Uyuni, Bolivia

Clock tower at the end of Plaza Arce.

Overdue for some polish on the hiking boots.

Coca leaves were chewed and coca tea consumed to alleviate the effects of altitude.

Cute Bolivian girl in Uyuni.

Local market where we replenished fruits and vegetables before heading out.

Travelling across the blinding white Salar de Uyuni salt desert.

Workers earn 100 Bolivianos [$15CDN] per week shovelling salt into small cones for collection and transport - much like shovelling snow at home.

Salt flats dry into hexagonal tiles up to a meter across.

Playing silly mind games in the blinding whiteness.

We stayed in a salt hotel - walls, tables, chairs, beds all constructed from blocks of salt - similar to the ice hotel in Sweden.

Unique roof construction from local materials.

We should have brought a Canadian flag.

Isla de Pescado - a hilly outpost covered in flowering cactus.

On we drive in the 4x4 Landcruisers .....

..... alone for kilometers in all directions .....

..... our group of Kiwis, Auzzies, Brits, Swiss and Canucks.

Long shadows as the sun sets and the temperature plummets.

Refuelling the 4x4 with no services for hundreds of kilometers.

Just some of the numerous mountainscapes surrounding the salt flats up to 6000 meters high.

The disc brake assembly could not be repaired and was left on the road as the driver / mechanic reinstalled the front wheel. We continued for a day and a half with only rear brakes.

Pink flamingos were a complete surprise in this otherwise colorful yet desolate high altitude region.

Sulphurous gases and boiling mud pots at Sol de Manana geyser basin.

Termas de Polques hot springs at 35C for an early morning soak at 4000 meters.

A stop in the Salvador Dali Desert.

Laguna Verde - an aquamarine lake with volcanic geology behind.

The Bolivian border crossing with one official, no washroom facilities and no  phone connections - we waited an hour for transportation to arrive from the Chilean side to continue our overland journey south.

Potosi, Bolivia

A door along the streets of Potosi - the world's highest city over 4000 meters - founded in 1545.

Infrastructure in need of modernizing - however satelite based WiFi works well.

The cooperative silver mine allowed the city to grow to the wealthiest city in Latin America - underwriting the Spanish economy for two centuries. Today 16,000 miners still work the mine with low technology dynamite, picks, shovels and push carts.

Sol - our guide - holding a stick of dynamite still routinely used by the miners.

Entering the mine donned in boots, jackets, hard hats and miners lights.

We walked, hunched over much of the time, and crawled for 3 hours.

Miners chew coca leaves all day long to alleviate stress and hunger.

Raw material to be transported by push cart to the surface.

Acidic formations dripping from the mine shaft ceiling.

A vertical vein of silver and zinc above our heads.

Offerings of alcohol, cigarettes and coca leaves are made by the miners at the end of each day for safety and good production.

A small cafe with good cappucinos on the edge of the main square in Potosi.

Sizzling steak dinner washed down with a Huari Bolivian beer at the end of a long day at the silver mine.

Sunset overlooking a church bell tower from the window of our hostel.

Lake Titicaca, Bolivia

On route from La Paz to Lake Titicaca the bus had to cross a smaller lake via barge.

Approach to Copacabana on the shore of Lake Titicaca.

Moorish style cathedral housing the scared Virgen de Bolivia .....

..... colorful arched and domed ceilings .....

..... candles were lit in a damp, dark stone hall.

Festival decorations at a local kiosk.

Lake Titicaca - saphire blue - the largest high altitude lake in the world - straddles Peru and Bolivia.

Isla del Sol - birthplace of the sun in Inca mythology - where we stayed a night.

View of the lake from our hostal at 4000 meters [13,000 feet].

Hiking above the shore of Isla del Sol.

Inca ruins - from this vantage point they would track the sun during the year against the backdrop of the Peruvian Andes.

Bolivian woman on the hillside.

Home brew that we were invited to share - very smooth citrus flavour.