Uyuni - Day 6 Was All About Salt

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(Post by Mike)


It was with a bit of sadness but also excitement that we packed up our bags and prepared to leave La Paz for the second city of our trip: Uyuni, right next to the largest salt flats in the world. We first headed out to buy some last wool equipment for the trip (gloves, scarves) - Uyuni and the surrounding salty desert are known to drop to -20 degrees Celsius during the winter season.

At the airport in La Paz, we got to enjoy a little taste of home at a Subway franchise. I learned that Bolivians enjoy a much tastier Steak & Cheese sub than we do in North America - they get real meat chunks! Overall, flying was much superior to the 12-hour bus ride to Uyuni... our trip lasted 45 minutes and we were treated to incredible views of the Bolivian mountains and salt flats during the ride. Jess took many great pictures which we will post soon.

We landed at the tiny airport in Uyuni - the sole other people, other than the 6 other passengers on our plane, were four members of the Bolivian military (guarding the airport from invasion?) and a single taxi ready to take us 'downtown'. Uyuni, once a significant railway hub for Bolivia and South America, now seems to exclusively support itself on the tourist industry. During our short stay in Uyuni proper, we stayed within the 4-5 blocks full of tourist shops and tour agencies, and avoided the rest of the city which really resembled a ghost town. We booked a 3-day, 2-night tour of the Uyuni salt flats and Bolivian national park, and grabbed a taxi to our hotel.

And what a hotel it was! We had booked a night at the Luna Salada, about 25 minutes outside of Uyuni (highly recommended). The hotel is built almost entirely of salt (salt walls, salt bedframe, salt crystals crunching under your feet as you walk around). From the hotel, we saw some breathtaking views of the sun setting over the salt flats, and enjoyed a nice and hearty buffet dinner served by the resident chef, who we got to meet and schmooze for a bit. We fell asleep under an electric blanket in our room, fully protected from the harsh cold outside.

Quite a different and luxurious experience as compared to what we would need to endure over our 3-day trip which started tomorrow...

(Note: Next post is coming from Jess... as she finally finishes the 1st Game of Thrones book she will have more time for blog posting! Photos soon too.)

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Photos

The Bolivian Mountains
View from the plane

Reading nooks with heaters
Essential when the nights got down to -20 celsius!

Comments

[Jessica's Mom]

postings
Thanks for the postings, Mike. We have greatly enjoyed them. We are also looking forward to hearing from Jessica, too. We are heading to Peter's wedding today. We will miss you.