Amazing. One of the best things I have seen – the salt lake outside of Uyuni in Bolivia.
I was excited to do a three day trip to see the salt lake – the largest salt lake in the world – as other travelers had dubbed it ‘the best thing they had done’. That was a big call. I was hoping not to be disappointed.
Uyuni itself is a nothing town situated in the middle of the desert, a bone shaking 10+ hour drive from La Paz. More than 1/3 of the road is unpaved meaning you are nearly bounced out of your seat every 5 minutes.
On the first day we started with a short visit to an old train graveyard.
Then we hit the salt lake. Incredible.
We were exceptionally lucky with the weather, but particularly for this day. Rain meant a totally different view of the lake, but we had the perfect day. The sky was blue and almost cloud free so we had free range over the 12,000km square lake.
Salt is collected from the lake and sold for income. Piles of salt that had been dug up were sitting to dry on the lake itself, breaking up the pancake flat horizon.
A must for all travelers on the lake – funny photos. We stopped several times whilst crossing the lake to take them. The best fun!
(The cartwheel shot)
(Help!)
(No idea how Adrien got that hight in the air…)
(The obligatory star photo)
(Take that Pia!)
(Wine anyone?)
We visited an ‘island’ in the middle of the lake covered by cactuses before heading to our salt hotel for the night.
(Lunch is served)
(Demonstrating evolution)
(A brick of salt)
(Our room in the salt hotel – yes, it’s made of salt!)
Days 2 & 3 involved leaving the lake behind us and 4wd driving through the desert. Most of the time we were surrounded by NOTHING except huge mountains. The land was flat and barren with only the occasional llama to break the scenery.
(Border crossing into Chile)
We visited lots of lakes that were often mined for various minerals. On many of the lakes were pink flamingos which were beautiful.
(Demonstrating how to be a flamingo)
The highest lake/point on the tour was the green lake at 5300m.
(Showing that our car is ‘The Best’)
We stopped on top of a volcano to see geysers and steam. It was spectacular however many of the tour companies let there tourists stand right beside the geysers and feel the steam. Madness.
(Shadows in the steam!)
On our last day was got up at an insane hour (4am) to hit the hot springs early. It was FREEZING but so worth it. Getting in was like a warm bath that defrosted your entire body.
(Thermal baths with a llama view!)
