so im actually in Salta, Argentina right now but i think chile deserves a few words.
So after Potosi where i did the cooperative mine tour (fucking cool) and was stuck for an extra night cuz the buses to uyuni were full, i went to Uyuni (bumpy road on a bus that had lots of people sitting in the aisles). In Uyuni i booked a tour 3 day tour on the Salar de Uyuni (worlds largest salt flats) with transfer to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. Uyuni is a middle of nowhere town with an edge of the world feel to it and very cold to boot. Strangely i found a pizza place owned by an American from Amherst, Mass. who married a Bolivian chick and set up shop in Bolivia. Goood pizza and he even hooked me up with a free salad. Next day it was 9 people stuffed in an old toyota land cruzer 4x4 with all of our crap strapped to the roof. Driver, cook (both bolivians), 3 folks from spain (although one guy insisted that he was Catalan, and not spanish), 2 british guys (one who was a real character), and one french guy who always spoke in portuguese. My group was really fucking cool and we got along real well. It made me realize that its always all about the people your arround.....people make or break tours, cities, you name it. So the salt flats were amazing and we even road up on top of the roof of the car cuz it was so flat...probably not the safest thing, but hey its bolivia. We did lots of driving (all off road) which was punctuated by frequent stops for photos n such. The sceanery on this tour was some of the best ive seen in south america, and quite frankly the best ive seen in my life....certiantly a highlight of my trip. The second night we slept in a mudbrick shelter and it was freezing outside, but luckly i had my super warm sleeping bag (thanks dad). The next morning, we got up at 5am to see the sun rise at the geothermal gysiers. That was some of the coldest weather ive ever experienced. No matter how many socks i put on my toes could not get warm...and even with all of my warmest cloths on i couldnt stay outside for more than 5 min. So we saw a cool sunrise and some wicked gysiers, then we found a natural hot spring and i could finally give my frozen toes some relief. Some people go all the way in the hot spring, which i didnt do cuz when they got out of the hot spring their hair froze instantly....i remember the dredlocks of the Catalan guy were frozen solid, and he wasnt outside that long either. So then we checked out some red lakes, some green lakes, lakes of borax (a chemical), all of which were frozen and had pink flamingos standing arround eating something. Cool mountains, rock formations, and volcanos to boot. So then we arrifved in San Pedro de atacama, chile which was very very expensive, and the customs people took my shakers that i bought in bolivia, which were made of pigs feet. So at first my impression of chile was negative, but the french guy showed us a cool hostal/campground where we camped (i borrowed a shitty tent) and met some nice Chileans that we drank lots of Pisco/Pepsi (pisco is a grape brandy...very popular in chile and peru) around the camp fire. Then we went to this outdoor party near the irrigation river. It was full of Chiliean college students who were chillin there for the weekend. There was lots of reagee music, compliments of peoples car stereos and hand drumming, (which i gladly took part in) going on around the huge campfire. I had lots of Pisco that night and had a hard time walking in a straight line back to my tent. It was a blast! NExt day me and the Catalan (Alberto)and Nick the british guy went mountain biking to something called devils mouth, which we never encountered and crossed the same river about 15 times, getting my boots/feet soaked in the process. Next day, we went mountain biking again, but this time to the Valley of the Moon which was this crazy desert terrain with crazy rock formations and a wicked sunset. That was a long and hard bike ride...and on the way back it was pitch black. Next day (sunday) i caught a bus to salta, where i am now. I have to say, its nice to be Argentina, where the food is good, the prices are cheap, the women are hot, and well, life is good. Going to mendoza to go snowboarding in a few days....i cant wait, im so excited.