Expedition Maya: Conquest of the Temple of Siesta: Bolivia I (September 3rd

Having woken up into another sunny morning, the expeditionists set off for a trip to Salar de Uyuni. The trip was an absolute highlight of the whole expedition so far: three days in a jeep through unbelievably beautiful and diverse Reserva Nacional Eduardo Avaroa, with majority of the ride being in altitude of 4.000-5.000 metres and night temperatures dropping down to -20 degrees.

After crossing to Bolivia through remote, windy and terribly cold border post, agenda of the first day was Laguna Blanca and Laguna Colorada (white and red lagoons; with colors reflecting various minerals or algae inside), several impressive hue-colored mountain formations and deserts, hot springs (nothing feels better than soaking in hot water when it is freezing outside) and last but not least the Sol de Mañana, geysers and steaming and bursting mud lakes. First night was spent in a basic camp near Laguna Colorada, fortunately with enough blankets to fight the walls-penetrating frost.

In front of Laguna Blanca

Don Madonarra and "The mountain of seven colors"

El Fredovito inside of hot springs

Jeep of the expeditioners behind the geyers of Sol de Mañana

Day two consisted of more lagoons (most notable was one of Lagunas Altiplanicas with hundreds of pink flamengos) and rock formations, but it was definitely no less interesting or exciting than the first; diversity and beauty of Reserva Nacional Eduardo Avaroa is literally breath-taking. Second evening was finished with a pleasant dinner and a glass of wine (although not really recommended in such altitude) in a stylish salt hotel in a small settlement of San Juan.

Walking around impressive rock formations

Checking out picturesque lagoons

Don Madonarra observing alien dung

Atmosphere of the salt hotel

Day three started early (around 4 a.m.) in order to catch sunrise at the nearby Salar de Uyuni, the world's largest salt flat. After enjoying this enormous salt reservoir, the ride continued to Isla de los Pescadores - an island which further underlined and empasized the uniqueness and beauty of the Salar. After visiting last stop, the cemetary of trains, the crew deboarded their jeep in Uyuni - a small village that rather shocked them by its overall underdevelopment - and spent a night there.

The whole jeep expedition

(including local driver Paul and Ali, tourist from Turkey)

The magnificent Salar de Uyuni in morning light

Riding a train in cemetary of trains near Uyuni

Don Madonarra during his daily weight-lifting session

The following day, after freezing and bumping on an unpaved road for a few hours in a bus (welcome to Bolivia, the poorest country of Latin America), the adventurers arived to Tupiza. If you ever wanted to feel like a cowboy, then rent a horse and set off for a trip through its neighboring canyons, rivers, valleys, villages and rock formations. A fascinating adventure and that is exactly what the crew did. All on horses and accompanied by a local guide Vladimir (very Bolivian name btw.), they enjoyed two great days on a round trip exploring Tupiza's surroundings, with an overnight in village in the middle of nowhere. Quite exhausted but happy after returning back to Tupiza, they spent a couple of hours in one of several incredibly slow internet cafes (quite common in Bolivia until now) and got onto a night bus, ready for more adventures to come.