It was ridiculously cold during the night. I had put on long johns, and a pair of pants, and I had like 3 shirts on plus a sweatshirt. I also had my hat and coat on and was under my 3-blankets. We were all still freezing. I will again point out that none of the buildings in Bolivia (at least the ones I stayed in) have heat, so when it’s cold outside, it’s cold inside.
We got up early and drove to some hot springs. There were two locations with hot springs, and our driver suggested we go to a less visited one that was a little farther than the popular one, and we agreed. We had two beers left from the night before which we cracked open and drank in the jeep to keep ourselves warm.
When we got to the hot springs, we got into our suits in the freezing cold and got into the water, which felt so good. There was ice on the ground outside the hot springs, but the water was like a hot tub.
There were a group of French people in the springs with us, but then they left and we had the whole thing to ourselves.
Getting out was the hard part. It was so cold, and we didn’t have towels to dry off. I used some of my clothes to dry off. Our guide had made us some coffee while we were in the springs, and holding the warm cup felt great.
8:55am – Yesterday we told stories in our room and took a walk outside. We mostly stayed inside and talked. Our dinner came really late (like 8pm), we drank wine and went to bed early.
Today we got up at 5:15am and got in the car. We got to the hot springs around 7:30 and got in. There was ice around the pool but the water was warm. It was freezing when I got out. Sydney’s hair was forming ice cycles.
We just ate breakfast and are getting ready to head out.
Our next stop after a lot of driving was the volcanoes and lava pits. There were these pits that were steaming and bubbling and it smelled like sulfur. The steam was hot and felt good to walk through. Again, in Bolivia, you can get as close as you want. One of the pits was a red color.
1:22pm – After the hot springs, we drove to some lava pits that were bubbling and steaming. There was one that was all red. We’ve been driving since then. I’m in the front seat manning the music. We’re now in a little town waiting for lunch. Their claim to fame is that a plane crashed here like twenty years ago.
We had lunch in a town called Mallcu (Villa Mar). Lunch took longer than we hoped. We were running a little behind schedule. We wanted to get back to Uyuni by 5pm, but it wasn’t looking like we were going to quite make that.
After lunch, it was almost straight driving back to Uyuni. I was in the front in charge of the music. At one point I played a game where the first person to guess the song was the winner. That was pretty fun.
On the road back to Uyuni, we passed some llama crossing signs. There were actually some llamas crossing at one point.
We did stop at a couple rock formations, but just to jump out, take some photos, and jump back into the jeep. We also had to drive through at least three little streams, one of which had to be almost two feet deep. Luckily the jeep did not get stuck.
Our last stop before Uyuni was a little town called San Cristobal. It was kind of a neat looking town. It had a somewhat socialistic structure where all the townspeople shared the wealth of the town (which was based off mining). We basically just used it as a bathroom break before the final stretch of road to Uyuni.
On the outskirts of Uyuni, we did stop to look at a “train cemetery.” It was basically a bunch of old trains used for mining that had rusted out and been left here. It reminded me of the book Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel.
When we got back to town a little after 6pm, we got dropped off near the bus terminal. Ranz (our jefe) gave a little speech to our guide and thanked him for being so accommodating and putting up with our shenanigans. We tipped him 200Bs.
Sydney, Kilo, and I ran to the train station to see if we could get tickets, but the train was delayed until 4am.
Ranz, Katie, and Naya had found bus tickets that left at 8pm to La Paz through Oruro. There were only supposedly five seats, though we bought six tickets and hoped that there would be room. We then went to try and find some pizza (there was supposed to be this awesome pizza place that Ranz heard about), but the wait ended up being too long and the pizza too expensive.
In the interest of time, we decided to just get some food off some street vendors. Ranz was worried about my stomach, but we chanced it. We got these things called Anticucho, which were like kebobs with different types of meat, a hot dog, and a potato wedge all covered in some tasty sauce. They were delicious. I had two. Ranz and Kilo probably went through six apiece.
While we were eating, I called Mia. She told me she had some bad news, that Fifi had died on Tuesday. I couldn’t believe it. There wasn’t much I could say or do, though.
We all went to the bathroom and went back to our bus stop to pile onto the bus. The plan was for Kilo, Katie, Naya, and Sydney to get off in Oruro and for Ranz and I to ride all the way to La Paz. The four of them would try to send my bag to me the next day and Ranz would grab his stuff on his way back through Oruro after sending me home from La Paz.
8:19pm – We are sitting on the bus in Uyuni. We are going to go straight to La Paz. We drove pretty much all the way from the lunch town to Uyuni. We got in around 6pm. We got bus tickets and then ate food off a street vendor called Anticucho, a kebob with meat and potato.
I called Mia and she told me Fifi died.
This bus ride four of us were up front and two of our seats were at the back of the bus. Ranz and I were in the first two seats on the right side of the bus with Katie and Naya behind us. Kilo and Sydney sat in the back. This bus was much more comfortable than the bus to Uyuni. For one thing, the bus was heated. They also provided blankets and pillows for all the seats.
With these luxuries, it was easy to doze off and catch some sleep.
We stopped around 11pm for a bathroom break, and a guy tried to talk to me in Spanish while we were peeing in the middle of the road, but all I could say was “I don’t understand. I don’t speak Spanish,” but I was proud of myself for that.
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