2/18/16
So, I upgraded to the “better” version of WordPress, and I can now upload videos. Here are some that are quite a while back.
(Oh, and I found weird “artistic” shots taken by Simon…)
Category Archives: Uyuni
Salar de Uyuni – II
5/7/15
Stop and Go
5/1/15
So far in my life, I have owned two cars- a 95 Mazda protoje, and a 2007 Mini Cooper. I have to admit, I am not a great car owner. I know very little about cars (even though friends like Bobby and Nick knows a great deal and can probably give me some pointers. Maybe.). I am just thankful my cars seldom break down, and even if they did, it was not some remote place.
For the last day of tour, we woke up at 4am on our last day to catch the sun rise over salt flat. I actually slept surprisingly well through the night, and was not happy to be awake, especially without breakfast (I know, I am not easy to deal with occasionally). We all piled into the truck after loading our bags, and was off around 4:45am. Our group of 2 cars was off to a good start- until the other car had a flat tire. Actually, we never quite found out if that was the problem, since hey did not change the tire but instead just tinkled around without changing tires. With that, the sky started to brighten. We all ran up the hill where all the other tour groups had already gathered, and watched a gorgeous sun rise over the vast salt flat.
One fun thing about the salt flat- with all its flatness and emptiness, travelers can take pictures without distant objects to show perspective. We all spent the next hour taking photos with “giant” teddy bears, wine bottles and beer cans, hats, shoes, basically anything we could find. I think it was safe to say everyone had a great time coming up with ideas. We also took photos with our trucks and driver (Raul).
After that, it was a quick trip to a salt museum, lunch at a tourist trap (where they sell you touristy souvenirs and Godzilla- for taking funny photos). The last stop of the tour was the train graveyard- with abandoned trains that we all climbed on to take more photos. (And everyone’s goal of running on top of a train. I guess all the Hollywood movies took its toll.)
Satisfied, we all buckled up for our last ride to Uyuni- only to find out out car had ran out of petrol. Ironically, the other driver left us in the dust, so we just sat around, chatting whether things could get worse, and why the other driver never waited. In the end, Raul called for backup, and another truck came to get all our gears and bodies to Uyuni.
Deciding that we want to get to Potosi for a night of rest, the five of us took a direct bus out of town. (After some frustration with the local atm, of course.)
As I sat on the bus trying to hold back the rising tide (I needed a bathroom but there was none on the bus), I thought about how lucky it was we managed to end the tour without major issues. Sometimes, a little luck on vehicles really goes a long way.
(Or maybe I really should learn more about cars so I can try to fix my own car. But knowing my mechanical skills, I will probably just make things worse. Maybe having friends who know how to fix cars is good enough?)
Conversations and Views
4/30/15
It always amazes me when I tell people I have worked in the U.S. since 2001. (Man that make me feel old…) Through the years of working, I have learned a few U.S. Idiosyncrasies: taking about NFL is usually a good conversation starter; knowing someone’s hometown earns brownie points, and never ever discuss politics (especially in the last 5 years). For a country that is so vast with a large population, people in U.S. seem to find comfort in familiarity. With the “invention” of Fox News, news programs started to take on an angle for profit. Conservatives and liberals fill airwaves with their own views and agendas. Politics has become a conversation filled with land mines. (Getting off my soap box now, thanks for reading! Wait, where are you going?!)
The second day of the Salar de Uyuni tour started at 7am. I think everyone slept poorly, so we were all up and ready for breakfast. (Before the trip, I read a lot of reviews that said food and water were minimal. To the contrary, we had plenty of food, about 4 meals a day.) We all piled into our respective trucks, and the guys were nice enough to let me have the 2nd row seating. The last row seats were pretty confined in space. (Reminds me a lot of birthing position- legs wide open, body hunched, head back. Well, that or a prostitue ready for business, but I went for the nicer metaphor…wait…)
If you have ever taken a long car ride with friends, you know weird conversation happens. That was the theme of the day. We started off with animal sex (how dogs, flamingos, and ducks procreate-I’ll skip the details). As we drove through the beautiful desert landscape, where we often stopped talking and stared out of the window in complete mutual silence since we were in awe of the amazing landscape (and bumpiness of the road), Anita, Tobias and Simon started talking about global politics. I must admit, I cringed a little (or maybe I was just dealing with altitude sickness), but it actually went great. I learned a lot more about Germany, Welsh, European Union, and the rest of the world views from citizens of other countries. It was actually a great learning experience, interjected with lots of awesome sceneries and traditional Bolivian music (3 songs on a loop).
