受寵若驚

到了Bonito 這個小鎮，這裡沒民宿，我們就住了 hostel, 有共用廚房可以煮飯，就一層平房，很多公共空間，十來間房我們就住在走廊尾右手邊的最後一間。

晚上十點多，想到大廳打點水，拿著空瓶一踏出門，頭自然望向左邊走廊頭的方向(身還沒轉)，就看到有個女孩“凝”固在走廊中間，情況有點像小時候玩 “123紅綠燈”，我也被嚇得呆了一下，視線望到女孩後走廊頭方向，另外還有三個女孩，探頭出來看著我這個方向，當時我意識到她們在走廊玩遊戲，那我就裝作很驚訝的望望她們，又望望另一邊(當然我知道只是牆壁沒有其他人的)，再誇張的低頭看看自己，像確認她們是看著的就是我，然後就作狀按著原來的動作倒鏡退回房間不阻她們繼續玩…她們見狀立即又衝前半步作耍手代表“不用”的意思，就在我以為她們表示暫停玩一會讓我先通過的時候…其中一個看上去最年長的金髮小姑娘，像鼓起勇氣的走近我，嘗試用英語和我說，她們想和我合照！！

下！沒聽錯吧？做了幾十年人，一看我樣子就被嚇得哭的小孩就見得多，想和我合照的可是頭一趟！原來剛才她們就是正在準備來我房間敲門找我，剛好我打開門，才出現那種凝固的奇怪場景…

我拿著她們的手機合照自拍，剎那間心裡確是有點像明星的虛榮，當然，我心裡清楚明白並不是因為我像發哥又或吳彥祖，只是因為我是這裡難得一見的東方人，她們在這裡看到我，就像我在這裡看到野生金剛鸚鵡的興奮雀躍！當然要拍照留念呢！

第二天剛好我們也是去同一景點玩瀑布，這次到我邀請她們合照作留念

Bonito另一件令我覺得自己很親和的事，就是… Gigi ！ 當然不是梁詠琪啦！就是這裡的一隻貘，雖說是寵物，但牠活動範圍有成個山頭，十幾條瀑布，這天中午牠突然出現逗人玩一下之後，可能天氣太熱就到河裡游泳了，不知誰開始先下水陪牠玩的，Gigi 又真的和他們玩起來，但不一會，大家都上來了，他們說Gigi 不高興，但我看來又不太像，那我就下河裡陪她玩，我一下水她就游過來，龐大的身軀整個挨近過來，頭也向我推，有時還會潛到水底推我大腿，不熟水性的有可能被她推倒的，我終於明白為何他們說她生氣了，但從我親身的理解是，她實在太大力，而且皮很厚，所以要玩得很有勁很有質感才能感覺到的，畢竟她是全南美陸上最大的野生哺乳類動物，又熟水性，若真的生氣，又豈止這樣對我呢！

沒想到，Bonito 這個不為東方人所熟悉的桃花源，不止美麗，連我這個人，也突然受小孩和動物歡迎呢！真夢幻！

PS:
要多謝一個已經長住巴西的中學老友Henry介紹才有機會踏足Bonito這地方，要不，我就和大部份香港人甚至東方人一樣, 對巴西就只認識Rio, Amazon, Sao Paulo而已

By Mat

Bonito

進入玻利維亞時,本來想要在玻國探索一下阿馬遜流域,但一邊找資料一邊發現原來這是很難的。這邊的阿馬遜流域很少人去,同時也代表我們這些平凡的旅客很難才能到達。

後來,像我們的個性一樣,計劃變了又變,變到完全跟本來兩回事....下刪三千字,如有興趣了解我們的心路歷程,只能見面面談了。

簡單來說,我們從玻利維亞過境巴西的城市Corumba後,就到了Bonito-MS。

這是一個在巴西的朋友推薦的地點,我們以前完全沒有聽說過。Bonito在西班牙文和葡萄牙文中的意思都是漂亮,可想而知這地方有多漂亮!

Bonito是個很小的鎮,市中心就是在數街之間,而景點則在鎮四周數十公里內。這裡最有名的景點是水和洞,但它的水是河水,地下泉水,而非海水!! 這跟我們以前玩過的水上活動都不一樣。

我們由於時間不多,經旅館推薦玩了最多人去的兩天行程

第一天的行程首先是到Rio do Prata

開車就要單程1個多小時,一團只有8人加上導遊,約4個小時的行程內包括了在森林內步行,和在河水內浮潛。穿著潛水衣在森林內穿梭我真是第一次,而且在河流內浮潛也是首回!!

