Into the Salar de Uyuni

Sunday 8 May

Sleep-in - yay! Departure time 10 a.m. We are armed with sunglasses, hat, sun cream - and warm clothes!

Our guide for the next 3 days is Luis and the driver of our 4-wheel drive is William. The Salar de Uyuni is the world's largest salt plain (10,582 square kms).

Meanwhile, Uyuni: 35000 pop. In 1932 there was a war against Paraquay and Argentina, a war Bolivia lost: there is a big memorial in the centre of town.

Our first stop is the Train Cemetery about 4 kms out of town. The railway goes from Uyuni to the Chilean port at Antofagasta and was built to transport silver. Many people lost their jobs in Uyuni and the towns along the way when a private company took it over in 1992. Now it runs just once a week as a passenger service.

We go back through Uyuni and start out of town on a new road which goes to La Paz (this takes 10-11 hrs). At one point we detoured due to road works and drive for a short time on the old road - dirt and very rough!

After some time, we turn off to the Salar de Uyuni at Colchani village where we stop for a tour of a salt-processing 'plant' - pretty basic. There is a lot of lithium in these salt flats too (and in the salt plains of Chile and Argentina); here, the salt plains contain 50 to 70% of the world's lithium reserves.

Then we enter the salt flats and see Ojos del Salar where bubbling gases escape from underneath the salt flat; also saw two intrepid cyclists crossing the salt plains!!!

Then to the first Salt Hotel which was closed; it was illegally run. Almost everything there is made of salt … the walls, the tables, chairs…



























Next stop: Incahuasi (Cactus Island) where we enjoyed a lovely lunch of quinoa and vegetable soup, grilled llama with really nice papa frites (potato chips) and vegies followed by crepes with chocolate sauce - yum yum! We go for a short walk to observe giant cacti (Echinopsis atacamensis pasacana, Echinopsis tarijensis, etc. for those who want to know) and volcanic rocks. Boy, did I take a lot of photos of cactus!!

Pretty bird - nice yellow colour - called puco puco from its call.

We drive to our 'hostal' stopping along the way to take 'crazy photos' and arrive into VERY BASIC accommodation in Tahua at the foot of the volcano Thunupa at 3700 m. We arrive at sunset: the colours were amazing.

More quinoa soup and llama for dinner. And thank goodness for the hot water bottle tonight (I've dragged it around for weeks and now I get to use it! Hooray!).