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cheating the bolivians

day 2 and I'm amazed that we've seen so little signs of human life. there are people living EVERYWHERE in south america - but on the altiplano, at 4500m, finally the earth serves up conditions too extreme for humans. when you do see signs of crumbling houses, it's even more remarkable. the other thing I notced is there are no airplanes (it's like the day after 9/11 in the states). actually I'll have to start watching for this but I think there are hardly any airplanes in south america, the bus system is too good & cheap.

we have to show our ticket again to get into the park. I've totally lost mine...I'm still so brain-dead sometimes! and I so do not want to pay again. Mica, the fast thinking german, rips off her punched corner, slips her ticket back to me, I fake looking for a few more seconds, then ¨aha - I found it!¨ I actually think the bolivian guard knew what happened but really didn't care. either way, it worked and we were on our way!

variations on the same scenery continue and I'm so NOT tired of it. we're surrounded by new and old volcanoes. there are these random patches of boulders that clearly exploded out of them - how cool would that be to see?? one area was called roca de dali in honor of salvador dali. I just need to see a metling clock and I'm in the painting. I wanted to run around the rocks, but any extra effort is stupid at these heights.

after 2 days, I'm getting used to the roads - a good stretch is where we find the washboard sweet spot & the bouncing changes - sort of like when a horse finally switches from trotting to cantor. I'm having fun trying to write in the jeep - I think I'll create a font called ¨bumpy roads¨.

today we go through canyons and rock formations that remind me so much of moab, except add in the altitude and the volcanoes and it's distinctly bolivia. after 2 days of rock, we see green valleys and water, and as a result, people. they are growing quinoa and llamas. we stop to take picks of llamas in a canyon-lined valley. one of the girls accidentally steps in muddy water that has more than just mud, if you know what I mean (zapato mierda).

a few more hours in the jeep and we get to the edge of the salar! you can see it off in the distance. someday I'll paint the stripes of color from sky to land: blue, white, tan, brown-green. out of no where cactus appear. our hostel has bricks made of salt! we get hot water (ok, warm), meat for dinner, $1 beers and an amazing sunset - the whole world turned pink.

I toasted the sunset with one bad bolivian cigarette - still the free ones from the israeli girls in chile. I really don't want it (lie), but I heard cigarettes last forever at these altitudes. so really this is more science experiment than feeding a habit...at least I don't need coffee anymore...!

tomorrow is the salar de uyuni!!!!!

ps - last night I dreamt about jelly fish and minnesota

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