and constant support from my friends and family from both Ireland and Romania. The adventure continues for two and a half more months into 2013 ... Thank you and HAPPY 2013 everybody!

The next morning (D293) I took the bus to Salta, Argentina. This was followed by a relaxing day (D294) strolling the streets, observing the café culture that seemed more European than South American; and enjoying the privilege of having constant and reliable Internet connection after weeks. Also I tried the famous Argentinian Mate for the first time which it did not tickle my fancy. It looks like mate cannot compete with a good cuppa peppermint tea.

My adventure continued the next day (D294) by travelling to Cordoba having a short stop in Cafayate and Tucuman. Cafayate is a small mountain town famous for its torrontes white wine bodegas. Unfortunately I could not try this fruity miracle water as my fragile stomach could not handle anything other than water and plain bread.

In Tucuman I took an overnight bus arriving in Cordoba at 6 the next morning (D296) where I settled in the friendly and clean Palenque Hostal. Corodoba is a university city and the second largest city in Argentina. In the afternoon I wandered around the pedestrianized streets, sat on the different benches in various parks and finished the day with a movie splurge at the cinema (so far the most expensive movie ticket paid in the whole trip).

One of the main reasons why I came to Cordoba was to visit the childhood house of Che Guevara at the nearby town of Altagracia. So on D297 I took a local minibus to this quiet and manicured old bourgeois town to pay a visit to the Museo Casa Ernesto Che Guevara. He lived in his house with his family for 11 years during his youth. You could see here that he grew up in privileged circumstances but it is interesting to know that later in his life he was seeking simplicity and equality. They say that his personality and strong will was formed here.

During the night of D298 to D299 I travelled to Mendoza, the capital of the Argentinian wine. When arrived early morning I set out to search for a bed to crash passing through tree-lined streets and various beautiful parks. My choice of hostel was Hostel Alamo housed in a tastefully decorated colonial house. The rest of the day I just enjoyed the sun and the good vibe of this surprisingly beautiful city.

On my 300^th day I joined forces with Annie and Ilana, two US girls that I met in the Hostal Alamo to explore nearby wine area of Maipu by bike. We managed to visit three smaller wineries and an olive farm pedalling past a number of impressive vineyards. During this trip we got tipsy on the famous Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, torrontes and sparkling wine accompanied by some local bread with olives and sundried tomatoes. One bit of a useful information retained after this trip is that the types grapes can be recognized based on the shape of their leaves for example Malbec has a three part leaf whereas the Cabernet Sauvignon has a five part one.

Tomorrow (D301) more relaxation is planned in Mendoza before moving to Santiago de Chile the following day (D302).