Salar de Uyuni

June 13th

Finally! Finally, after such a long time, we are here. In the mecca for backpackers!

Bolivia.

Every person I have met so far on my journey has described Bolivia as super cheap. Perfect for backpackers on a small budget.

I have been in Bolivia since June 11th with Sarah and Julia.

Another new name? Since the beginning of June, Sarah and I have been traveling with another German person who also didn't want to travel alone and had a similar route as us.

To get back to the cliché about Bolivia, we had already booked accommodation in Tupiza in advance, a small town from where you can book the Uyuni Tour.

The crazy thing was that a hotel cost the same as all the hostels in Tupiza.

Well, if it has to be, then we'll go to a 4-star hotel... I still can't believe that this hotel actually cost 8 euros per night.

After 2 nights in this hotel, I can say: this luxury is not good for me after 5 months of frugal living 😅

It was fortunate that on June 13th at 8 a.m., we finally started the long-awaited Salar de Uyuni tour at the agency called TupizaTours.
The stuff was stored on the roof of a jeep, and our day backpacks were placed on our laps.

We shared the jeep with 2 French people named Floriane (immediately likable) and Mika. We had already met them at the Bolivian border and coincidentally, we had the same accommodation in Tupiza.

If that isn't a good sign for the Uyuni Tour.

The first day was very long. A total of 11 hours...

We made several stops, and at each one, a different picture emerged.

Sometimes there were the craziest rock formations, huge hills with different patterns.
Sometimes the landscape changed to a desert with little dunes and few shrubs.

Totally crazy!!!

And for those of you who think you can quickly find a fully equipped toilet in the middle of nowhere, I'm sorry to burst your bubble.

This is definitely a nature lover's dream.
Just between us, it's not easy to pee when your nose is almost freezing at the wind speed.

Have fun imagining that 😉

We passed several small villages. Most of them consisted of only 10 or maybe 12 small adobe houses. Sometimes just ruins.

How can people live out here in the middle of nowhere and, more importantly, survive? It's a miracle where people live in the most remote corners of the world.

The end of our first day was marked by the ruins of 'San Antonio'. From a slightly elevated spot, the ruins looked gigantic and for me, as a history fanatic, simply perfect.

An older man explained to me what the ruins were all about.
It was a Spanish village from the 18th century, which used to have about 1800 inhabitants.

The most impressive building was once the church. Even today, hundreds of years after its founding, the church is impossible to overlook. It may be partially collapsed, but still impressive.

Throughout the day, Flo, Mika, and we bombarded each other with questions. So I can say that after just a few days, we had already learned a lot about each other.

Both of them are really nice and very funny. It definitely won't be boring with them!

We reached our accommodation in a small village around 7:00 pm.
I used the time to make some progress in my diary. I had neglected it a bit in the past few days.

After dinner, it didn't take long before we retreated to our small, simple room.

Before going to sleep, Julia and Sarah sometimes sang a few songs. Flo occasionally joined in.

Although the lights were already turned off, the night was still filled with Helene Fischer, Christmas songs, and French songs, until we finally fell asleep.