Uyuni Upon arriving in Uyuni, I started the hunt for a 3 day tour of the Salt Lakes and many other bits and pieces that you can see here. This is my first and only point of being a tourist in Bolivia and is what everybody has told me that I must go and see. main street The main street of Uyuni shows the small population that is here. The township is small but there are dozens of tourists everywhere. I would estimate that the tourists here would make up about one third of the population. That means that you cannot be anywhere without seeing a tourist. My search stopped when I found a very nice travel agency that has set me up with exactly what I want. Many of these agencies will jam up to seven people in their 4wds but this one seems to care about the comfort of people and refuses to do that. icecream cart A man pushes his icecream cart along looking for customers. So after a day of wandering through the markets and chatting with other tourists, I returned to my hotel, chased by the freezing cold that comes in the night, ready to leave on my tour the next day. One of the interesting things about this place is that there are no automatic teller machines. Instead, you wander up to the bank and talk with the machine-gun armed guard to explain to him why you want to go inside. From there, a man comes over and with an EFTPOS machine swipes your card and extracts the money you want... plus a 5% charge. The money does not arrive in your hands just yet. You then have to join the long lines for the normal teller with a fuzzy receipt in your hand and he will give you the money after showing some identification. train station The train station of Uyuni, where I arrived at 3am in the morning. And so that was my time in Uyuni. I now have only 10 minutes before leaving on my tour which takes me out of Bolivia on Sunday. This is the last town in Bolivia that I will see. It has been an amazing trip through this country full of surprises and wonderful people. Sometimes it seems like a dream that I am seeing these people dressed in ways that I have only ever seen in photographs. Ironically, now I too have photographs of these people. Plus a memory of many wonderful times. tourist agency One of the earlier agencies that I visited looking for a tour. salt items Gifts of items created with salt, from the famous salt lakes nearby. artist at work A young lad working at creating more of his wares to sell at the markets. old man An old man rests in the plaza. pedestrian mall The main pedestrian mall of Uyuni. two men Two friends wandering along the mall during lunch time. icecream bicycle Another popular way to sell icecream. buildings Mud brick buildings make up the majority of this town. sunflower A flower from the gardens along the pedestrian mall.