Altiplano to Uyuni

Last night was the coldest night for me on this trip. It was 45 F low which we have had before but I left the down sleeping bags in the loft so I was so cold without them. I woke up at 149 am and watched some TV and went back to bed at 430 am so cold. 

The morning was beautiful and the kids played out in the dirt as usual and groaned when it was time to go. We had a three hour drive ahead of us but on some dirt and some asphalt. It turns out it was mostly dirt and quite of bit of it was washboarded. The asphalt part was glorious but only lasted an hour. 

We stopped to look at the llamas and vicunas. The peaks around us all had snow and were shrouded in clouds. The road crested at almost 14,000 ft. 

We arrived in Uyuni at 130 pm and parked near the mercato and asked for directions for money exchange. Bolivia has had some problems including fuel shortages and shortage of foreign currency to buy fuel. ATM will get you 6 Bolivianos to the US dollar but on the street you can get around 11 Bolivianos to the dollar. And they want crisp new bills without tears. I exchanged $200. 

Flush with Bolivianos we went through the mercato buying fruits and vegetables and eggs and bread.  We also bought some street food.

We went to the supermarket to get some snacks. We went to fill up water from a gas station and then went to another gas station to get gas but there were 20 cars in line already.

Technically foreigners are allowed to cut the line since foreigners are paying more for fuel (3.5 Bob vs 8 Bob) but I still had a quarter tank and wanted to find a car wash but it was Sunday afternoon and everything was closed. We went to Andes Salt expedition tour office to pay for our one day Salar de Uyuni tour we booked for tomorrow. We then headed out to the train cemetery outside of town to camp.

The train cemetery is left over from the age before trucks when Bolivia was transporting ore from mines.

There was also some art sculptures. The kids and wife played outside and I prepped dinner and started swatting the 30 odd flies that flew in.

The weather was hot in the sun but then the rains and wind blew in and it became chilly.

The fly swatting continued after dinner.

Tomorrow we visit the salar rain or shine.