The enchanted world of Uyuni

To follow their route the four knights had to cross the enchanted salt desert of Uyuni, which was said to be guarded by magical creatures and enchanted by mysterious spells. Guided by their faithful squire, who was taking them in his metal horse, they entered the immense white flat. After a few hours they reached a cactus oasis where the squire had to stop to let the beast that was carrying them rest for a while. While the knights waited a friendly old man invited them to walk a bit through the desert while he charmed them with lovely tales. When inside the desert the old men transformed himself! He was a disguised wizard who told them: "You entered this desert without paying your respects to Pachamama, the Mother-Earth, and she is furious with you! Now you'll have to go to the iced mountain to honor her or your friend will keep shrinking until he disappears forever." And throwing a lightning bolt with his hands he transformed one of the knights in a tiny one-inch dwarf, vanishing afterwards. While the three big ones looked at each other confused and picked up the now little dwarf knight putting him in one of their pockets, their faithful squire appeared and took them back to the oasis. After getting to know what happened he said: "We have to reach the mountain before dawn, or he will vanish forever!" They quickly left the salt flats headed to the sacred mountain. But in order to be able to enter it they had to first collect the four elements that would enable them to break the spell. So they did, going firstly to the lagoon where the sacred flamingos lived. There they collected a feather with which they would pay respect to the air. After that they went to the desert where they found a tree made of stone from where they took a leaf to homage the earth. The last stop before the mountain was the pink lake from where they took some of its magical liquid with which they would show their respect for the water. When they finally reached the mountain they had to face the freezing temperatures of the mountain's dawn so they could pray to the Pachamama. In front of one of the puddles of boiling mud they offered the other three elements inside the fire that came from inside the mountain, thanking Mother-Earth for the beautiful adventure they had just lived. The spell was broken and the little dwarf started to go back to his normal size at the same time the morning sun slowly rose in the horizon. Already able to hug his friends he grabbed them to thank their help. And so the the five stood there looking at the sun that was rising through the mist.








Uyuni, Bolivia, July 2009