I have heard people describe Argentina, Buenos Aires in particular, as very European. I had never properly understood this whilst travelling the country. I gained insight however, when I crossed the border into Bolivia.
Dust rises off the roads covering the streets with an opaque blanket of haze. The single story houses with corrugated roves stretch out into the distance in straight cloudy lines, the mountainous desert casting a desolate backdrop. The most immediately striking difference here though, is the people. Women who wear a distinct traditional dress and are known as 'cholas'. They push their carts laden with goods, mostly food or contraband electrical products. Two long, black plaits swing across the multi-coloured sacks on their shoulders. They wear several layers on skirts that reach their shins and black bowler hats rest high upon their heads. There is simply no comparison with the fashion conscious women of Argentine cities.
Tired, full of cold and a little overwhelmed by the dramatic border, I didn't like Bolivia at first. It wasn't long though until the beautiful desert landscape with its contrasting blue skies captivated me.
Our purpose in south west Bolivia was to take a tour of the salt flats. We made our way to the town of Uyuni from where we booked our three day trip.
Day one involved our visit to the Salar de Uyuni, a vast and shimmering lake of dried salt. It is the largest salt flat in the world, sparkling salt crystals as far as the eye can see creates a breathtaking natural attraction. We visited a working salt factory on the flats where we observed locals treating and packaging the salt. Surprisingly none of the salt extracted from the lake is exported. The staggering quantity producing each day is for Bolivian consumption only. I knew I had noticed a particularly salty nature to my food.
Our journey through the salt flats and surrounding areas was a magical one. We came across an island of cacti marooned on a sea of brilliant salt, steaming volcanoes, lagoons of the most spectacular shades of blue, green and red, all in a lunar landscape like no other.
The tour was no mean feat. By night we slept in the most basic of refuges, with no heating and no electricity after 9pm. It reached -28 degrees one night making sleep impossible. The thought of getting out of our sleeping bags to visit the bathroom struck terror into our hearts. The promise of more however got us through the night and back into the jeep each morning. We returned to Uyuni sleep deprived and in need of a good wash but delighted to find that Bolivia was in no way comparable to Europe.
Gabriella Griffith is a freelance journalist chronicling her discoveries exclusively for scotsman.com. Watch this space for a series of tales to come of her world travels.
Laguna Canapa
Laguna Verde with the Licancabur volcano
Salar de Uyuni
The full article contains 488 words and appears in scotsman.com newspaper.