這些河流是從地下湧出來的地下水,所以河水非常清澈,還有很多小魚兒陪伴著我們。在河的某些地方,可以看到泉眼,就是像水中火山,但湧出的水是很涼的。還在一點就是,由於河床很淺,而且河床上有很多石灰的沉積和很多植被,所以,在大部份的地方,我們在浮潛時只能”浮”,可以撥手,但不可以用腳,不可以站立,以免破壞河床。簡單在說,我們是依著水流,慢慢漂流。

中間有一小段,水流比較險急,我們感覺就好像在時間洪流中流竄,放鬆身體,只保持基本平衡和閃開大石頭,一瞬間就過去了…..

完結了這行程後,我們去了附近的buraco das araras

這行程很簡單,圍著這個圓周500米的大洞走一圏。這個洞是形成是由於下層的石灰被雨水溶化了,地面下陷。

除了看這個很特別的大洞,還有就是住在這裡的美麗金剛鸚鵡!  我們看到了藍黃色和紅色的,除了在海洋和雀鳥公園,我還是第一次在野外看到牠們!

第二天,我們選擇了另外一個行程,到Rio da Peixe

還是水,但是完全兩回事的水。

昨天是平靜得讓人屏息靜氣的水…

今天是洶湧的水,力量的水-----瀑布!

我們在林中一邊走,走過很多大大小小的瀑布,每一條我們都可以跳到水裏和瀑布作近距離接觸,想做一次步驚雲?十次都可以!

第一次這樣子跳水,第一次在瀑布下感受這水的威力,,還好有人扶了我一把…好蝦碌。

因為我其實不會游泳,水太深的水池我就沒下去了,但還是玩得很開心!特別是我們認識的新朋友Daniel,像個大孩子一樣,玩得瘋極了!!

中午休息的時間，加插特備節目，就是這裡的主人的竉物出場！！　Gigi出場的時侯真是逗死了,她在大家都睡在吊床上休息時突然走進人群找人跟她玩! 後來她還跳到水裏游泳,很多人也下水和Gigi一起暢泳!

這樣的兩天後,我們已經很累了….

By: Jo

When we went to Bolivia, one of the plans was the Amazon basin on this side.  However, the more we researched, it seemed more impossible.  This side of the Amazon is very well preserved, and at the same time, means that it is very difficult to access by regular tourists like us.

So, like we did always, plans changed many times, and is now totally different than we thought…. Deleted the 3,000 words…. If you want to know our journey of planning, let’s meet up for a drink.

In summary, we crossed the border from Bolivia to Brazil at Corumba and then went to Bonito-MS from there.

Bonito-MS is recommended by a friend in Brazil, and we have never heard about this place before.  The word “bonito” means “beautiful” in both Spanish and Portuguese, so, you imagine how beautiful this place is.

Bonito is a small town, the central is only a few blocks, and the tourist sites are in the surrounding region.  The famous spots here are all around water and caves, but we are talking fresh water rivers and natural springs, not sea water!  This is very different from our usual water sports.

Since we don't have a lot of time to spent, we spent two days going to the following itineraries recommended by our guesthouse:

First day: Rio do Prata

It’s slightly more than 1 hour to arrive at Rio do Prata.  There are only 8 persons in a group, we spent 4 hours walking in the forest and snorkeling in the river.  This is the first time that I hike in wetsuits and also the first time for me to snorkel in a fresh water river.

This river is a natural underwater spring, and the water is so crystal clear with lots of fishes.  We can see the underwater volcano in some spots and you can see the water coming out from the river bed and the water is very cold.  Another thing is, the river bed is very shallow, and it has a lot of lime stone sediments and vegetation on the river bed.  So, we are not allowed to use our feet and we cannot stand in the water, must always keep the floating position, and use hands to swim only.  In short, with the help of the current, we are slowing floating down the river.

There is a short section with stronger current, when we float through, it feels like a few minutes where you are flowing in the time current with your body totally relaxed, keep your balance and avoid the rocks, then you pass through smoothly….

After this trip, we went to the nearby buraco das araras

This is simple trip where you walk around a big hole with 500m circumference. The hole was formed because the limestone was dissolved by rain water and the ground collapsed.

Apart from seeing the big hole, we are here to watch the big and beautiful macaws.  We have seen the yellow/blue macaws and the red macaws!  This is the first time I see them in the wild, outside of the ocean park and a bird park.

