Blogs from Salar de Uyuni, Potosí Department, Bolivia, South America - page 17

We took an overnight bus from La Paz to Uyuni that was supposed to leave at 9pm on Friday night, but didn´t leave until 10:30pm due to mechanical issues. It was so late that they served us our boxed dinner in the bus terminal! When we got on the bus--it was definitely NOT what we paid for, but we discovered that we would have to switch buses 3 hours later in Oruro to a nicer bus so we dealt with it. However, when we arrive in Oruro at 3am, the new bus wasn´t there (of course) so we ended up waiting another hour for the new bus to come. Grrr. Our supposed 8 hour ride turned into 13 hours with all the mishaps, but we luckily made it to Uyuni in time to book a one ... read more

Salar de Uyuni (and the lands surrounding it) is astounding and surreal. The feeling of being on another planet -- be it Mars or one imagination-sprung -- seems to be universal. Though the rides in the Landrovers are crowded and extremely long, there is so much to look at out the windows that the time passes fairly quickly. Still, both the flats and the surrounding mountains are profoundly inhospitable (50 MPH winds (at least on our trip), 3800-5000 meter elevation, rough dirt roads) and the very basic accommodations make this a difficult trip, even though the physical requirements are near nil. Try to avoid even spending a night in Uyuni, as it is a barren, desolate wasteland that should only be preserved for post-apocalyptic film sets. The wide, dusty, empty streets (except for the rubbish) and ... read more

Some entries are more special than others, and this one is a special one for us. I've been lucky to travel the world, seeing a lot of his wonders. At the same time, I know pretty well the places I dream to visit in the future, dog sledging in Greenland, diving Cocos, trekking Buthan while staying in Amans...and the list goes one. But Salar de Uyuni, the place had been for a while on my list...and this time, sharing it with Ma'ri...it's done! And trust me, this was an amazing few days. No great luxuries here...just pure earth wonders. We set up on a bus leaving middle morning to Oruro from La Paz. The ride was around 3 hours across the Altiplano to reach the city of Oruro. From there we board the train to Uyuni...another ... read more

Salar de Uyuni and REA - What´s Wrong with the Picture? by Ioulia Fenton, 9th July, 2010, La Paz, Bolivia An old joke goes that a worse thing than being exploited by capitalism is not being exploited by capitalism at all. Under-exploitation by capitalism could probably be placed somewhere in the middle and an example of it can be seen in the area around a small town of Uyuni in Bolivia. Starting from there, you can take a trip between one and four days long and visit (among other things) the Salar de Uyuni (the famous Salt Flats) and Reserva Eduardo Avaroa (REA) National Park. The Salt Flats, which are the largest and highest in the world, are one of the most beautiful places on the planet. They constitute one of the brightest objects on the ... read more

After this weekend excursion, I now am aware of the Wisconsin Winter Strength I have. This was one of the most amazing weekend adventures I have ever had (I feel like I say that a lot) It was a true test of “roughin it” in harsh cold conditions, but for me-the sights trumped it. Uyuni Salt Flat Tour 3 days-2 nights The group loaded onto a double decker bus for an 11 hour ride into Uyuni (southwestern area of Bolivia) We were scheduled to arrive at 7:00am, and were told our tour company would be waiting for us with a warm office to wait in until our tour began at 10:00. Well, shocking surprise #1 we arrived at 5:00 am! I think it is almost unheard of for Bolivians to be early. Obviously, this early, our ... read more