The Salar De Uyuni Tour (Day 3)

The wind had died and the dust settled, exposing a clear day. The flat desert opened to an oasis of colourful lagoons surrounded by yellow grasses and faded mountain ranges in the distance. Flocks of flamingoes, usually associated with pineapples and the tropics, at once looked out of place and natural. Their figures broke the monotony of the frozen surface, quietly pacing, their heads bent low, and their subtle pink blush complementing the muted desert landscape.

Accommodation was the most basic yet, with lumpy mattresses, sometimes-flushing toilets and definitely no agua caliente. There was little to do after dinner except freeze or choke on the smoke from the leaky Franklin stove, so we crawled into our sleeping bags and prepared for a cold cold night, having been told that the previous night reached an incredible -35C.

Just before dawn the following morning, we visited a field full of sulphur-smelling pits and mist, the steaming geysers surreal in the low light. By sunrise, we arrived at a hot spring, photogenic as the golden light played on the pale grasses and opacified the steam. Our last sight was Laguna Verde (the Green Lagoon). There, the wind was blowing something fierce. I don't think I've ever been that cold; it was colder than visiting the glacier at El Calafate. Laguna Verde was spectacular; well worth the pain for a few photos. The colours were striking, a huge green lagoon on a white desert, backed by orange mountains and a blue sky. Still, desolate, expansive.