In the second day, we went to Rio da Peixe

This is still water, but it is a completely different water.

Yesterday, it was water that is so calm

Today, it is water with ultimate power ---- the waterfalls

We walked in the forest and passed by numerous waterfalls, we can jump into all these waterfalls and be close to them!

The first time I jump into the water like this, the first time for me to experience a bath under the waterfall.  The water was indeed very powerful and can easily wash me away.

Since I cannot swim, I did not jump into deep water, but I still really enjoyed the day.  Our new friend Daniel is like a big boy, he was having great fun!

In the mid-day break, more is coming, the pets of the farm owner come!  It was really funny when Gigi came.  When everyone were chilling out on the helmets, she suddenly came in and ask people to play with her.  She even jumped into water to swim and many swam with her as well!

After these two days, you can imagine how tired I was.

By: Jo

一週年

和jo出來旅遊已經有一年了，聽上去好像很久，但其實去的地方很少，一來因為種種原因回家了幾次，加起來也有三個多月，二來也到了元陽兩次當了客棧小工兩個月，名義上的一年實只有半年多了！加上“優悠遊”宗旨就是遊得慢，實情遊過的國家少之又少，只有越南.中國.意大利.葡萄牙.西班牙.法國.英國.愛爾蘭和剛開始南美遊的玻利維亞。

反倒回顧以往每年一次，把儲起來的十二日年假去一次“大旅行”去的地方更是多一點，地點是記得很清楚，但年份已經很模糊，這次和jo認真翻查推理一下…911襲擊前去了美國，06年jo腳受傷了沒去旅遊，08大地震我就在四川，好友血癌那年去南美…回憶之流就像私人版的阿甘正傳又或金雞，很有電影感… 

經過一論揍拼，大致也有個年表了 :

七大洲都到過了，香港人熱愛的東南亞很多地方都沒去過，非洲卻去了四次…然而去的地方越多，就會發現還沒去的更多…

世界很大，人很小

By Mat

一路向東

火車一直向東駛去，明早就會到達邊境小鎮Quijarro, 一過關就到巴西，意味著玻利維亞之旅要結束了… 記得之前看網上攻略，有人說這裡是南美州他最喜愛的國家，明明高山反應令人頭痛不堪，而且除了鹽湖外又說不出什麼特別的風景名勝，但就是喜歡這個地方… 經過差不多三星期親身經歷，我終於能體會到那感受！

喜歡這裡的超低人口密度(只有香港1/700),
喜歡這裡自由自在的牛羊和草泥馬，
喜歡這裡既有高原風景氣候，也有低地熱帶雨林，
喜歡這裡的生活節奏，平常會午休星期日會放假，連專門做旅客生意的找換店也不例外，不會只向錢看，
喜歡這裡沒太大貧富懸殊，
喜歡這裡的遇到的人大多數都友善老實，
喜歡這裡的生活開支相對其他南美國家低很多…
喜歡…

今個月尾就是玻利維亞大選了，不知政策上會走哪方向，加上上年開始有些國家開始比較容易拿到旅遊簽證，包括中港台…

希望旅遊業不會一下子爆發，而弄髒了這面天空之鏡和這裡人民的心呢！

By Mat

國際美食民宿 BnB of International cuisine

我們真的很白痴…到了Sucre兩天，才驚訝地發現原來玻利維亞的首都不是La Paz,而是Sucre。

Sucre比La Paz感覺小很多，但市中心的房屋很漂亮，跟La Paz的風格截然不同。

最有趣反倒是我們住的民宿。

到達的第一晚因為在路上遇上大塞車，晚了兩個多小時才到。剛到已是晚飯時間,到達便看到一外國男孩在做蔬菜批，另外有一個韓國女孩比我們也是早一點點才到。於是,當晚我們就一起吃了兩大個蔬菜批做晚餐,再一邊聊天。聊天時發現做飯的男孩和他的女朋友是在這裡工作的,和主人家是朋友。他們說這裏很多客人做菜,所以也留下了很多各國使用的醬料,例如有一位日本老太太,每天都來這裡,會特意坐飛機到Santa Cruz買新鮮的日本食材回來做日本菜,所以他們這裡連壽司米也有!

