Salar de Uyuni

Most people visiting Bolivia will have Salar de Uyuni in their itinerary. It was also the primary motivation for me to visit Bolivia. The world’s largest salt flat at the high altitude of Andes was something could not be missed while visiting Bolivia. My plan was to go on a 3 day tour to Uyuni and enter Atacama desert in Chile. Lithium (which is the next oil) found here may change the picture of this place completely in future.

Reaching Uyuni

I took an overnight bus from La Paz to Uyuni. The “Todo Tourismo” bus was very comfortable with 160 degrees seat, dinner and breakfast being served. There is also flight service between La Paz and Uyuni but it is usually expensive. As I got down at Uyuni, a person from “Red Planet Expedition” was waiting with my name on the placard. I reached the office where the person at the reception explained about the tour and I made the payment. There was place to sit and relax with free Wi-Fi. I could also use the toilets in the office. Since the tour started at 11 AM, I had enough time and roamed around Uyuni. There was nothing much to do in that rusty and dusty town!!

Day 1

The tour started promptly at 11AM. The Toyota Land cruiser with a driver and English speaking guide was ready. We were six of us on that day. Apart from me, there were five ladies – two from Germany, two from Australia and one from China. Interestingly, five of us were either Vegetarians or Vegans!! It was quite a pleasant surprise outside India!!

Train’s graveyard

On the outskirts of Uyuni was the train’s graveyard. In the olden days, railway lines were built to transport minerals to the harbour. While the railway lines are still active, the new Diesel engines replaces the old coal engines. For some reason, they were not sold for scrap and are lying there rusted. Today, it is a big tourist attraction. It looked like a tourist trap for me as people were climbing up and taking selfies. 

Salt factory at Cochani

Cochani is a small village with some shops and salt factories. People demonstrated how the salt is extracted from the field and the manufacturing process of table salt. We also had lunch in the village, which was quite decent. 

Salt flats

Until now we were only roaming around Uyuni. But post lunch, we went to the salt fields. We were stunned by the vast expanse of the salt fields. It was so flat, wide and hard. There was nothing else but complete whiteout of salt!! We went to the only hotel in the salt flat and it was made out of salt!! What a place!! Most of us felt that it could have been better to have lunch at that place. Anyway, we spent some time in the hotel.

 

After coming out of the hotel, the guide started with the photography session. For the next one hour, we became the “actors” performing various stunts to take crazy pictures!! I rarely indulge in such acts but I enjoyed the experience. While there were some solo pictures, most acts required us to be in group of two or more. Since I was solo, I was paired with the Chinese lady for some pictures. Interesting photos came out!!

 

Fish (Cactus) island 

After an hour of photography session, we went to the Cactus island which was at the centre of the salt flat. Why it is called as island? While the salt flat is completely filled with salt, there are some “islands” coming out of the salt flat. One such island is the cactus island, named due to the giant cactus that grows on the island.

 

It was an amazing place. As we climbed up on the island, the expanse of the salt flat became visible. It was simply huge. The cactus island was definitely one of the best places that I visited during the trip.

Sunset

We watched the sun as it went down the horizon in salt flat. Post sunset, the temperature suddenly dropped and we put on layers of cloth!! It was time to go to the hotel for night stay. The hotel turned out to be very decent. I got a single room with attached toilet. We had an early dinner and hit the beds. There was nothing much do in the hotel.

Day 2

The second day started with a visit to a “ghost town” of Julaca next to the railway line. Technically, it is not really a ghost town as small population still resides. There is also a small school that caters to the few kids in the village. Our guide mentioned that everyone in Bolivia gets free education though the standard is not good.

 

We were out of salt flat and were in a high altitude desert surrounded by many volcanoes – dead, dormant and active. There were many lagoons all along the way. Flamingos were seen in almost all lagoons. 

Laguna Turuncha

A lake with nice reflections. 

 

Near the lake we spent some time with the llamas!! There were quite gracious to allow us very close.

 

We also saw some Rhea but I could not get a close shot with my landscape lens.

Laguna Chilunkani

A beautiful lake against the backdrop of the mountains with flamingos.

Laguna Cachi

We cloud get very near to Flamingos in this lake.  

Laguna Kara

Another beautiful lake!!

Rock formations and Andean fox

There were some of the beautiful rock formations on the way. Here we met an Andean fox couple. They were not afraid of people and came very close to us.

Laguna Colorada

The most beautiful lake of the day. The red colour of the lake filled with pink flamingos were treat to our eyes. 

 

Geysers at Sol de Mañana

A geothermal area, this place has manu sulphur springs and mud volcanoes. 

 

It was a long day and finally we reached our hotel for our stay. This hotel was basic and only had shared toilets. The whole day was windy and there was no sign of abating. Our guide told that it was very unusual. We went to a hot spring near our hotel but I did not enter it due to cold and heavy winds. I tried to take the shot of Milky way but the severe wind was making my camera unstable. I ended up taking a very bad photo.

Day 3

It was a long night. The winds and the associated sounds made us difficult to get sleep. I was worried that the roof may not be able to hold the wind but we survived the night!!

Salvador Dali desert (Dali valley)

The barren valley of Dali is interesting as the landscapes resemble the paintings of Salvador Dali. 

Laguna Verde

We crossed a lake called Laguna Blanca to reach Laguna Verde. The green lake was one of the highlights of the day. We would have easily spent an hour roaming around this beautiful lake but the severe winds made our life difficult. We could only spend about 5 minutes taking pictures of the beautiful lake against the backdrop of the big volcano Licancahur at 6,000 meters. I was surprised at the lack of snow even at such altitudes but we were in one of the driest areas on earth!!

 

The crater of that volcano has a lake where some people also did scuba diving. It was considered as the highest scuba dive in the world at that time!! Anyway, the lake of out of bounds for us.

Entry to Chile

Laguna Verde is the last visiting point after which the vehicles go back to Uyuni which is about 6-7 hours of drive. The other exit point is Chile border which is just 15 minutes of drive. I had decided to enter Chile through this border. The group came till the border to drop me. First, I had to cross the Bolivia customs Checkpost where I had to fill a form and submit. The next stop was Bolivia immigration. Our guide had asked me to give 15 Boliviar to the emigration officer. I was not sure whether it was a standard payment or the bribe. But at 4,000 meters and at such isolated place, there was no place for such discussions!!

 

The immigration was done in a jiffy and the guide gave me the ticket to San Pedro de Atacama and put me in a van. I was the only person crossing Chile from our group and rest of them started their journey back to Uyuni. The place was so desolate and dry. Apart from the rusty building there was nothing else. When asked for toilets, I was told “natural”!! In the meantime, the driver asked me not to take any fruits or vegetables into Chile. The Apple I was having went to my stomach.

 

Chile immigration was 5 km away from the border. The immigration office was very sophisticated. The immigration was quick but they checked all luggages for vegetables, meat and fruit. In another 1 hour, I was at San Pedro de Atacama town. The driver promptly dropped me in front of my hotel. The Bolivia part of my journey ended and Chile dreams started!!