Salar de Uyuni and Death Road

No photoshop here... Just one huge salt flat (biggest in the world, actually) which allows tourons to stand in the salt and dream up ¨look at me in my girlfriends hand¨ pictures. For those that have never heard of it, the Salar, as locals call it, is a few hundred miles long and up to 60 feet deep. Everything here is made of salt.... Salt churches, salt hotels, salt tables, chairs, you name it. In the dry season the flat is solid white until the horizon, but in the wet season water fills the flat to a few feet, creating a perfect mirror image.... And a tricky situaton for said tourons in jeeps.

We spent 3 days driving along the flats and the rest of southern Bolivia. Eight of us crammed into one jeep made for some long miles, but the scenery was pretty spectacular and well worth the discomfort. Where else can you see flamingoes at 13,000 ft above sea level, bright green lagoons so rich with minerals they don´t freeze until -10 farenheit, or cactus islands surrounded by hundreds of miles of white nothingness?

Further along we spied a mummy, lovely hot springs, and a few amazing rock formations.















THE WORLD´S MOST DANGEROUS ROAD

First off, I would like to thank everyone for the enormous amount of love and support. The cards, flowers, and gifts were overwhelming and no doubt played a major role in my speedy recovery.

Two days post illness mer and I joined a group of gringos to ride bikes down the most dangerous road in the world. The road starts around 16,000 feet above sea level and drops 15,000 feet to sleepy Coroico. A few bushes are all that protect you from falling thousands of feet to your death.... Of more concern are the throngs of tourist on poorly maintained bikes all racing to get to the bottom. Needless to say, there were lots of macho guys slapping the gravel at 30 mph.

After a few hours we arrived in Coroico, which was bustling with La Pazites (La Pazians?, La Pazers?). So bustling in fact, there was not one single hotel room to be had-luckily a nice local was willing to let us sleep on the concrete foundation of his future home. Yummy.

I would love to add a few pics for your enjoyment, but the 20 computers in this cafe all going through one phone port is a bit frustrating.