Nothing like a huge, salt desert high up in the mountains of Bolivia to remind you just how cold it can get. The expanse of white looks like a huge field of snow, and in the middle of the night it might as well be. It is cold. You have been warned.
We booked our tour of the Salar de Uyuni in La Paz, and were assured by a stealthy travel agent that we wouldn’t come across any problems. We hopped on an overnight bus to Uyuni, expecting to arrive the following morning. The kiosk in the bus terminal printed clearly: Uyuni? Apparently the bus company thought it was questionable as to whether or not we would arrive, an omen perhaps of what was to come.
The bus had no heating and all night long, freezing air leaked in to where we were seated. Ice began to form on the inside of the glass and we tried to snuggle together, under every bit of clothing that we had in our backpacks. We arrived in Uyuni hours earlier than expected, in the middle of the night, and without a helpful guide to greet us. We made our way to the nearest hostel and slept in our jackets and shoes until we were able to feel our toes again. Just a couple hours later the sun came out and the memories of the cold, white night seemed almost fake. They say that a mirage in the desert can trick the eye and it made me wonder about deserts made of salt and perhaps a mystical force that can inflict pain. As it turns out, the most difficult part of our trip was actually getting to Uyuni. Now we were armed with lots of warm clothing and jackets (no longer tucked away at the bottom of a bus).
We joined our tour group, one Canadian, one Australian and two Argentinians, who would be our companions for the next couple of days. Like all other groups touring the Salt Flats, we would be traveling around in SUV’s capable of maneuvering the tricky terrain. It really made my cynical mind wonder about the possibility of Jeep endorsements, with all the Jeeps cruising around like a real life Jeep commercial, but I digress.
Our first stop was a train cemetery, created after the mining industry collapsed and industrialists left abandoned trains on the outskirts of the Uyuni Salt Flat. Turns out the abandoned railroad is part of the tourist attraction, a somewhat eerie reminder of the past and how quickly something that used to be so powerful can end up rusting under the Bolivian sun.
The Salar of Uyuni is 10,500 square kilometers, large enough to be viewed from space, and to impress even the most jaded eyes. During the dry season, you can stand on packed salt, formed on top of a mixture of brine. The salt flat used to be a large lake that slowly filled up with sediment because of the lack of any drainage outlets. Legend tells a slightly more interesting story that the salt flat was formed because of the giant people living in the mountains, more specifically the tears and breast milk of a woman grieving over her fleeing and unfaithful husband.
The feeling of standing in the middle of such a huge, natural wonder can you make you feel insignificant in comparison, but that feeling of inadequacy doesn’t last long. Not when there are funny pictures to take! Just like the obligatory picture of pushing up the Leaning Tower of Pisa, tourists must take advantage of photographic tricks like this one:
The next stop on our tour was a place called Fish Island, an island of rock and cacti, where we stopped to explore and eat our lunch. Some of the cacti on this island are well over 1,200 years old and gigantic, almost triple the size of my 5′2 height. The highlight of this stop was the chance to see the salt flat from higher ground, seeing as you can’t really tell the shape of the fish while you are standing on it.
After Fish Island, we drove through the salt flat for hours, stopping ever so often to take pictures and to admire the ripples in the salt.
Day one included the train graveyard, the salt flat, and Fish Island. We stayed at a hostel (not the salt hotel) in the salt flat, made friends with other land cruising tour groups, had a few beers and watched the sun set and rise. One of the members of our group, from a country that shall remain nameless *cough* Argentina *cough* experienced one of the side effects of high altitude, a pretty nasty hangover. The next day we explored the Altiplano.
For the full photo album of the Salar de Uyuni, check out the photography page.
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South of the Salar de Uyuni, en route to San Pedro de Altacama Chile, sits El Arbol de Piedra or the Stone Tree. Wind and sand formed the stone structure in the middle of the Bolivian Altiplano. Most tours of Salar de Uyuni pass through the Altiplano, one of the highest plateaus in the world.
Image via: 
New York City is a mecca of culture, art, music, and society, where you can brush elbows with artists and creatives in one of the many museums, theaters, or galleries that the city has to offer. Unfortunately for many however, New York City is also a mecca for those paying high rent, a high cost of living, and just getting over an economic depression. It isn’t always so easy to experience culture without the cash, which is why smart New Yorkers and travelers alike take advantage of FREE NYC. As a student living in NYC, I used to get into quite a bit of museums for free merely by showing my student ID, but you don’t have to be a student to enjoy the benefits of free culture. In fact most museums in NYC have a night when one can visit and pay absolutely nothing to enter. There are also quite a few lesser known museums that are free to enter at any time. Take a look at the compiled list below to find out when you should visit each museum.
Enjoying modern art at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City.
A couple weeks ago, floods and mudslides forced over 
After last week’s phantom snowstorm, I had some doubts about the impending nor’easter making it’s way up the East Coast to the Tri-State area. Even last night at around 2am, while I was impatiently waiting like a 4th grader hoping for a day off from school, still no snow. But alas I woke up to this…
The Strange and Creepy World of Social Media
by Elena on February 19, 2010
These sites have changed the way we market products and ideas, as well as the social interaction of our society, but let’s leave that for the psychologists and sociologists to tackle. What I’m interested in exploring is what happens when you give free reign to millions of tech savvy users with varying interests and different definitions of what they consider fun?
