Waking up in Uyuni to a warm room thanks to our dorms heater was a pleasant way to start the day. Even better our showers were hot, hot with amazing pressure. We had a day in Uyuni to find a good tour company, get our exit stamps and buy any last minute goods for as soon as we jump across the border to Chile prices triple for everything. Having read about many of the dangers and difficulties of picking a company we were armed with a few names of recommended companies. All companies answer questions in a way to please the tourist. How many people are in the car? Only 6 plus driver. Does the driver speed or drink? No, no never! What is the condition of the car? Does it include transfer to Chile? Yes or course all included, etc. It is hard to really be sure until you are already in the car on the way. We ended up going with Estelle del sur and they were great with a nice safe driver and had a good mixed crew with us in our truck. Miguel our driver was quiet and spoke Spanish only but was able to explain slowly where we were going and provide a bit of background on each stop. Lily a lovely Bolivian lady (who was also able to help translate when we didn't fully understand Miguel) and her husband Tim and two Melbourne girls, also heading to Chile, completed our group. With only six in our car there was plenty of space for everyone although as the shorty I got stuck in the back where there is not as much leg room.
All the tours follow the same route so when we pulled up at the first stop of the tour, the train cemetery, it was already crawling with other travellers. The graveyard is full of rusting locomotives left from a time when the train line was fully utilized to transport minerals. The line is now mainly used to deliver minerals from the Japanese owned zinc mine, San Cristobal, over to Chile to be processed and exported overseas. It provided a bit of fun exploring and climbing around the dead trains like little kids on a playground.
A short, dusty drive later we arrived into Colchani a small town just on the edge of Salar De Uyuni. Last stop for Bolivian llama wool products, sunnies, hats and a place to buy trinkets made out of salt or if you really wanted to you could buy some salt. We skipped the salt buying. On a side track the salt in Bolivia tastes different from salt from home- it’s less salty if that's possible. I have to shake like a full teaspoon onto my food to even taste anything, probably not the best thing for me :$. Also in Colchani a small museum holds several different statues carved from salt. Having never seen salt in its raw form it was pretty interesting to see the shapes that had been created and to see how the salt holds to form the statues.
Salar de Uyuni Leaving Colchani, a sea of white spotted with small peaked domes welcomed us. The salt flats have been carved up into a patchwork of squares with a few men scraping and shovelling the thick salt layer into little mountains. It is left like this so any water can evaporate.
The salt flats cover an area some 10,000 kms² and is covered in a thick layer of salt which is scraped up and exported out. Between November and February the salt flat which was actually part of a giant prehistoric lake is covered in water like shallow pool and provides great mirror photo opportunities. Salar de Uyuni is also said to have the highest concentrate of Lithium reserves in the world. It lies under the layer of salt but as of yet this is an untapped resource but the Bolivian government apparently has plans to mine in the future.
The salt flats cover an area some 10,000 kms² and is covered in a thick layer of salt which is scraped up and exported out. Between November and February the salt flat which was actually part of a giant prehistoric lake is covered in water like shallow pool and provides great mirror photo opportunities. Salar de Uyuni is also said to have the highest concentrate of Lithium reserves in the world. It lies under the layer of salt but as of yet this is an untapped resource but the Bolivian government apparently has plans to mine in the future.
Driving along the salt flats is an unreal experience. Surrounded on all sides by miles of blinding white surfaces it feels like driving along snow. So smooth and flat is the surface it is hard to think that we are actually some 3600 meters above sea level. On closer examination the salt creates some spectacular geometrical shapes on the flat plains.
After a lunch of tough llama steak we spent a few hours creating optical illusion shots on the cameras. Some groups were getting really creative and has lots of props prepared for their shots.
Back in the car we visited Isla Incahuasi an impressive rock covered in cacti We opted out of paying the fee to climb it instead walking around it and using the time to take more deceptive photos on the salt flats. We still got the feel of it being an island and seeing the girls video from the top, the island provided a spectacular panoramic view of the salt flats with white salt for as far as the eye could see. I could have spent all day playing with the camera but Jake and the others soon got tired of posing and not wanting to use all our battery up on the first day it was time to move on.
Back in the car we visited Isla Incahuasi an impressive rock covered in cacti We opted out of paying the fee to climb it instead walking around it and using the time to take more deceptive photos on the salt flats. We still got the feel of it being an island and seeing the girls video from the top, the island provided a spectacular panoramic view of the salt flats with white salt for as far as the eye could see. I could have spent all day playing with the camera but Jake and the others soon got tired of posing and not wanting to use all our battery up on the first day it was time to move on.
After taking part in a few tours by now I wasn't expecting much in terms of accommodation for the night. Pleasantly surprised we rocked up at our place greeted by gleaming, clean tile floors and a table set with hot tea and bikkies which was just what we needed with the temperature starting to plunge as night fell. The whole place including the tables and our beds were made of salt- a cute novelty. The hostel sat on a small hill with a great outlook over the Salar de Uyuni and the stunning colours of the setting sun. A perfect end to our first day.
Next stop: Day two and three - volcanos, geysers and lagoons