Day 384: 2011年8月12日

Salar de Uyuni
38,923km












今日は朝6時半に起きて朝日を見に行きました。ランクルで塩原まで出て朝日を待ちます。それにしても寒い!!　早く朝日よ出てきておくれ!!　しばらく待つと段々と明るくなってきました。そして太陽が顔をチラッと出しました!!　ウユニ塩原で見る朝日は格別です。

しかし陽が出てもまだ寒い。一旦宿に戻ります。途中、水が鏡張りになっていて美しい。フラミンゴも朝から出張ってます。奴等は夜を何処で過ごすのでしょうかね。凍死とかしないのかな？

宿で朝飯。そしてランクルで山を上がって行きます。途中でミイラの洞窟に入る為のチケット40ボリ（グループで）を購入ししばらくランクルで上がります。


山の途中でランクルを停めてそこから徒歩で登山が始まります。湖畔から見えた頂上は丘で見えなくなりました。登り道はガレ場で結構歩きにくいです。250ccか400ccのダートバイクで登ったら楽しそうですね、この山。

結構登りはキツイ。頂上は5,400メートル以上だそうですが、ワシ等は（ガイド曰く）5,000メートルくらいの見晴台まで、とのこと。しかし流石に5,000メートルはないでしょう。何度か呼吸を整えながら登ります。

ようやく見えなくなっていた頂上が見えました!!　と、思ったらそこが目的地の見晴台。確かに風景は格別です。が、また言います、5,000メートルはないでしょう。ここでしばらく休憩し下山します。

下山したらもう昼時。宿に戻り昼飯を食べて今度は塩原の真ん中辺りに車を進めます。
















ここら辺は本当に白いですね。塩の結晶も他の場所よりしっかりとしています。トリック写真を撮ったり、塩の結晶を取ってきたり。それにしても凄いところですねここは。


それから「塩原の目（Ojos de Salar）」に向かいます。ここは真水が湧き出ているところ。コロラド川とグランデ川が塩原の底で混ざり合い、ここから湧き出ているのだとか。イマイチガイドの説明は納得できないものがありましたが、とにかく水が湧き出てます。

ウユニの街に戻り、ツアー終了。ウユニ塩原、素晴らしいですね。ここは是非訪れて欲しいところです。

穂高岳旅行社に戻りバスまで時間をつぶします（出発は8時）。カフェに行ったり、夕飯を食べたり。ワシ、イド氏、タカハシはラパスまで。カナちゃんとユキちゃんはオルロに向かいそこからチリに抜けます。なので2人とはここでお別れです。Buen Viaje!!

バスは往きと同じOmar社。100ボリ。今回は前から2番目の席なので寒くありませんでした。さて、ラパスに帰ったらケンチャンでカツ丼食べよう。


Day 384: 12 AUG 2011

Salar de Uyuni
38,923km

We woke up at 6:30am and hopped on the Landcruiser to the Salar. It was a really really cold morning, but we waited the sun coming up on the salt flat. The horizon was getting blighter and we could see the sun a little bit. "Come on, Sun. Quickly come up and give us heat!!" Then finally the sun was up and we had a great sunrise on Slar de Uyuni. The experience was priceless.

Even though the sun was up, it was still very very cold. We went back to the hostel for breakfast. On the way back, we stopped at the lagoon. Those flamingos were already in the action. I wondered where they stayed the night and if they wouldn't be frozen to death??  The mirror reflection of the mountains on the lagoon was really beautiful.

After breakfast, we took off to climb up "Volcan Tunupa". The Landcruiser took us up until where the walking track started. We had to buy a ticket - 40Bs for a group - to enter the cave of mummies. Those mummies were 1,000 years old. I had a mixted feeling to visit the cave as if I were those dead, I would not like to be seen by tourists 1,000 years after my death. But anyway I was there and wathching them....

The guide said we would walk up to the "Mirador (view point)" where the elevation would be around 5,000m!! The peak of the volcano was 5,400m something!! It would be the hard one...

The tack was hard to walk. The soil was very dry and gravels were everywhere. The elevaion of Slar was 3,800m something, so we started to climb up around 4,000m. The air was thin and it was hard to breath. We made a lot of stops and continued climb up.

THe peak of the volcano could be seen from the hotel, but it was hidden behind the hills. But finally the peak re-appeared! and there was the "Mirador". The guide said here would be 5,000m high, but the distance between here and the peak would be more than 500m (I rekoned), so it should not be 5,000m high at the Mirador".

The view was great. We had a good rest up there and started to descend. When we came back to the hostel, it was already lunch time. We had lunch there and took the Landcruiser to the middle of Salar.

The salt in the middle of Slar was whiter than elsewhere. The sarface of the flat was less disturbed I guess. Here we took trick photos and found salt crystals etc. 

The final stop of our trip on Salar was at "Ojos de Salar (The eyes of Salt flat)". Where fresh water came out. According to the guide, there were 2 rivers "Rio Cororado" and "Rio Grande". Those 2 rivers collide underneath of Salar and made a tourbulence. Then water was coming up to the sarface of Salar. We did not really get the mechanism of it, but Salar deUyuni had lots of wonders.

We went back to "Hodaka Mountain" tours. Our bus back to La PAz was on 8pm, so until then we spent time there. Here we had to say good-bye to Kana and Yuki, heading to Chile.

Jose, Takahashi and I took Omar bus (100Bs) at 8pm. As soon as the bus left Uyuni, the collugated dirt road started and the bus vivlated hard, but I managed to sleep well.

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