We are off to Uyuni where another company will take over for the salt plains journey. Uyuni is at (for us now) the relatively medium altitude of 3700 m. The town primarily serves as a gateway for tourists visiting the world's largest salt flats. It was founded in 1890 as a trading post.
So, 4 hours by bus. We watch our gear 'like hawks' at the bus station after warnings from several people to do so. It's a bit like the Wild West at the bus station and there are stalls, kids, cars dropping people off, people waiting slouched on seats - hawkers even get on the bus before it leaves - one with ice creams! We buy some fruit and bread rolls for the journey.
The bus chugs slowly out of Potosí, past Cerro Rico and then through lovely country with hills, grasses the colour of corn or soft grey, blue skies, white cottonwool clouds, all the time with higher mountains in the background.
As I have said before: 'dry as a chip'. We pass villages, llama herds, climbing all the while.
The landscape becomes very dramatic with canyons, rocky columns and outcrops and a high mountain range with snow in the distance. The hills now are colours of green, yellow, white, red. There are big, fat cacti on the hills on one side of the road and on the other side are yellow-green meadows with streams running through and llamas grazing. Later, sometimes there is no vegetation and dust blows everywhere.
Down on the plains, we start to see bits of white - presumably salt. No doubt we'll see a bit over the next few days... The plains stretch off for an eternity with hills on either side further out. The light is now very bright, requiring sunglasses. Swirls of dust blow across the plains.
Big bill boards advertising the 2016 Dakar Rally which took place in Argentina and Bolivia in January follow us along our journey.
We arrive at 4:30 p.m. - it is a dry, dusty nondescript town.
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