After getting down from Huayna Potosi and back to La Paz Wednesday lunchtime, I spent the afternoon re-organising my back pack which was a very slow job, mostly because my brain was broken after the hike. I grabbed some dinner in the hostel and jumped on an 8pm bus bound for Uyuni which arrived shortly before 6am Thursday morning. I grabbed some coffee and breakfast before negotiating the tour companies to try and get a seat on a 4×4 heading out for the salt flats later that morning. I eventually booked with Andes Salt Expeditions because they had the best online reviews for that particular price range. 

Luckily I nabbed the front seat as the others, one couple and one trio, wanted to sit beside each other in the back. That day we visited the train graveyard just outside Uyuni before making tracks for the salt flats.

 After getting lots of photos our guide Alberto served up a decent lunch from the boot of the jeep. Quinoa, veg and some sort of deep fried egg thing for me with a banana for dessert. 

Next stop was an island covered in cactii in the middle of the salt flats where we wandered around for an hour before continuing to the salt hotel we’d be stopping in for the night. Again, I lucked out and got my own room as the others bunked together – the first time I’d have a bed and privacy since I left Ireland! I went to bed straight after dinner as the last few days had caught up with me hard and I slept through from 8.30pm to 6.30am. 

Friday we set off at 7.30am and the drive through the desert was spectacular. We were always surrounded by volcanoes and stopped at several lagunas which were full of flamingos. 

We also saw some amazing lava rock formations which had been degraded by the harsh desert winds. Naturally we tried to climb one of them but I failed miserably, ending up on my arse in the sand. 

That evening was much the same as the one before but we had wine and stayed up playing cards. A local girl took a shine to our group and ended up eating a good amount of my dinner while sitting on my lap. 

Saturday morning was a 4.30am start to see some geysers at sun rise and make it to some hot springs before the tourist rush. It was freezing and we didn’t hang around outside the jeep taking photos for too long. Getting into the hot springs was just divine and by the time we got out the day had warmed up a bit. 

Next stop was the Chilean border for the three of us continuing to San Pedro. Alberto left us as Bolivian emigration where we took a minivan to San Pedro de Atacama and made our way through Chilean immigration. We were dropped near the centre of town and went our separate ways to find places to stay. I found a lovely campsite called Casa Campestre, a short walk away from the main street. It wasn’t any cheaper than staying in one of the lower end hostels but it had a gorgeous living area, kitchen and garden and I’d gotten used to having the privacy of my tent. I set up camp and went into town for some lunch and to make a plan for the next few days. San Pedro is a very nice little town with gorgeous cafes and shops. I’ve spent quite a bit of money on food alone since I arrived in Chile!

On Sunday I slept late and had a very long, lazy breakfast and lunch session in a cafe called Barros. I rented a bike in the afternoon and headed for Valle de la Meurte and Valle de la Luna, two parks with incredible views of the Atacama Desert. 

The cycling was pretty tough going and after five hours of buzzing around I was shattered. I horsed down some veggies and a very large empanada in Todo Natural (amazing food) where I bumped into some guys I’d met during the salt flat tour and went to my sleeping bag at 10.30pm with the intention of waking at 5.30am to cycle to some hot springs. However I turned that alarm off as soon as it rang, slept until 8am and went to a yoga class instead. I spent the rest of Monday pottering around San Pedro, eating and napping in a hammock before getting a bus in the evening to Santiago.

After a 22 hour bus ride I’m now in Santiago waiting to catch a flight to Sydney tomorrow. I’m taking a small break from my big break to visit some of my favorite people before continuing my Chilean adventure in October.