In Limbo

Saturday 17 April
Uyuni

We had breakfast and, this being Bolivia, it took ages. It seems that these restaurants are run by one person. And only one person. As in there’s only one person working in the place, doing all the work. So the waitress is the cook. And as a result, everything takes ages, and they only let you order a certain amount of things at a time. So on a table of six people, maybe only three people will be able to order at one point. It adds a whole new dynamic to the restaurant experience that you just don’t get anywhere else.

Anyway once all that kerfuffle was sorted out we booked our tour with the recommended place. We bumped into Jarrod who had turned up this morning as well, so all was well. After that we spent the day buying snacks and provisions for the trip.

There wasn’t much to do after that as Uyuni isn’t exactly a place that’s full of local interest. It’s just a stopover for everything else that’s nearby. So we went to the pub. We had an almuerzo in some place that may have actually been llama though they told us it was beef. I did some laundry. We had an evening meal where they were showing 80s Spanish pop videos with people in very strange clothes, pretentiously “meaningful” imagery and archaic ‘80s effects, much like budget versions of Total Eclipse of the Heart. One of the girls in our group had a fake 200 Boliviano note to get rid of, so when we paid we did a not-too-subtle runner after dumping it on the table. I didn’t feel too bad as the food was a bit crap anyway.

We went back to the pub and there was some obscene pottery. That’s all I want to say really. There was a chance for an open mike night – there was a guitar and mike set up but no one ever got round to using it. I’d have to wait until Cusco.