Picture from my 4-day tour below in subsequent posts.

I booked with Valle Hermoso Tours in Tupiza, Bolivia, having stumbled into their hostal of the same name and been persuaded by the lady at the desk (and all the signs behind her, apparently written reviews from previous loving salar undertakers). Now usually, I abhor tours - I don't like being lugged from place to place with little say - but it'd be pretty much impossible to navigate the huge expanses of the Bolivian antiplano alone. Half the time our 4WD was following obscure tire tracks, crossing rivers (and not little bitch ones like the one I had to cross to get into Bolivia), and managing pretty tough terrain. Plus we had a fantastic cook, Maura, and a very careful driver, Idolfonso. One of the trucks in our caravan did tip over, though, which is definitely a bummer since I wanted to give my unhindered support for Valle Hermoso on par with the unanimous online love for Tupiza Tours, but c'est Sudamerica.

The Bolivian antiplano is the strangest landscape I've ever found myself in. I had to perpetually ask, "wait, what's the science behind this?" in regards to the colored lakes, the strange rock formations (some caused by wind, like EL Árbol de Piedra, and others made of coral from an ocean long gone), the fact that flamingos can survive the freezing temperatures, the hot springs, and of course the salar itself, which has a thick layer of water underneath it (that has permeated there from the rainy season). I um, still don't get the salars really. Wikipedia-ing it now.

A final note on travelling alone: I really do enjoy it. If I'm feeling social, it's really easy to meet other people and connect with them. And once you're tired of telling people where you're from, where you're coming from, and etc, it's really easy to find your own space and wander around and do whatever you want to do without restraint.