A four-hour bus ride today took me from Potosí to the desert town of Uyuni through dramatic scenery (pic) way up at 4000m. Until a couple of years ago it was a winding, bumpy dirt track with sheer drops, but is now smooth tarmac with, I'm glad to say, crash barriers...
...and road signs (pic) telling you to beware of llamas (or are they alpacas?).
They're not joking (pic). We went past herds and herds of them, often casually strolling across the road in front of us. Perhaps those crash barriers are to keep the llamas (or are these vicuña?) at bay, as well as preventing bus plunges.
Sometimes the bus stopped in what felt like the middle of nowhere (pic). Where on earth do these people live?
In some places, mineral deposits coloured the mountains red, purple or light green (pic). All very unearthly. Indeed, parts of the desert looked more like Mars. Except for the lines of electricity pylons, maybe. And the llamas. Or are they guanaco?
Finally, the remote town of Uyuni appeared, adrift in the middle of the desert (pic). Time for a llama burger. And yes, I definitely mean llama.
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