We visited a lot of lagoons, desert landscapes and eventually ended up at a salt hotel- where everything are make of compressed salt. As expected, the sceneries are breathtaking and unexpected. We also saw quite a lot more wildlife dotted across the vast landscape. The salt hotel was a little less impressive than expected, but the company more than made up for the disappointment. We all grabbed beers and wine and had a really great night, even though we were told to wake up at 4am the best day to watch sunrise over the salt flat.
As I laid on my bed in the salt hotel (made from wood, sadly), I thought quite a lot about the political discussion (well, and food industries discussion that happened after). I guess as a citizen of the world, we have a responsibility to stand up for what we belief, and not be afraid to make a stand, even if that may cause discomfort to others. After all, if we don’t stand up for what we think is right, the medias will twist facts to suit their underline anyway. So why not stand and make a difference?
(But if there is a way to make lots of money while standing up for my believes, I am certainly more than up for it. May I should form a coalition too??? A for profit one?)
Start and Go
4/29/15
I am a city person. I love a city, (I mean a metropolitan city, similar to Gotham or Meteopolis) and am at home in the urban setting. The hustle and bustle, easy access to everything, even the “street arts/tags” – they make me feel at home. At the same time, I do love nature. The outdoors provides the escape I need from everyday life. Smell of pine forest, sounds of rivers, the sweet aroma of wild games (hmm…guess my Chinese heritage is showing.). I am truly blessed to have seen some amazing sceneries and experienced some close calls, and continue to be able to do so.
Andy, Anita, Simon and I woke up around 6:30am to get ready for out 3 days Uyuni Salt Flats tour. Pooling resources, we bought 18 liters of water, fruits, lots of unhealthy snacks (chocolates, local imitation Oreos, “fruit” flavored biscuits), 4 toilet rolls (because Bolivia bathrooms do not provide TP. They also cost money to enter, and you throw all used TP into trash cans-yes, even those you wiped your rear with). We budded goodbye to the hostel owner, and got into a car with all our luggage, ready for adventure.
Only to stop 10 minutes later and were told to wait in the car. Eventually, we found out we all had to get an exit stamp from Chile. Stamped, we were then transported (if only they can beam us like startrek) to the Bolivian border for entry stamp. Since we were at much higher altitude, we were Ll freezing while waiting. Sucrssful accomplished the stamp collection process, we ate some lunch provided by the tour agency and were then re-divided into 2 cars. The four of us were joined by Tobias, a fellow German.
We paid the entrance fee to the national park ( and spent time looking and paying for bathroom – a standard procedure of this trip), and started out tour. The scenery was breath taking. If Grand Canyon is impressive, the views here are 10 times better. We saw White Lake, Green Lake, paid 10 Bolivianos for hot spring soak, saw geysers (with bubbling mud that probably cost thousands as face masks), Dali desert (where stones look like Dali drawing- or is it the other way round?)and flamingos. We were shown one grand sights after another, and my brain was in scenery overload. Well, that might also be due to altitude sickness, since we were at 4400 km above sea level most of the time. I started having headaches, shortness of breath, and could feel my heart pumping extra hard (heh. Extra hard.).
At evening, we were shown to out lodging of the night- a stone/straw building that only had lights from 7pm to 9:30pm. It was a basic facility, with 6 beds in a room. I would like to say I slept like a rock, but I actually slept on a rock – the mattress that rested on raised concrete was so used that it sank all the way to the concrete when I laid on it. In addition, the altitude sickness came back in full force, along with bitter chill that literally “take my breath away”.
As I slept in the bed listening to my own heartbeat, I replayed the images of landscapes I saw, while wondering if my altitude sickness would get worse. I guess in the wild, having close calls is sometimes necessary to see great views. With scenery this grand, I think it is worth every risk (well, within reasons) I have taken thus far. Sometimes, the city guy has to experience the wild to know what nature is all about.
(But can nature also provide me with some extra oxygen and heat? I mean, we should meet in the middle ground, right?!)
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