What about the juicy stuff, you know, the creepy, stalker, addictive part of knowing every details about the people you follow? Not everyone is poking friendly pokes and tweeting informative tweets. Don’t get me wrong. I obviously love social media, what with this blog and all, but I still find it utterly fascinating, and a little frightening, the level it can be taken to.
Chat Roulette
Let’s take a look at the social network phenomenon of the week, Chat Roulette. For those unfamiliar, with the program, it is a one-on-one text, webcam, microphone-based, chat service where you can talk to people all over the world. There is a catch of course, or maybe it’s the hook. The site is literally a social game of roulette because you never know who you are going to get. By participating you open yourself to brutal honesty from complete strangers who have the option of pressing the next button when they are tired of looking at you. After you hit that button, you can be talking to a person dressed up as a ninja one minute or someone looking to practice their English the next. Most of the time however you will probably be nexted quickly, or disturbed enough to push the next button yourself. Sam Anderson’s article, The Human Shuffle written for New York Magazine, provides an entertaining look into his experience with Chat Roulette. If you want to get a better idea about this site, this is the article to read. He describes his first experience with Chat Roulette as taking him back to grade-school filled with feelings of social inadequacy (with all that nexting). Anderson also goes into detail about some of the conversations he had, as well as the odd magnetic feeling you get driving you back to the site.
Imagine you sign on only to find this guy…
Despite the site’s terms of service (Chatroulette does not tolerate broadcasting obscene, offending, pornographic material and we will have to block users who violate these rules from using our service) ask anyone who has tried Chat Roulette and they will tell you otherwise. Lots of creepers are on it with the sole intention of getting people to expose themselves or frankly just exposing themselves to you. This brings up worries about child pornography and many other issues that get exacerbated once they enter such social network spaces. This is one more site parents have to be worried about their kids stumbling upon.
Google Latitude
Google Latitude is a feature on Google Maps that allows you find the approximate location of your Gmail friends. When you look at the map you can see your friend’s avatar hovering around their location. It seems friendly enough, allowing your friends to see your whereabouts with the Google Latitude software. It is brilliant really, Google really thinks of everything. The question is, do we really need to pinpoint the locations of our friends and family?
Google is aware of the dangers of location data, which is why they enacted privacy settings into their program. First and foremost you are in charge of who you accept as a friend and you chose the people who can see your whereabouts. You can also hide your location. For many this provides a sense of security. As internet users we have become less anxious about sharing private information about ourselves, but the rule of thumb is that we need to have control about what we share. As for Google Latitude, it’s not like your friends are going to track you down. Plus, there is nothing creepy about knowing who is ‘in the area’ and ‘dropping by’ because you saw their little avatar floating around nearby. Hmm. This brings me to…
Foursquare
I first found out about Foursquare from the Frugal Traveler at the New York Times. The reason Foursquare is relevant to a frugal travel post, is that the site encourages people to explore a neighborhood and “check in” to local restaurants, cafes, museums, etc. The more you frequent a location, the more chances you get to receive prizes and discounts, depending on the location. You even get badges if you unlock new places and the more badges you get, the closer you are to becoming mayor or an explorer. Users can make recommendations and keep others updated on what is hot in their area. Overall the site seems like a great idea for those looking to explore their city, but there is a really big BUT here. Sure it seems harmless BUT what is the consequence of people knowing your every move on such sites like Foursquare and Twitter? Glad you asked…
Please Rob Me
The guys on Please Rob Me sure have a sense of humor. What with listing all those empty homes out there haha. Making us all aware that if we tell everyone where we are at all times, we inadvertently alert them when we aren’t home haha. It’s just too funny… isn’t it? haha… As it turns out, letting everyone know our every move through various social networks, is not only annoying, but also brings up security issues, stalking, theft, etc. Some people full of hubris and irrational fear believe that “it will happen to me,” while others brush it off thinking “that would never happen to me?” Most people fall humbly in between, aware of the risks but not willing to let it rule them. Of course the guys at Please Rob Me didn’t create their site to facilitate burglary, but rather to raise awareness, ever so bluntly, about these privacy issues. They certainly got their point across. So don’t go putting your friend’s personal address on Foursquare in order to get extra points or an online badge.
This last site isn’t creepy or scary in any way. Disappointed? Don’t worry, it’s still peculiar. If you ever wanted to know what people really think about you, brutal honesty, without knowing who or where the opinion comes from, sign up for failin.gs! Why anyone would open themselves up to such candid remarks is beyond me, but some people just want honesty, or the taste of suffering. Failin.gs’ users ask, “What’s wrong with me?” and people can leave anonymous tips answering that very question. Since it is anonymous, it allows for brutal honesty without consequence. If you find any of your friends on failin.gs asking:
“What’s wrong with me?”
You can always anonymously tip them.
“You’re on this site.”
[Disclaimer - Social media networks are not inherently creepy or strange, however the debate of the new ways we interact with people have raised many questions about privacy. It is a choice to participate in such programs and post as much information as we want about ourselves, and there is nothing inherently wrong in doing so. But to everything there is a balance and examining the creepy side is just a bit more interesting.]
Image via: Balakov
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