The windows freeze and we can see icicles. The sunrise is not exactly what we expected after getting up so early and since the car is still only powered by one wheel we are going very slow. Ohr first stop is at the fumaroles, the steaming mudholes that smell like rotten eggs. In the morning sun it looks really great.
1h later we get to a lake with a natural hot tub on the edge. The girls go in while the guys stay outside to organize a differnet car to take them and the Dutch girls to the Chilean border after this.
The hot tub is really cool, well hot! and I don't want to get out anymore. One of the reasons is because there is no place to change and everybody has to do this outside with the wind in the still chilly morning.
This is where we leave the 4 others. They are getting a different transportation to the border since our car is still not working properly and this way we can go straight back to Uyuni with Franz and our one-wheel powered animal :)
We are going in the opposite direction from everybody else and I am not sure whether this is so good since we will not be able to pull the car out of the sand if we get stuck again. Franz is driving more careful now, talks more and offers plenty of picture stops.
Arzu has some stomache issues and tries to sleep although we are shaken to the bones again. Our first "horsetrip" in La Paz seems like a smooth ride now. The "roads" he is driving can only be guessed by us, but Franz knows what he is doing and if he thinks it is a road then it is. We pass a point where Franz tells us we are at 4950m! There is snow! From here it is downhill.
We see Lamas, other animals with a name I don't remember and even emus. All of a sudden the landscape is green and it looks a little like in Iceland. At 11 we stop in a town called Vila Vila, in the middle if the desert and Franz is preparing our lunch while we are very happy to have a clean bathroom with running water. We use it extensively. After a couple of days in the desert you are happy with the small things I guess, :)
After lunch we are in the red valley. Here we have weird rock formations, a lion eating a lama. But some of us are not interested in that right away. They have other business to attend to. What happens at the lion and the lama stays there :)
Once we are down from the mountains and everything is green, there are rivers and we have to go through quite a few with the car, no bridge.
At around 1 the shaking stops and we are on a paved road. The car made it and got better while we got down from the insane altitude. But the happiness about the paved road only lasts for a couple of minutes and we are back on a dirt road. This will go on and off until Uyuni now. We pass San Cristobal which is a big mining town. Now we are the minibus. First we pick up an old woman and once we let her off, we pick up a guy. Franz finally has someone to talk to and I dry my bikini on the hot seat while I move closer and closer to Arzu's shady side.
At 3pm we are back in Uyuni and Franz drives us to the hotel the Dutch girls recommended because it has Wifi. :) We need it urgently to check if the flight was confirmed or whether we have to go on the bus again at 8. I cannot get Wifi in the hotel and so I run across the street to the internet cafe. Everything is dark. There is a citywide blackout and it will last for another hour. So we have to wait.
2h later we still have no power and just when I start texting ny sister to check my email, the lights go on and so does the signal. I have an email saying the flight is confirmed but we have no reservation code or eticket number. We also cannot do online checkin, so we figure out that there is an Aerea linea Amaszonas office in Uyuni conveniently located 3min from the hotel. They are open and 30 min later we have our boarding passes. Things are a bit slower here, yes.
Now we can check into the hotel and finally get out of the dirty clothes, take a shower and find some food.
It seems like there are only Italian restaurants in Uyuni and so Pizza it is. They have a wood stove abd wine by the glass. A perfect night.
Coming back to the hotel we try to organize a taxi for 5:40 to take us to the airport. We had asked the lady in the hotel but noone is around anymore when we get back to tell us whether they reserved one or not. Let's see whether it will work out...
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