Wednesday: Thomas' last puff - Uyuni's train graveyard

Before heading out to the salt flats we take a detour to Uyuni's 'train graveyard'. A few clicks from the town, the yard is full of rusting steam train carcasses that are in various states of decay. With the bright blue sky above, the rusting colours look very artistic against the semi-desert backdrop.

Vivid colours

Some of the engines have been cut open to expose the tubes and furnaces used to develop the steam, and one can climb all over, and even into, them. A couple have been cut away completely leaving just the curved tops of the boiler, to which swings have been attached so that you can enjoy a lazy sway in the sun. There's no sign of the Fat Controller anywhere, but judging by the state of the engines, he had a coronary a long time ago.

The train graveyard

Getting to the graveyard proved to be somewhat challenging as we took a route though an old quarry filled with sand and salt. Several of us came a cropper riding up the banks of the quarry that were covered in deep sand. But this is all part of the fun of riding and the 'offs' were gentle, so no damage.

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