Day 98: Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

“Oooooohooohooahhhhahahahhh!“ Everyone jerked their heads to see an old man who had an uncanny resemblance to Jepeto (you know, Pinocchio`s father) and was wearing only a tiny Speedo that was struggling to retain its contents especially beneath a bulging hairy belly. He had taken the plunge into the hot springs and was apparently feeling the harsh contrast between the frigid air and the hot water. It must have been close to 20 degrees farenheit but plenty of brave (or crazy?) people stripped down right outside and jumped into the hot springs. Everyone in the water swore up and down that it was worth it…but they all also swore they`d never get out! Lin was smart enough to stay fully clothed but Saben braved it only up to his knees on the edge of the pool.

Lin, not in the hot springs

Hot springs at sunrise

The geysers we had seen shortly before coming to the hot springs were really small and not interesting in the least. They certainly weren`t worth getting up at 4:15AM to see! Today was a driving day, venturing over the worst of the “roads“ we`d yet been on. We went through the desert, over the mountains, through the valleys, crossing a few streams, and finally back to town. We stopped for the Rock Tree (more exciting in pictures), the Valley of Rocks, and at a few more lakes. By this time, we both felt completely disinterested and sick of being on the tour. We badly wanted (and certainly needed, phew!) showers and just wanted to be permanently out of that jeep. The drive was the most beautiful of all the tour and continued to move Bolivia up to our favorite and most beautiful country we`ve yet been to.

Rock tree (oohh, aahh)

Jeep in the vast desert

Sulfer lake

Back in Uyuni around 7PM, we had just enough time to eat dinner and buy bus tickets to La Paz. Oh hurray, more driving!