Uyuni, Bolivia [Eng]

Salar de Uyuni

Uyuni is a little town in Southwest Bolivia in the middle of the desert. I believe that nobody would want to come here if the world's largest salt flat wouldn't be here. This is one of the most famous tourist attractions in South America.

Taking pictures

Rocks in the desert

Laguna Colorada

I took a bus from Potosi to here. It was around 5 hours and it only cost 30 Bolivianos (4€). The road is leading through huge mountains and mostly deserted areas, however there are a few places where there is some agricultural activity.

Cementery of Trains, Uyuni

Isla de Banderas

In the salt desert

Uyuni itself looks pretty much how I imagine a city at the end of the world. Dusty roads, mostly without pavement, trash is flying everywhere with the wind, stray dogs are roaming the streets in big groups, and most of the businesses are closed. Lots of unfinished buildings are looking old already.

I draw a really negative picture now, but it isn't that bad. My hostel was modern and clean with hot water and good internet connection for only 70 bolivianos (9€). It's true that many places are closed, but you can still find some good pubs and restaurants. And there are dozens of offices where they offer tours for the main tourist attraction here: to the salt desert. There isn't really any other way to get to the desert than taking one of these tours. Almost all the companies are offering the same. A one day trip costs around 150 Bolivianos (20€), or a three day trip which costs 800 Bolivianos (130€). It is worth it to go to multiple offices though, because the offer is pretty much the same, but they might give some discount.

Flamencos at Sunrise

Hotel built of salt

Streetwiev in Uyuni

The Three Days Long Tour The first day is about the main attraction. The salt flat. It is a desert but in this part of the year it is a huge 12000 square kilometres lake but very shallow, only 10-30 cm deep. It is something that is really hard to describe. It has to be seen. Of course the hotels built of salt are pretty cool, but the view is the one which is incredible and you can take a lot of funny pictures.

The price included dinner, lunch, and accommodation, but don't be surprised when hostels are asking for extra money for ridiculous things like showers, toilet papers or internet, but Hey! They are built of salt. So I shouldn't complain. It was a nice experience.

The second day is a long drive through the desert with some stops at lakes with flamingos and rocks with special forms. The landscape here is something I have never seen before. The greyish, reddish colours of the desert mirrored in the lakes… Incredible. At the end of the ride we arrived at the national Park (150 Bolivianos extra again). And then we checked into the hostel. Don't expect a shower here, nor electricity, but other than that it is pretty nice.

Fauna in the Desert

Geysir

Lake next to the Thermal Bath

The next morning we had to wake up at 4:00 am. After breakfast we packed our stuff in the car. It was still dark outside. Darker than the evening because the Moon already left the sky.The view of the stars was amazing. Thousands of stars, maybe millions and a clear sight on the milky way. It was so dark that I didn't see anything on the ground, but I was walking a bit to get away from those little lights the hostel had and then I just enjoyed the view for a couple of minutes.

Desert

The first station in the morning was a place with some geysers and then went to a thermal bath. The pools were next to a lake in open air. We were more than 5000 m high above sea level so the lake around the pools was partially frozen.To enter the hot water we had to make a few steps on frozen rocks. It was fun. First, when I stepped in it felt like I would burn alive but a couple of seconds later I just enjoyed the water warming my body.