THE INCREDIBLE AND SPECTACULAR SALT FLATS OF UYUNI

I am writing from under my duvet and heated blanket at our beautiful salt hotel. My view as I glance up from my computer is a dome of salt blocks above my bed. The hotel is made primarily of salt with some wood used in the framing and hallways. There are fireplaces everywhere and I feel such peace. Isaac is snoring beside me as he is completely exhausted from a very full day in the open air. He loves the hotel but his giant feet almost got him in trouble as he was gazing around and accidently chipped a little salt from a center piece. Oops.

We have had so little down time and terrible internet so I am writing this in hopes of catching up tomorrow from La Paz.

I will write little and share way too many pictures of this incredible place that was simply an ocean 50,000 years ago. As the ocean evaporated Uyuni was left with a never ending sea of salt at over 3600 meters above sea level. The remaining salt is mined and exported and draws thousands of tourist a week. It is no wonder. I can’t believe that when I first started planning this trip with Lorna I didn’t really want to come here. It is now on my list of favorite places I have seen. I loved my day.

We arrived in Uyuni at 7 am and after a leisurely breakfast headed out.

Our first stop was quite bizarre. We visited the train graveyard and it is exactly that. Uyuni was once the maintenance center for all trains in the region but as technology improved, the need no longer existed and the old trains were simply left in the area. It didn’t sound all that interesting but it was cool. The kids had a blast climbing around and on top of the wrecks.

From there we went to see how the salt was processed and ventured out onto the salt flats. We stopped to see the oxygen bubbling up from the water below. Yikes, it was scary to learn that there is water all below us and people have actually gone through. A 45-minute drive took us to the middle of the flats where we tried some funny pictures and enjoyed a picnic lunch.

lunch

Then another hour drive into the vast fields brought us to the most specular little island filled with cactuses. We hiked to the tops for more incredible views. I have never seen anything like it.

Another hour drive (I have no idea how our driver knew where he was going since everything looks the same) took us to an area which is normally filled with water so we could see the reflections. In the last week the water evaporated leaving only small puddles for us to take some reflection photos and watch the sun go down.

The entire day, I was mesmerized by the never ending sea of white and the constantly changing skies, clouds and colours.

I thought nothing could make the day better until we arrived at our hotel. Cozy, quaint and unique. Yet another very special place on our little adventure.