因為第一天受了別人的款待,所以第二天換我們做了一頓中菜。我做了大盤的蠔油西蘭花炒牛肉和手撕包菜。因為女主人Bertha說有蠔油但不知道怎麼用,所以我就用來炒了牛肉。

正在炒菜時,我想起有米飯配會好一點,就問Bertha,她去買了點米回來煮飯。其實我到了玻利維亞後,覺得他們的飯很難吃,很「削」,今天終於知道其中一個原因…就是他們煮飯的方法。他們煮飯煮到水開了,會把鍋裏的水全部倒掉,再用清水過兩次,再放入新的水繼續煮,據說是要洗走米的黏性,怪不得飯這麼「削」….我放棄吃他們的飯了。

這天晚上,因為是星期一,主人的朋友沒有來,換了今天剛到的兩位德國客人。也因為他們受了我們的款待,說明天要為我們做飯!!

結果,第三天的晚上,我們就吃了炸肉丸,白汁煮大葱,和一大鍋的薯蓉!! Stephanie說這個肉丸是她小時侯常吃的菜,而且我還知道他們會在做肉丸時加入摏碎的舊麵包,那麼就可以不放那麼多肉!!! 下次去歐洲時我也要試試做這個菜。

我們還打趣說,應該讓每個煮飯的客人寫下食譜,拍照記錄,那麼Bertha就可以出版國際食譜大全了!

我們住了三天,每天都有不同的人做菜,而不是每人各自做自己的。而且,我們每晚一起吃晚餐,一直聊天,氣氛真的很開心,還會交流大家的生活,文化,和各自的旅遊經歷,這民宿的確如其他旅客所言一樣,非常神奇的地方!!

By: Jo

We were real idiots….after we arrived in Sucre for two days, we found out surprisingly that the capital of Bolivia is Sucre, not La Paz.

Sucre is a much smaller city, but the houses in the center are very beautiful.  It feels totally different from La Paz.

However, the most interesting part of our stay is the BnB.

We were stuck with traffic on our way in, and therefore were late for two hours and arrived at dinner time.  When we arrived, a man was making vegetable pies, and there was also a Korean girl who arrived just a bit earlier.  We ate the two huge vegetable pies for dinner together, and we chat a lot during dinner.  The man and his girlfriend work in Sucre and are friends of our hosts.  We found out that a lot of guests cook here and they also left behind various sauces and ingredients.  For example, an old Japanese lady comes every year and she would fly to Santa Cruz to buy Japanese ingredients to cook for them.  So, they have even Japanese sushi rice here!

Since we have been treated on the first day, we decided to cook some Chinese food on the second day.  I made a big bowl of fried beef with broccoli, in oyster sauce, and fried hand tear cabbages.  Our host Bertha said she doesn't know how to use the oyster sauce, so, I have use it on the beef.

While I was cooking, I think it would be good to have rice to go with the dishes, and so I asked Bertha.  She went out to buy some rice to cook.  In fact, when I came to Bolivia, I really don’t like the taste of their rice.  I finally know one of the reasons for the different taste.  When they cook the rice, they pour away the water after it has boiled and then rinse the rice twice and replace with new water to continue cooking.  They told me that is because they don’t want the stickiness of the rice… and that may be why I don’t like it.  I have given up on eating rice in Bolivia.

It was a Monday night and the friends did not come.  Instead, we have two new guests from Germany.  Since they had been treated with Chinese food today, they also decided to cook for us the next day!

So, on the third day, we were eating fried meat balls, leek in white sauces and a big bowl of mash potatoes!! Stephanie said that the fried meat balls is a dish she always had when she was a kid.  I learnt that they mix bread crumbs made from old breads into the meat balls so they don't have to put so much meat!  I will have to try making next time I go to Europe.

We were joking that Bertha should ask each guest who cooks here to write down the recipe and take some photos for records.  Then, she can publish a recipe book for international cuisine.

We stayed for three nights and each night, we take turns to cook everyone instead of we all cook for ourselves.  Moreover, we dine together and chat all night, exchanging everything such as our lives, culture, and our travel experience as well!  Like the review of other guests said, this BnB is truly an amazing place!

By: Jo

天空之鏡 Mirror of Sky (二)

上回曾說過到天空之鏡的最好時間是十二月至二月的雨季，當然誰也不想雨季旅行，所以二月應該是最多人選擇的。

在玻利維亞到天空之鏡必須住到Uyuni這個小鎮，這個小鎮事實沒什麼好玩，旅客都是為鹽湖而來。

而到鹽湖確實需要報團，就算你自己有四驅車，估計你也不會想讓它在鹽上跑!

