Oct 10-24, 2016: Bolivia

Oct 21, 2016.  Day three of tour.  Night bus from Uyuni to La Paz, Bolivia.

• Up at 5 in order to see the geysers at the Sol de Mañana (Morning Sun), which were very active, and this being Bolivia, there were absolutely no safety barriers, so you could stroll amongst the fumaroles and steaming geysers at leisure.  Much more fun than Yellowstone, but no intermittent big-time geysers, like Old Faithful.  

• Then more lakes, one of which had a thermal bath next to it (I resisted the impulse, but the younger generation seemed to take to it).  Again, wonderful colors and landscapes, transparent atmosphere, just magical.  It helps I think that everything is at about 12,000 feet and above.  For one thing, the clouds seem (and in fact are) a whole lot closer.  But for the next several hours it was pretty much a straight shot to Uyuni, 4 to 5 hours in the Toyota, fairly boring scenery, enlivened mostly by lots and lots of llama herds. 

• A stop at some cool rock formations provided me with my second look at the little rabbit-like creature (with a long tail) whose name I'll have to look up: Viscacha!

• Back in Uyuni I purchased my night bus ticket to La Paz (about $45 bucks, pretty darn expensive, but I chose a luxury bus, which was probably a good idea).  Bought a shower at a local ducha place, and, somewhat refreshed, but still very dirty, was in the bus and off to La Paz by 8PM.