Tag Archives: quebrada de palala

Uyuni to Tupiza; what spectacular & dramatic landscape…

What a surprise this turned out to be…
Given the $ still working in our favour, we decided to go with the ¨top-end¨ tour, as opposed to the backpacker option. Thought we´d treat ourselves!

We got from Potosí to Uyuni, which all went well. A real backpackers hub is Uyuni, but it is from there that you need to start any of the Salar de Uyuni – the Salt Plains tour. Our guide Archie, and our driver Rubin from Tupiza Tours met us at our hotel bright and early the next morning. We loaded our stuffs into the 4WD and off we went…

Day 1
Salar de Uyuni is rather amazing. Click on the link to find out all about it. But from our perspective though, it is the best place to take the most creative photos, which of course, we took full advantage of (samples to come).

Lunching at the Isla del Pescado was gorgeous too, but a little ridiculous in so far as we shared this remote part of the world with approx 40 of our closest 4WD vehicles x 5 persons each! The island is made up of cacti and coral, but honestly, there were so many people on and around this tiny island, it was busier than Bourke St! There was even a queue to use the salt-constructed picnic tables!!

And then, when we had enough of standing in the sun, additionally strong with the reflection from the salt, we headed to our hotel. Now I have to admit, we weren´t expecting too much by way of ¨luxury¨, but I have to say, we were most pleasantly surprised.

Hotel de Piedra stands on top of a little village in the ¨middle of nowhere¨, and provided a most unexpected respite from the harshness of the salt plains. Really very impressive. The water was solar-powered and therefore had to be used as soon as we arrived, and power went off at 10pm, but that was all part of its charm.

What´s also impressive is the way this hotel, and the following two Tayka Hoteles we were to stay at, have been set up with the community. Each of the hotels have been built with the full support of the locals, and with the view to have the locals fully owning and running their own hotel within a 10-year period. They too were running out of ways to create their own revenues, and the plans have been hatched and executed accordingly. Another good reason for us to spend our money here…

Day 2
Once leaving the Salar de Uyuni, we were pretty much on our own, except for the occasional 4WD drive-bys. Today, we spent lots of time looking at Lagunas and flamingos! How many photos can one person take, really! We did have lunch with local wildlife though, greeted by Viscacha´s and little teeny-weeny mice that looked like Miss Tittlemouse from Beatrix Potter. They were certainly happy to scoff any lunch we didn´t!

Hotel Desierto was the hotel of choice for sleepover. This time we couldn´t even see the village that was looking after this one, so as we went up the drive, after finding a solitary sign in the middle of the desert, we were presented with this large hotel all by itself, unbelievable. It literally stands alone at the base of a mountain, at the edge of the National Park. Quite the mirage!

Day 3
Today was more lagunas, and flamingos, and llamas. Lots more llamas.
Lunch was with the llamas, lieterally. We found the most amazing spot in the middle of desert surrounds, green, lush, with llamas feeding and drinking from a flowing stream. Again, lots of photos taken, what more can we say!

Prior to that though, we spent time at Stone Tree, and then at the geysers. Even had a little soak in the hot springs. Sol de Mañana, despite being very smelly,  certainly revealed how the earth handles some of its own waste! The hot spring however was clean and balmy 36 oC; rather warm given how cool it was considering it was a desert morning. Well worth visiting though…

Our last hotel on our ¨luxury¨ tour was the Hotel de los Volcanes. Again, this one was as impressive as the other two. Such a delight!

Day4
More of the same really. Then as we were heading towards Tupiza to conclude our round-the-desert tour, we were introduced to Quebrada de Palala, with spectacular red rock formations that resemble needles reaching 4200m high. El Sillar, or more commonly known as ¨moon valley¨, where, as a product of erosion, show the most amazing formations Mother Nature can produce. A scene to be seen, and truly appreciated. Wonderful.

Altitude sickness played a part again in this leg of the trip, but this time I was ready. We started at 3300m and reached as high as 4950m! Fortunatley this time it was in the 4WD and not on foot. Thank goodness for Diamox!

Back to reality came with a thud. The Hotel Mitru in Tupiza was a bit of a let-down after the desert trio, but nevertheless functional. This is where we rested our weary heads, ready for the next part of our adventure, crossing the Bolivian/Argentian border…