Day 61 – Uyuni

Superior class buses are not quite up to the standard of those in Peru, co-incidentally I came to this unhappy realisation at the start of the longest bus journey I have had to do on this trip (12 hours). It didn't help that the paved road ended two hours out of La Paz and the remainder was a pot-hole ridden track that was rougher than a Hungarian shot putter.

We arrived in Uyuni at 7am. At 7.02am we vowed to leave as soon as possible. Our instant dislike of the town was to prove incredibly perceptive.

Having met the rudest hotel receptionist on the continent, he loudly and dramatically groaned after we asked to see a room, then refused to give us a receipt claiming he did not have a receipt book – until Ciara pointed to one on the desk then finally declared that he had no change for the 100 Boliviano note I gave him until I took it back and said I would pay later – then he found some. He was hilarious.

We met the Canadians who relayed a similar story of having sat in a a cafe for 25 minutes and although asking three times had failed to even get a menu. The next cafe we tried was slightly better despite a poor start when we asked "Can we get some coffee' and the waiter answered with a simple 'No' and strode away.

Having been given the sort of welcome a seal-clubber gets at a Vegan Friends of the Earth Lentil Cooking Jamboree we were not enthralled by the idea of having to hunt around town for a decent tour company. As luck would have it we found someone who must have been from out of town – though god knows what compelled her to stay – as she was both helpful and friendly. We booked a tour with her before she turned into a pumpkin.

Unless you have passion for rude service or mud-brick buildings there really is only one reason to visit Uyuni and that is the salt lake which is the highest and largest in the world. The lake is vast – and I say vast purely because I have no idea how big it actually is. We drove for three hours across the white, flat landscape which was an amazing and unique sight, reflecting that this would be a supremely bad place to break down just as our jeep spluttered... then shuddered... and stopped.

We laughed the laugh you do when there is nothing to laugh at, however our driver seemed in good spirits and simply said 'We'll stop here for lunch'. As we ate a truly spectacular lunch of chicken and avocado pasta our driver set about the task of kicking tyres, wiggling pipes and bashing parts until we were back up and running.

We visited a fabulous cactus covered island and were all suitably awe-inspired enough not to let the breakdown or the impending three hour return trip discourage us. On the return drive although clearly lost our spirits remained high amidst such spectacular surroundings – still I must admit to breathing a huge sigh of relief when we at last found a road.

In the evening another of God's creatures met its maker for my dinner and amusement. After being aromatically spiced, the llama was put on a pizza base with sun dried tomatoes, oven roasted and absolutely delicious.