Bolivia Part 2 - The nightmare trip

Well I've suffered from some of the setbacks that can hit you as a budget solo backpacker here in Bolivia. Everything was going great until i arrived in-10C city of Uyuni, the jumping off point for the Salar de Uyuni 3 day 4WD tours (amazing deserts, salt flats, mountains, lagoon scenery etc).

The tour started off bad and just got worse with every minute. The guide/driver was terrible - a senile old man with no teeth who hardly spoke a word, just mumbled a few indecipherable words of spanish every now and again. The cook was hopeless, she got so drunk the first night that she had to be shaken awake and then she didnt serve us any breakfast. The car was the oldest and most uncomfortable of all that we saw, and was freezing cold and full of dust consistently.

Luckily the people i was with were really good fun - 4 canadian girls and 1 british guy. we had all booked thru different agencies though so we were all told slightly different itineraries!! and the girls had booked a 4 day tour but Peter and I just 3 days - the organisation was terrible!!!

But the worst thing is my health. The sore throat I woke up with in Uyuni (the hotel had no heating) rapidly descended into much worse. The dust in the bus, the freezing cold, and the consistently high altitudes of around 4500-5000+m was making it really difficult for me to breathe and swallow. The first nights accom was all 6 of us in a shoebox right next to the kitchen so all night and morning we were choked by smoke. No heating or hotwater of course. The second night was worse - at 4350m, about -15C outside and again no heating or anything. By this time i had lost my voice and wheezed and panted as I tried to breathe. The Canadians and Peter helped with medications (not once did the guide or cook ask how i was!!), but nothing much helped.

Although the scenery was amazing I didnt quite enjoy it as much as I should have. And because our car was so slow, we were always last to each sight and spent little time there. Many sights we missed out altogether. When we returned to Uyuni we each complained to our respective agencies and i was pleased enough to negotiate in Spanish for them to pay for my return ticket to La Paz (only about $US12 - the cost of the tour was $80). The Canadians were aiming for more since of course the guide informed us on the last night that there was no way we could split the passengers up into other cars and that we would all have to return after 3 days. In Uyuni it was freezing cold again and i was having trouble walking, breathing and carrying anything. I was sick from both ends in disgusting toilets and just wanted to get out of there. The nice tourist bus that Peter was going on was full so I had to get on the cheapest one. It was full, uncomfortable, pretty cold and had no toilet! And it was SOOOO bumpy - I wanted to catch the train back for the first leg out of Uyuni like I had on the way down because it skips the unpaved, bumpy section, but it wasn't leaving until 2 in the morning and I didnt want to wait in freezing Uyuni till then, or worry about a connecting bus 7 hrs later. So the 12hr overnight bus was painful, sitting next to a fat, snoring bolivian who took up half my seat, and whose bag kept dropping down from the rack onto my lap, scaring the shit outta me!

It stopped a couple of times in the middle of the night for toilet breaks, but I was at the back of the bus and I knew it was so freezing outside thatI would be sick again, so I decided to hold on till the morning stop. Unfortunately there wasn't one - supposedly there was meant to be a toilet break every 3 hours - but from 2:30am till 9:00 they just drove past hundreds of gas stations without a flinch. At 8am I couldnt stand it any further as I knew I was about to be sick from both ends again. So guess what- they stop on a side of a cliff and point to some bushes halfway down!! I almost died there!

When I got to the bus terminal I almost collapsed and was still struggling to breathe and swallow. I had some good help from different people at pharmacies with respect to drugs etc, but i couldnt even lift my bag so i was directed to a doctor in the terminal. Of course there was no doctor in, so the ladies at the pharmacy gave me more drugs and called in a doctor. Of course no doctor came and i was getting worse so they called an ambulance, which didnt seem too excessive at the time, given how i felt!

So off in a crazy ambulance with sirens blaring through the manic La Paz traffic to the hospital where I was interrogated by about 15 different doctors and nurses (only one with a basic knowledge of English). Each one asked me the same questions and it was extremely hard each time to answer thru the oxygen mask and without a voice! So I had about 5 injections/needles in my arm, one in my butt, an x-ray and a blood test. After intial concerns of it being bronchitus, they just said it was a bad infection of the throat, together with gastro and the altitude and cold temperatures just made everything worse. So they put me on more medications and I was out of there in about 5-6 hours - all in all it was a fairly professional hospital I would say.

After minor dramas trying to locate my two bags that didn't come with me to the hospital (well my day pack did come with me in the ambulance but it took me a while to find it - the lady from the terminal who accompanied me in the ambulance took it back with her to the terminal but neglected to tell me, or her co-worker who had replaced her as she had finished her shift by the time I got there). Anyway I got them all and checked into a really nice but expensive hotel that the Canadians recommended and that the British guy Pete was staying at aswell. It was so nice to have a comfortable bed, a heater, a clean toilet with paper, a warm shower and a TV. So I ate for the first time in over 24hrs in the hotel restaurant with Pete and crashed out but still had trouble breathing during the night. All day today I just watched TV and kept horizontal as much as possilbe as its the only way to relieve the constant coughing, sneezing, wheezing etc. I ate a beautful breakfast and lunch at the hotel cafe as well - heaps of fresh fruit, orange juice, hot teas and hot soups. Still dont have the energy to go much further yet! I'll probably stay here for at least another couple of days until I feel better - lucky I dont have any plans or any strict timelines. When I do feel better I'll probably head to the jungle to get down from the high altitude here in La Paz and into some warmer weather.

Anyway, it was a long story but now I can say its been "ticked" - the Salar de Uyuni tour:

The stone tree, known famously in a Dali painting

Me in front of the Green Lagoon

Pete and I climbing the "Pringles Tower"

Amazing island full of cactus in the middle of the salt flats

Its hard to explain but its like another planet out here

Baby pink flamingo (not yet pink though...)

The clapped out Landcruiser that got all 6 of us back alive (just!)