We finished our Intrepid Tour on the 23rd of May in La Paz, Bolivia. From the street La Paz reminded us of Hanoi in Vietnam with lots of street vendors and crazy traffic. From above La Paz is like no where else we have ever been or seen. The city has an extensive network of gondolas which connect the major areas. Each of the lines are colour coded with a matching station to make it really easy to navigate. Each line costs 66 cents NZD making it a really cheap way to get incredible views of the city.

We spent the day visiting another ‘moon valley’ and riding the complete network of gondolas before catching an overnight bus to the small town of Uyuni.

Uyuni is the gateway to Salar de Uyuni, the worlds largest salt flat. It is believed to have been a prehistoric lake which dried up leaving 11,000 square kilometres of white salt.

We booked in to a three day, two night tour with the company Salty Deserts who took us to see all of the main sites in a Toyota Land Cruiser.

We visited the salt flats and took the mandatory perspective photos, stayed in a hostel made of salt, visited several colourful lagoons and a strange cactus island, saw incredible desert landscapes and a surprisingly large amount of wildlife. We also enjoyed a natural 38 degree geyser hot spring under the stars which was well needed since the outside temperature was minus 10 degrees.

We learned a lot about Bolivia and how it used to be a rich country due to its silver and mineral mining. The train graveyard we visited showed a glimpse of these times. Several wars between neighbouring countries however have left it one of the poorest countries in South America. This might change in the not so distant future since scientists have discovered that Bolivia has the worlds largest supply of lithium, buried in the salt flats. I hope that the salt flats will not be destroyed in the process of mining this in the coming years.

It would be easy to spend longer in Bolivia as it is super relaxed with friendly locals but as always we have to keep moving. I am writing this in real time 28th of May as we are getting ready to catch a bus back into Peru. We have eight days to get back to Lima where we catch a flight to Panama City to start the Central American part of our trip.