Salt of the earth...

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My first glimpse of the Salar was just after twilight, on the bumpy road to Uyuni. Stretched across the horizon was a white band, glowing even under the crescent moon.

When we drove out onto the Sara the next morning, it was s blindingly bright--I couldn't take my sunglasses off. We stopped to get out once the last bit of the road disappeared, and we were nearly surrounded by salt. When I stepped out of the 4WD, I expected it to be cold and wet, like snow (hey, I'm from the Great White North, after all), so it was strange to be standing on dry salt.

The whole place was surreal, and huge. It took nearly an hour to drive halfway across the salar to Isla Incahuasi (which the locals call Isla Pescador--that island is actually another 90km away). It's a coral island in the middle of the salar, covered with tall cacti. There is a path around the island, with views of the salar in all directions. I think the most bizarre thing was all the 4WD's full of tourists. I haven't seen that many gringos in one place since I transferred planes in Boston Airport! There is a strange echo as the 4WD's race across the salar, and I wonder if our driver was the only one to fall asleep while driving across the white expanse (that's right, the driver nodded off for a brief nap).

After lunch at the island, we crossed the rest of the salar towards the village of San Juan, where we spent the night (and had the best meal I've had in Bolivia, with lots of locally grown quinoa).

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