So, at last check-in I was still in La Paz, having just snagged my mail, and thinking gleefully about all the things I could potentially get up to the coming week or so in Bolivia. One big to-do was paying a visit to the famed Salt Flats of Uyuni - apparently one of the most desolate and unique environments on the planet. Crazy wildlife too, including several rare species of flamingo. Also high on my list, as I mentioned earlier, was making the trip over to Potosi - famed as the highest city in the world (4060m). Since the latter was closer, I figured I'd start there, and then cruise southwest through Uyuni and the salt flats on my way toward the Chilean border.
Unfortunately, things aren't exactly peachy in and around Potosi just now - recent disputes regarding borderlines have erupted into violence and other general nastiness. While nearly all of the folks I asked told me that things ought to be calming down fairly soon, they added that I'd probably be wise not to go heading there just yet. That's fine, I could wait (not like I had a choice - bus service into Potosi was frozen until further notice anyway), but rather than hanging around La Paz for another few days, I decided I'd head down the road some to nearby Oruro. A pleasant little town, and railway hub, Oruro has provided me a lovely spot to sit and read and people-watch, and generally kill time waiting for this Potosi thing to blow over.
So, yesterday afternoon (Friday), I ask around about how things are going, and am told that the local government is now in the midst of talks with the concerned parties and that there's a chance things could be settled as soon as Monday. That's great, I think to myself, and have a look at my schedule. OK, so Monday, that's the 16th. Whoa, wait the 16th? My big ferry to the bottom leaves Puerto Montt, Chile on the 20th... that's cutting it a little close, no?
I pull out my map and instantly realize that there is absolutely no way that I will be able to 1) see Potosi (a day or so, minimum), 2) travel south through Uyuni, and visit the salt flats (most tours are at least three days in length), 3) cross the border into Chile, and 4) make the epic journey down to Puerto Montt (nearly two days straight travel in itself) in a mere four days. Seems I'd forgotten just how far I had to go. OK, I thought, so maybe I'll have to forget Potosi this time around. I'll come back when things are a little calmer. There's still the salt flats - that's all I really wanted to see anyway. Surely I can arrange a shorter trip somehow.
Having sliced Potosi off my list, all I had to do now was make it down to Uyuni, have a quick look around the flats and make for the border. It would be tight, but I could do it. I pulled out my guide book and did a little research about train trips from Oruro to Uyuni - apparently a lovely journey through some amazingly raw territory. Unfortunately, due to the relative remoteness of the place, service was pretty sparse, with only a few trains a week; the 1st-Class train departing at 3PM Tuesdays and Fridays, and the 2nd-Class departing at 7PM (well after dark) on Wednesdays and Sundays. At this point, it was about 6PM, on Friday, which meant that not only had I just missed a day-time train leaving earlier that day, but that the next train out of town headed for Uyuni was roughly two days from now, on Sunday evening. It would put me in Uyuni somewhere around 2AM Monday morning.
Well that sucks, I guess I'll have to bus it. I gathered my things and made for the main terminal to see about bus service to Uyuni. As it happens, since most people make this well-known journey by train, bus service is also quite infrequent, with one single overnight bus per day. I asked about prices and was told, that since there was a problem with the road at present, the bus had to make a huge detour, and thus the current fare was something like four or five times the normal rate - far more expensive than the train - and therefore not a very savory option for me at this point.
One moment I'm sitting in Oruro sucking on a delicious coffee while leisurely planning my trip, and the next moment I'm struggling in vain to find a way out of the city and make my boat on time! How the hell was I going to get out of here? I pulled out my guidebook once more and sat to think a minute. Leafing through the various sections on travel in this region, I noticed that some bus lines in Uyuni offered service to Calama, Chile - a little city not far across the border with Bolivia - at 3:30AM on Monday mornings, of all times. That meant that if I were to hang around Oruro until Sunday, and catch that 7PM train, I'd arrive in Uyuni around 2AM, and have an hour and a half to shuffle over to the bus station, and catch that (12-15 hour) bus to Calama!
That might work! By the time I got to Calama, it would be Tuesday (the 17th) afternoon some time, and I'd even have a chance to sleep that night! Plus, I'd still have two full days - Wednesday the 18th, and Thursday, the 19th - to make the massive drive south across the better part of Chile, and arrive in Puerto Montt sometime Thursday night, with plenty of time to catch my ferry the following day (Friday, the 20th).
This absurd blitz of travel has since become Plan A, a rather silly title perhaps, given the fact that there is actually no Plan B. In other words, this had better damn-well work. Thankfully, I can book some of the longer bus trips in advance online, but not the shorter ones. Moreover, since the train station here in Oruro is closed today (Saturday), I'm forced to wait and buy my train ticket on the day of travel - something my guidebook explicitly advises against. I'm hoping that if I arrive first thing in the morning Sunday, and work my magic, I should be fine. Then it's just a matter of whether my night train to Uyuni arrives such that I have enough time to make my 3:30AM bus to Calama. Fingers crossed on that one, I guess.
Anyway, I figured since I'll (hopefully) be on the move for the next week or so, I ought to drop this line now. My ferry is some three days long, so, if this works, the next time you hear from me, I should be pretty near Tierra Del Fuego. Talk to you then!
Wish me luck!
Good luck, friend!
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