鎮上有很多旅行社，報團的話，有以下選擇:

1)三日兩夜團(約B900), 會遊遍從Uyuni到智利邊境所有景點，包括鹽湖，火山，很多的湖和紅鶴。可以回到Uyuni,也可以選擇結束時過境智利。

我們沒有參加三天團，因為路程很遠，路也很顛簸，我們寧願多花時間在鹽湖。

特別一提，參加三天團是看不到鹽湖日出日落的，因為只有第一天約一兩個小時在鹽湖!

2)一日團

一日團也分多種---星空加日出(0200-0800);日間團(1000-1700);全日加日落(1100-2000);日落加星空(1600-2200)。

一日團其中一點要特別注意的是，大部份旅行社都是不拼團的。有些開宗明義告訴你必須包車，你自己可以想辦法拼車，反正一天包車是B900。另一種是他們會用張貼紙張方式替你找拼車，如果一台車坐滿7個人，價格由B130-200不等，但如果找不到7個人，只能每人多湊錢，總數還是以7個人總費用算，或只能取消。

只有少數旅行社聲明自己一定成團，我們參加的OASIS就是其中之一。所以報團時一定要問清楚。

一天團的行程一般會先到附近的火車墳場，然後再到一個小市場購物和看鹽湖之眼。接下來的行程就分兩種，較便宜的只在鹽湖較近區域徘徊，至於停車點可能還是會因司機而異。收費貴一點的應該有寫明會到一個島，這個仙人掌島路途比較遠，而相對在鹽湖上開車的時間也較長，停車點較偏遠，人更少。

走得遠點的團停的地方較少人到，湖面更平坦，感覺好一些!

我們第二次參加便宜一點的團，的確是到不同的停車點，但司機居然把車停在一個沒什麼水的地方讓我們看日落!幸好我堅持讓他再找一個有水的地方…雖然最後的地點還是沒有第一天好，湖面經很多車走過，留下了輪胎痕，但總算勉強可接受，大家要注意了!

日落很美，我覺得日落是必須的。日出我一般起不來，不考慮…

所有旅行社都會盡量塞滿每輛車，一輛四驅車是坐七位旅客，以我們東方人的身形沒什麼問題，但踫上身材比較魁梧的可能會感到太逼，所以不介意多花錢的可以四至五人一車。

幾乎所有司機都不會說英語，要有英語司機，團費會貴很多，不過他們都挺老實，就告訴你不會說。如團內有人會說就可以幫忙翻譯一下，不過，否則問題也不太大，都是為了拍照，資訊性的材料自己先研讀一下就好了。

有些旅行社會提供水靴，但有些沒有。報團要問清楚，沒有水靴的記得自己帶拖鞋。我不建議赤腳，因為湖面雖然看起來很平坦，鹽的結晶其實很鋒利。而且鹽水濃度超高，如腳上有傷口的一定要有水靴。

水其實很淺，要拍漂亮的倒影相，相機要貼地，拍照的人站遠點再用鏡頭拉近，這樣效果更好!不過，朋友們，小心別讓相機沾到鹽水，這可以致命!!

祝旅途愉快!

By: Jo

In the last blog, we mentioned that the best time to visit the salt flat is between Dec to Feb during the rainy season.  Most people don't want to travel in the rainy season, so, Feb is quite popular.

To visit the salt flat from Bolivia, you need to live in the little town of Uyuni.  There is nothing much to do here other than going to the salt flat...

You do need to join a tour.  Even if you have a jeep, I guess you don't want to run it on salt!

There are many tour agencies in the town.  The options include:

1) 3D2N tours (around B900) will take you to all sites from Uyuni till the Chile border, including the salt flat, volcanoes, many lakes and to see the flamingos.  You can return to Uyuni or cross the border to Chile at the end.

We did not join the 3D2N tour because it is too much time and the roads are quite bad.  We chose to focus on the salt flat.

Special note, you don't get to see sunrise or sunset at the salt flat in the 3D2N tour because the itinerary only include 1-2 hours on the salt flat on the first day.

2)1 Day tour

There are many 1 day tours --- Starlight + sunrise (0200-0800), day time tour (1000-1700), one day+sunset tour (1100-2000), and sunset+starlight(1600-2200).

For 1 day tour, the most important thing to note is that, most tour agencies require you to charter the whole jeep.  Some will tell you about that upfront and you can find your own partners, and the total cost is B900 for one day.  Some others will help to post tour forms outside to find partners to fill up the jeeps.  A full jeep takes 7 tourists, price for these tours range from B130-200.  However, if they cannot find 7 people, each will have to pay more to make up the price of 7 in total, or it will be cancelled. 

only very few agencies guarantee that they will go even if there are fewer people.  Oasis is one of them.

