OWEN AROUND THE WORLD: March 2007

Another planet

The Salar de Uyuni is certainly one of the most incredible places, if not the most incredible place, I have been to on my trip... I completed my trip around Cafayate, seeing some Inca ruins at Quilmes, taking in more stunning landscapes and a few vineyard visits before getting back to Salta. From there I made a quick stop in Purmamarca, where I had the tastiest llama steak ever, before crossing into Bolivia. This whole area has some really incredible scenery, with multicolored mountains from the various types of minerals in the rocks, deserts with Daliesque rock formations, and then these salt flats, the remains of dried up lakes.

The tour I took headed out from Tupiza, 2 hours inside the Bolivian border for 4 days of bumping around in a jeep, getting around the various, lagunas, volcanos, flamingo colonies, geysers, and eventually the salar. It was painful at times, not least because of all the dust you breathe in as you shake about on the dirt tracks, but I definitely felt like I was seeing some of the most dramatic landscapes on the planet. I was doing the tour with a french girl, a german guy and a norwegian couple which worked out well. The Norwegians come from the most northern town on the planet where its dark for 3 months of the year, so it was interesting to hear about that.

The Salar de Uyuni really feels like you are on another planet. There is just white salt around you for as far as you can see, and the horizon is blurred in places where the salt flats are covered with water and the sky and the salt flats melt into one. Here and there you have an island covered in cactuses, one of the ones we saw is suppost to be 1200 years old. It is entirely surreal.

From Uyuni, I have made it up to Potosi, famous for the one of the biggest silver mines in the world, a huge source of wealth for the Spanish. The town was once bigger than London or Paris as people flocked form all over the world to get rich, and you can visit the mines. I did and they are horrendous, there is absolutely no concept of safety, and when I was inside I really felt like it was a silly thing to do, to take the risk of being inside, although admitedly it is extremely interesting to see what sort of conditions the people work in there. The dust inside make breathing extremely difficult, gas from dynamite explosions burn your throat, and you're always wondering if the thing is going to cave in. When I saw the light at the end of the tunnel as we made our way out, it really made my day. I'll put some pics of the mines up soon...

The Inca ruins at Quilmes