The long drive to Uyuni

---

It was a long day to get from La Paz to Uyuni. I did most of my organizing and re-packing last night so I could go out for an early breakfast at my favourite café before our driver picked us up. Even with our earlier-than-usual start, it was still nearly 10am before we were out of the canyon and through El Alto, onto the open road.

It was strange to go through the toll booth at Konani instead of skirting around it to get the road to Palluma. The drive to Oruro was relatively short from there. We were going to stop for lunch in Oruro, but the whole city was hoppin', maybe because of Mother's Day, which was today (they have it on the same date every year, and spend the whole week celebrating).

From Oruro, we drove past lakes, amazing outcrops, sand dunes, huge volcanic outcrops, lots of llamas, and even a rhea running across the southern Altiplano. Just past Huari, we had to take a detour off the paved road. For a long time, we could see the paved road in the distance, but we never got back onto it. Occasionally, there were crews working on grading, preparing to finish the paved road. I imagine someday they'll finish paving it all the way to Uyuni, but in the meantime we bumped and twisted along the dirt road.

The sun set while we were on the road (we were down in a valley at the time, so didn't really see the sunset -proper), but dusk and twilight were magical. We got to Uyuni after about an hour of driving by starlight. We passed by the edge of the Salar, and even at night (there was just a crescent moon), it glowed white.

Tomorrow, we cross the Salar, and with any luck, we'll see pink flamingos the day after that.

---

Comments

[Philwaddington]

Amazing Photos
Hi, I never seen such kind of places, It is really wonderful informations about Uyuni.. Thanks for given all the details about Uyuni..