When heaven and earth come together

by Elizabeth Astete Arce (Bolivia)

A leap into the unknown Bolivia

There is a place where the sky and the earth come together, where the mountains guide us and the horizon smiles. There is a place where the sky and the earth are confused, where the water is our desert and the clouds accompany us. Where our reflection does not leave us, where the sunset does not go away and the wind covers us. It was seconds of decision to be able to take a leap into the unknown without previous planning and we headed towards an eccentric place, what will it be like? I asked myself, because in a few hours I would reach the largest salt desert in the world.Before arriving we went through small towns where they made different salt crafts and could not miss the Andean touch where they offered coats made of alpaca wool, knowing that we would face 3600 meters above sea level and the icy weather would be our company. To combat altitude sickness as Bolivians usually offer the coca leaf, this time it was our recommendation to foreigners who were on the same bus and is that initially I felt a touch of traveler because I would share a trip with a group of people of different nationalities and I think that it is like a fortune for all travelers, to share cultures. We arrived ! We announced our guide who was also our GPS and driver, how exciting to take the first step, as well as a heroine with his feet off the bus, exploring the largest salt desert in the world that also contained one of the largest reserves of lithium. As I walked a little more, I found a square with flags where people left their names inscribed and when they climbed to the top of the island known as the island of fish, they observed the immensity of that wonder. We went a little further, they seemed different places, but in same salt, it was January, a month of rain, the salt desert was dressed on the floor by water, without thinking we took our stockings and paths over the sky, the reflection of the sky on the floor we were walking, we walked with confusion and surprised At that moment I forgot everything and looking towards the floor I was just looking for clouds and when I looked at the sky I realized that the sun was with me and when looking around the mountains protected me. There is such a sweet place in the salty desert where the sky chases us and the lost is present, there is a place where the pain disappears and the adventures remain where the unknown makes us smile.