Bolivia salt flats

Uyuni 

Uyuni graffiti

We were up the next morning at 3am to take a bus to Uyuni in Bolivia to visit the famous salt flats. After 10 hours on the bus, we had time to walk round the town and have some dinner, then we booked a 1 day tour of the flats for the following day, which cost us about $25 USD each.

Lady in typical bowler hat

We went with Blue Line Tours because many other tour agencies tried to charge the same amount, PLUS another $50 USD each for an English-speaking guide. We were with 2 other couples in a 4 x 4 and our guide spoke great English. 

Train cemetery

First stop was the train cemetery. This is where trains that had been set up by the British for mining were left to rust in the 1940s when the mining industry collapsed. 

We went to the small town of Colchani to see how salt is processed and packaged for sale in the region, we strolled around the tourist trap market, and we visited the little salt museum with its statues made of salt, before heading off to salt flats.

Salt flats

The salt flats stretch as far as the eye could see and are just a huge desert of salt that looks like snow. It’s an impressive sight. We had lunch in the salt hotel, then our guide took some perspective photos which were basically us messing around pretending to be chased by a toy dinosaur. 

We drove on to Fish Island, so-called because it apparently has the shape of a fish from a distance. This is an oasis in the middle of the flats – an island made of petrified coral covered in huge cacti, which has quite a nice little trek, taking around 40 minutes.

Fish Island

The final stop on this fantastic tour was to see the sunset. Some of the more expensive tours included use of rain boots (wellies) but ours didn’t and it was a bit annoying because there was quite a bit of water up where the sunset spot was, and most people didn’t get out of the jeep because of it. We risked it and managed not to get soaked. The sunset was beautiful, well worth it. The salt flats are stunning but to get the famous mirror effect, it’s best to go in December or January when there has been some rain to allow for the perfect reflection. 

Salt flats

We were on the bus at 5am the next morning, heading straight back to San Pedro. The bus was really straightforward and we were instructed what to do at the checkpoints and customs. The journey was pretty comfortable but we were glad we had brought our own food as it stopped only once there and back in the same place, just over the border in Bolivia. There is a bit of hanging around as you’d expect at the borders, but overall it was fine, and it was fun to watch the sniffer dog at work on the way back.

 

We got back and dumped our bags and went straight to the pub to meet our astro-photographer friend for a few beers. We stayed out partying with him and several other tour guides until 4am and that put paid to any trips we’d planned to do the following day. 

 

The town of San Pedro is a great little town. It’s fairly touristy but has a lovely relaxed vibe to it. Although it’s pretty small, it had a good selection of bars and eateries, including a row of really cheap local places. The only drawbacks to them were that they closed as soon as the food ran out, so it was hit and miss as to whether we’d make it in time, and they didn’t sell booze. As is the case all over Chile, there are street dogs everywhere, but they are all so friendly. In fact we were told that locals call the town San Perro (perro = dog). We could have stayed longer…you get used to the dry air eventually.

#bolivia #uyuni #saltflats #calchoni  #traincemetery #fishisland