So, you need to make sure you understand how it works.

For one day tours, they first go to the train cemetery, and then they will take you to a market to shop and then see the eyes of the salt flat.  Afterwards, the routes differ.  For cheaper tours, they travel less distance and only stay near the edge.  The stopping places depends entirely on the driver.  For the more expensive tours, they should specify that the island is included.  This island full of cactus is much further away, and thus the jeep travels longer on the salt flat.  The spots they stop tend to be further out and with fewer tourists.

I think the longer tour feels better as the location we went were more remote and have fewer tourists.

We went for a cheaper tour on the second because they stop at different locations.  However, our driver stopped somewhere with very little water for the sunset.  I insisted that he should take us somewhere else.  Although the final location was ok, still not as good as the first day, because that spot has been run by too many jeeps and there were car tracks on the flat. 

The sunset is brilliant, don’t miss it!

Nearly all tour agencies will try to fill up the jeep with 7 people.  We are not big persons, so works ok for us. However, if you are big, you may feel that 7 people in the jeep is a bit crowded.  If you don’t mind paying more, 4-5 people in a jeep is very comfortable.

Nearly all drivers don’t speak English, the tours will be a lot more expensive with English speaking driver.  But, at least they are all very honest about it.  If there is someone in the tour that speaks both Spanish and English, they can help translating.  Otherwise, it is still no big deal, not much talking is required, you can do your own research about the salt lake.

Some tours provide boots for you to walk on the salt flat, some don’t.  You should ask when you join the tour.  If they do not provide boots, you should bring your flip flops.  I do not recommend walking bare footed because the salt crystals is very sharp although it looks perfectly flat.  The salt water is very saturated, if you have a wound on your foot, go with boots.

There is only a few cm of water, if you want to take good pictures of the reflections, you need to place your camera close to the ground, stand further away and use your camera to zoom in!  However, be aware not to let your camera get in touch with salt water, it is devastating!

Enjoy Uyuni!!!

By: Jo

天空之鏡 Mirror of sky (一)

八年前我們到南美，因為簽證問題，一早把玻利維亞排除在行程之外。到了智利的阿他加馬沙漠，都居然和天空之鏡擦身而過…

當時，天空之鏡還沒有舉世知名，假如當日在智利有人讓我們看這些照片的隨便一張，拼了命我們也要去!

今天，我們終於把這心願了結!

很久沒有到過一個讓我們感動如斯的地方。

我們到過很多地方，拍下了讓大家按讚的照片，但有些地方只要到過之後你會知道照片背後很多不為人知的穿崩…好像小吳哥的倒影其實是在一灘破污水上…南生圍的小碼頭旁邊就一堆雜草…

但天空之鏡…是與眾不同的，因為當你親身到達，感受是…

這是夢境?還是現實?

三百六十度轉一圈，看到的只有天海合一，感覺自己置身在占基利的真人騷內的廠景，幻想著只要我繼續往前走，就會觸摸到一個半球形的天幕，一切都是假的!

當一切太完美，你會懷疑它的真實性…

完全沒有穿崩鏡頭，也不會因為有太多路人而影響心情，因為這麼大的地方就兩輛四驅車，十多個人，誰也阻不了誰，想找個人過來也不容易!

站在這天地合一的大片白色鹽湖上，心中的感動難以用文字表達…人在這裡太渺小，大自然太神奇，但原來這一切是真的!

我親眼看到了，能不動容嗎？

玻利維亞的天空之鏡可謂是大自然中其中一個讓人最嘖嘖稱奇的奇觀! 很多朋友看了照片，沒看懂…讓我們來解解話。

在安第斯山脈形成之初，大片土地被推高，形成了大片的高地，同時也形成了一些淡水湖和海水湖。這個巨大的海水湖經過數萬年的歲月演變，海水蒸發後留下了兩個鹽湖和一些小湖，其中一個就是面積等於十個香港的天空之鏡!

天空之鏡之名一點不假，她平坦如鏡，全個湖面海拔相差最多不過一米。她白如雪，偌大的鹽殼表面白得沒一點瑕疵，而且由於水份的蒸發天然形成無盡的六邊形…人類絕對做不出如此藝術品!

由於她又平坦又雪白，當表面有水時，把一切一切像鏡一樣反映得完美無瑕，讓人分辨不出天和地。這海天一色之景，天下無雙!

