Although our tour started rather inauspiciously with a 2 hour delay at the Chilean “frontier” (border crossing) due to heavy snow through the pass. (San Pedro de Atacama is at approximately 2440 metres and the pass which we crossed the day before coming from Argentina and going into Bolivia is approximately 4200 metres) But this is “desert” and we asked our guide at the Bolivian border how often they got snow there and he replied that it was the first time this year. Great, just our luck.
Actually, despite the cloudy first day which prevented us from seeing the famous Laguna Colorada turn red (apparently as a result of the afternoon sun activating the algae) the rest of the trip was every bit as beautiful as we had hoped. A bonus was that on our first night – which we had been warned would be extremely cold at approximately 4500 metres – our guide gave us the option of staying at another “alojamiento” at a lower altitude and although there was still no actual heat in the room – a dorm room shared with our two other “campaneros” – there were 
nice warm, alpaca blankets on the bed so that after an hour or so we actually warmed up enough to sleep. Andrea found the trip especially interesting as there were many parallels between this trip and her trip to Nepal, the accommodations and cold being just two.
Things that we learned about each other on this trip:
1) Andrea can put aside all modesty when travelling with 3 males and is able to pee pretty much anywhere when nature calls.
2) Andrea needs to get some life insurance for Ian ASAP as he has a real dare-devil streak and enjoys climbing -or at least he enjoys terrorizing Andrea…
Not surprisingly, the Salar de Unuyi (Salt Lake) was a highlight of the trip. There are certainly salt lakes in many other countries including Chile, Argentina and the States, but the size of this salt lake was amazing – more than 200 km across. We had a blast taking pictures and wished that we had much more time to practice and play with the unusual perspective.
After arriving in Unuyi – a documented “hole” - we immediately booked our bus to La Paz. Despite the lack of basic comforts (see “Gringo Trail” entry below), that bus ride was truly fascinating. It was such an eye opener to experience first hand the quality of roads that these buses navigate – and we use the term “road” loosely. “Only 5% of Bolivian roads are paved and under 25% gravel-surfaced. In most instances the word road is a rather exaggerated description of what’s on offer” (Footprint, 2006) No shit, enough said.
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