South Lipez/ Salar de Uyuni
We were warned, we were going to see great things...
But honestly, we had already seen so many incredible landscapes during our tour of the world that we wondered a little if the show would be up to what was announced. The descriptions were so rave..
So how can we say ?
We were literally dazzled by these landscapes, and this is one of the most beautiful things we have discovered.
The freezing temperatures didn’t spoil our fun too much, even if the cold was present from 4 am to 10 am ... The thermometer went down to - 7 to go up to + 15!!
South Lipez is a desert that includes incredible and famous sites around the world. The color palettes offered by virgin expanses and unlikely geological formations are truly landscapes at the end of the world that have no equivalent in the whole country.
The Uyuni salar is a natural treasure trove of salt deposits.
The white as far as the eye can see of these hopelessly flat desert plains, at an altitude of 3650m, turns into a perfect mirror, and the orange sunrises set sky and earth on fire.
Tupiza
Since yesterday we can hear a noise from time to time on the right front wheel of the motorhome.
Mario, our host, tells us a mechanic who has a good reputation. We walk there and once there, we meet someone who we explain our concern to. He gives us an appointment at the campsite in the early afternoon.
In the meantime, Jack, our driver guide for our 4-day tour, visits us to finalize our itinerary and detail the programme.
Not seeing the mechanic coming, Mario contacts him and it turns out that the person met in the morning was actually just an employee. The owner can not come and gives us an appointment at the garage for the next afternoon.
Jack offers us to bring one of his friends, which we gladly accept.
He arrives in the early evening and with the help of a flashlight he slips under the engine to inspect.
His verdict is simple: the cardan head is defective.
Appointment is made for the next morning at 10 am, which turns into 2 pm ... It is a Bolivian custom ... Appointments are rarely honoured.
The disassembly happens normally and our mechanic leaves with the cardan head to try to find a spare part.
Where can we get this piece? In Argentina, in Tajira on the border with Argentina or in Santa Cruz ...
Wait and See..
It’s Wednesday and we’re going south on Friday.
In the meantime we prepare this trip with this repair in mind.
The way down to the south
We take the road in the opposite direction and cross the suburbs of La Paz without too many difficulties.
We have 800 km to cover before reaching "Tupiza" on an asphalt road ... a real pleasure!!!
The first day is monotonous, we ride through landscapes without much interest on a national straight line ... We are using the fifth gear ... a feat for several weeks!!!
Our evening stop is in the middle of the course on the main square of a large village and in front of the police.
The second day is completely different, we are in the Altiplano.
This mythical region of Bolivia means «high plains» in Spanish and represents today, almost 4000 meters above sea level, the highest inhabited region of the world after the plateau of Tibet. This mythical region spans Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and Chile.
Most of it is in Bolivia and extends from the Royal Cordillera north of La Paz to the extreme south of the country, on the Chilean and Argentine borders.
From now on, the landscapes follow one another through vast expanses of desert, grandiose and saturated with a multitude of colors ... A taste of our future journey.
We stop at "Uyuni" a starting point for the Southern Bolivian circuit.
We find Anette and Robert, German campers, met several times from Peru, who advice us a service station that accepts foreign vehicles.
We take a quick lunch because the city is dusty and not attractive.
We arrive in Tupiza where we settle down in a hotel-camping near the city center where our German friends are already settled.
ROAD BOOK 154
MAVROS ODYSSEE