每年十二月至二月的雨季期間，天空之鏡會比較多水，所以也是最美麗的時節。但…別以為這些水都是下雨的積水，並不盡然…古時的湖水蒸發掉留下這數個湖，他們之間還是相連的;而天空之鏡也並非全是鹽，數米厚的鹽殼下面是飽和的液態礦物水。

雨季時水量充足，從秘魯和玻利維亞共享的Lake Titicaca,至天空之鏡這大範圍內的湖水會互

通，水位全面上升，以至天空之鏡也會在表面留有一層水。

這只有數公分的水，配合這一片平坦而雪白的鹽殼，創造了夢一樣的海天一色!

By: Jo

Eight years ago, due to visa issues, we ruled out Bolivia in our itinerary to South America.  We missed the Uyuni salt flat even when we were at the Atacama dessert in Chile...

The mirror of sky wasn't as renowned by the world .  If anyone could have shown us any of these pictures, we would make all efforts to go there!

Today, we finally fulfilled this dream!

It's been a while that we are so deeply touched by a place.

We have been to many places and posted photos that you "like", but if you go to some of these places, you will find out a lot of cheating behind the scene...e.g. the reflection of Ankot Wat is on a dirty pool of water, the wooden jetty at Nan Sheng Wai is just besides a bunch of abondon grass.

But the Uyuni salt flat is different, because this is how I feel when I got there...

Is this a dream? Or is this reality?

Make a full 360 degree turn, all you see is sky fused with land. I felt like I am at the set up in the Jim Carrey's the Truman show. I imagine that if I keep walking, I will touch the edge of the giant dome, and realize that everything is unreal!

When everything is so perfect, you question if it is true...

There is no hidden holes, you don't feel disturbed by other tourists because there are only 2 jeeps in the whole area.  You cannot have bother me more, it's in fact quite hard to wave anyone over.

Standing in this land of no border between the sky and the ground, the feeling is beyond words...human beings are so tiny, and nature dominates, and for God's sake, this is real!

I am deeply touched when I see it with my own eyes!

The Uyuni salt flat is undoubtedly one of the most amazing creation of nature!  Many found it difficult to articulate when they see from the pictures, let me try to reveal...

This vast highland was uplifted when Andes was formed.  The highland that was formed also contained a few fresh water and salt water lakes.  The giant salt water lake went through several transformations during the last 30-50 thousand years and eventually dried up , resulting in two salt flats and some smaller lakes.  The Uyuni salt flat, 10 times of the size of Hong Kong, is one of them.

The name "mirror of sky" cannot be more accurate.  The salt flat is as flat as a mirror, only one meter difference throughout.  She is white as snow, defectless, and a network of hexagons were formed on the white surface as a result of slow evaporation of water from the flat salt crust surface...I don't think human is capable of creating such!

Because it is so flat and so white, when it is wet, it reflects everything perfectly.  You simply cannot tell the sky and the ground.  The perfect fusion of sky and ground is unique!

Every year, during the rainy season from December till February, the salt flat is wet and is also the prettiest season to visit.  But, if you think the water on the surface is rainfall, that is not quite so....the salt flat was a result of a huge lake dried up, but the resulting lakes are still connected. The salt flat also isn't entirely solid salt.  Beneath the salt crust which is about several meters thick is saturated liquid containing minerals.  During the rainy season, water overflows from Lake Titicaca and all the lakes in the region results in higher water levels.  The Uyuni salt flat therefore is also wet. 

Just a few centimetres of water, coupled with the flatness and snow white colour of the salt flat, creates this incredibly dreamlike scenery!!

By: Jo

忐忑

這兩天心情就如忐忑兩字所形容，心上心落，因為千山萬水，難得到了地球的另一端，香港的正背面，天空之鏡的出發小鎮 Uyuni, 卻遇上天氣不穩定，心情七上八落，理論上，我們有的是時間，大可以等多幾天，但事實上這裡的旅遊模式令我們增添很多煩惱…

天空之鏡其實是一個超大的鹽湖，雨季的時候才會有倒影，旱季來就像一大片雪地，那裡沒有住宿，只能住在幾十公里外的Uyuni小鎮，兩個地方之間沒有公共交通，如果自己沒有四驅車的話，只能報當地的遊行團去看了，這種一天當地團在落後或偏遠國家很平常，我們也習慣了，夜車早上七點多到達，天氣不錯的，但前一晚通宵車，不想一放下背包又立即出發，那我們就決定報一個日落觀星團 16：00-22：00，中間有一整個上下午可以休息。

