Fflamingos ar lyn coch/Flamingoes on a red lake
Trip Start
Sep 09, 2006
1
4
20
Trip End
Dec 23, 2006
Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
Sunday, October 1, 2006
Dros y dyddiau diwetha wy di bod ar drip mewn 4X4 o gwmpas de-ddwyrain Bolivia. Llwyth o´r golygfeydd mwyaf anhygoel/od wy byth ´di gweld. Ar y trip ´roedd par o Loegr, merch o´r Iseldiroedd a dau for o Sbaen a´r Eidal. Wy di dechrau poeni am fy allu i gyfathrebu gyda Eidalwyr, achos wy di cwrdd a cwpl ohonyn nhw yn yr wythnosau diwetha, a does dim un ohonynt wedi gallu deall dim wy´n dweud.
Yn gynta mi aethom ni i´r Salar de Uyuni, llyn halen mwya´r byd (4085 milltir sgwar, i fod yn gywir). Mae fel anialwch mawr gwyn, perffaith fflat. Mae ´ynys´ o graig ynddo o´r enw Isla de Pescadora (´Ynys y Pysgod´) lle mae cactusiaid 20 troedfedd yn tyfu o´r graig. Dychmygwch sefyll ar ben yr ynys gyda cactusiad anferthol o´ch cwmpas, a diffaethwch halen perffaith wyn yn ymestyn allan i´r mynyddoedd anferth yn y pellter. Weird uffernol.
Os bod hyn ddim yn ddigon, mae llwyth o lynoedd lle mae fflamingoid (????mwy nag un fflamingo, ta beth) yn byw. O achos algae sy´n byw yn y llynoedd, a mwynau o´r tir, mae dwr y llynoedd yn gallu bod yn goch llachar, du, gwyn a gwyrdd. ´Ro´n i´n teimlo fel David Attenbrough tra yn edrych ar yr adar yn bwydo, hedfan ac ymladd yn yr amgylchoedd anhygoel yma. Unwaith eto, weird uffernol.
Ar ddydd ola´r trip mi aethom ni i ffynnon boeth i ymdrochi yn y dwr ac i weld y mwg yn saethu o´r ddaear. Mi arhosom ni mewn cwpl o lefydd anhysbell ofnadwy, fel hen drefi y gorllewin gwyllt, ond mwy boring. Druan bach a´r plant sy´n tyfu lan yn y llefydd hyn. Wy´n meddwl taw´r unig ffordd o wneud arian yw ffermio lamaid (????mwy nag un lama), gweithio i´r cwmnioedd cloddio, neu gwerthu Coca-Cola i´r twristiaid. Fi yn hoffi´r lamaid, mae rhaid fi ddweud. ´Comedy value´ gwych gyda nhw.
Fel wedes i ar y dechrau, mi weles i rhai o´r golygfeydd mwyaf anhygoel fi byth di gweld. Yr unig beth gwael am y trip oedd y ffaith i fi losgi´r lle moel ar dop fy mhen tra yn La Paz. Mi dreilies i´r holl drip a chroen yn pilio fel dandruff gwael iawn. Lyfli.
Flamingoes on a red lake
For the last couple of days I´ve been in a trip in a 4X4 around south-western Bolivia. Loads of the most amazing/odd views I´ve ever seen. On the trip there was a couple from England, a girl from Holland, and two blokes from Spain and Italy. I´ve started worrying about my ability to communicate with Italians, I´ve met quite a few in the last couple of weeks and none of them have understood anything I´ve said.
First we went to the Salar de Uyuni, the world´s biggest salt lake (4085 square miles, to be exact). It´s like a big white desert, perfectly flat. There´s an ´island´ of rock called the Isla de Pescadora (´Fish Island´) where there are 20 foot cactuses growing out of the rock. Imagine standing on top of the island with huge cactuses all around, with a perfectly white salt tundra stretching out to the mountains on the horizon. Weird as fuck.
If this wasn´t enough, there´s a load of lakes where flocks of flamingoes live. Because of the algae in the water, and also the minerals from the grount, the water in the lakes can be bright red, white, black and green. I felt a bit like David Attenbrough watching the birds feeding, fighting, and generally hanging ´round in these amazing environments. Again, weird as fuck.
On the last day of the trip we went to some hot springs to bathe in the water and to see the geisers shooting smoke from the ground. We passed through a few really out the way places, like Wild West towns, but more boring. I really felt pity for the childen that grow up in these places. The only ways I could see to make a living were to farm lamas, work for the mining companies, or sell Coca Cola to tourists. I do like the lamas, though- they´ve got great comedy value.
As I said that the start, I saw some of the most amazing sights I´ve ever seen. Only down point was that I´d burned the bald patch on the top my head while sightseeing in La Paz. I spend the whole trip flaking skin from the top of my head like really bad dandruff. Nice.
