Bolivia - Hot Springs!

We were up at four-thirty for the final day of our tour.  Do you remember the thin layer of ice on the window sill the night before?  By morning time, it was a glacier.  An hour later, we were in the jeep, which had been running throughout our breakfast, with no heat.  The poor engine could barely focus on keeping the car going without having to worry about our chattering teeth.  I am not normally a cuddly person, but when Kerri leaned over for my body heat, I was grateful.  

Our first stop was at a couple of fumaroles, an ethereal, though stinky, sight in the middle of nowhere.  

Trying to warm my hands by the fumaroles.

After two hours of driving, our feet were frozen and we were miserable.  Finally, we arrived at the hot springs.  Getting undressed and changed into a bathing suit was torture, but thank goodness we did.  As the sun rose over the adjacent lake, we thawed our bodies out in the deliciously warm waters.  Best....feeling....ever!  There was a party-like atmosphere as all the tourists once again came to life, and laughing could be heard echoing off the mountains.  The girls' changing room was hazy due to steam rolling off our heated bodies, and we all gleefully climbed back into the jeeps to begin the six-hour ride back to Uyuni.

I didn't need my ski cap on but couldn't bear to take it off before getting into the water.

We stopped at a lake with llamas grazing for a while and some amazing rock formations, Italia Perdida, named for looking like a giant city with cathedrals.  

To show just how gargantuan these formations are, that is me in the rock's crevice.


That night after pizza, we bought a bottle of Bolivian wine to celebrate our survival (Ummmm...I do NOT recommend Bolivian wine.) and watched Uyuni celebrate its 126th year anniversary with a parade.  The parade consisted of groups of people from surrounding villages walking through the main street in town.  Seeing enough of the parade, we retreated to the warmer temperature of our hotel room to finish the wine.  It was a wonderful evening.