說明一下，這裡就如所有旅遊小鎮一樣，路邊有很多家travel agent, 隨便選幾家詢問一下，這家給你可以選擇的ABC餐，和另一家給你的行程都是一模一樣，以往經驗所得，很多時候，無論你是報哪一家，出發時也是集合在一起被賣到同一家真正負責帶團的…經過幾家資料搜集後，結論就是所謂團其實就是一輛四驅車，可以坐6至7個人，我們選了一家叫Hodaka Mountain評論不錯，很多日本人推介的，感覺上一天下來肯定不止6.7個人報名，應該能成團吧！交錢報名後，老闆就給我們一張A5紙寫上我們的名字，也寫上日期和註明是日落觀星團，然後貼在門外，感覺就像用來招徠其他客人的，同一時間，我們發現有另外一張紙是同一天同一團的也貼了出來，兩張也是有三個人名在上面，當時，我們就奇怪了一下，為什麼不把六個名字寫在同一張呢？jo 就覺得老闆這樣做就可以讓人感覺有兩團快成行比較容易拉客，當時就覺得沒關係，反正最後兩輛車人數不夠，還不就是會組合成一團吧！然後，我們就乖乖的回旅館休息。

就在我們休息等待期間，這裡的天氣已經轉換好幾次了，太陽、下雨、太陽、下雨… 而且風也不少，聽這裡的人說才恍然發覺風大，水有波紋也不會有倒影的，我的心情就隨著天氣忽上忽落！當然，心裡是告訴自己: 反正天氣變化快又是管不了，去到才算吧！無謂白憂心… 口雖這樣說，但心裡還是忐忑不定，很久沒有這感覺，可能是因為對這次天空之鏡有很大期望吧！

好了，終於等到出發的時間了，去到旅行社門前，已經很多人在等候，幾乎全是日本人，我們穿過人群來到門前一看，發現早上有我們名字的A5紙上面只有5個名字，再往旁邊一看，原來同一天同一行程已經開了七團七輛車了，其餘六輛都坐滿七個人了，距離出發時間只剩五分鐘，看情況我們那團就只有五個人，jo 記得那老闆早上曾經說過如果車不夠七人只有六人就加20b(即hk22)，但現在五個人呢？她就說要加50b, 令到加起來總數一樣，我們覺得非常不合理，我們最早報名的頭六個人之一，錢也全付了，現在有四十幾人參加了，為什麼是我們要多付錢呢？這樣做生意不行呢！我們去過那麼多地方旅行，從來那些 local tour 都是travelagent自行安排車輛分配又或和其他agent併團的，哪有是參加者自動全數分攤費用的，難道我去茶餐廳食飯又或坐巴士，如果得一半坐滿，我就要比雙倍錢？！這樣有賺無賠的生意很好做啊！

而且實情是從一開始是本來我們就可以六人一輛車的，她特意不填滿一輛車，而不停開新車貼在門外，這樣就更容易吸引一兩個人的散客參加，到最後開車前一刻每輛車差一兩個人的話，那時候一般趕時間的遊客都會多付幾十塊就範的，這樣她就可穩袋七輛車全數的錢！一想到這裡我和jo就非常不爽！哪有這樣的做生意！我們說既然不成團那就退款好了，同車還有一個台灣女孩和我倆意見一致，可憐的餘下兩個日本女孩就說她們沒多餘時間了，可能她們心裡就覺得那多加的50b很少數目，不明白我們為何情願取消，我們就正正不喜歡老闆這樣利用遊客弱點呢！
最後，我們還是退款了，而我的心情又要忐忑多一天呢！除了天氣外，還多加忐忑應該選哪家travel agent，萬一好天卻不成團，那更慘呢… 唉… 希望明天一切順利吧！

後記:
1) 結果那兩個日本女孩一聽我們退款，當機立斷硬塞上了另一輛七個日本人的車，那老闆娘最後還是白賺了她倆的錢
2)她們開車後不久天色又轉差了！後來更下超大的雨，我們可謂塞翁失馬
3)第二天我們找到另一家travel agent 說車是自己公司的，無論幾多人都一定開車，絕不加錢！後來結果我們的車也被他們安排到真夠七個人，所以無從得知真相如何，肯定的是車和司機也真的是他們公司的，這公司是值得推薦叫 Oasis

By Mat