A boy and his backpack. A tale of journey and adventure.
September 17, 2008
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The Uyuni Salt Flats
Our second night in Bolivia we stayed in a hotel made of salt. When I say made of salt, I mean completely made of salt. Aside from toilets, showers and doors, everything is made of salt. Including the tables, chairs, bed frames, walls, floors, etc…. The first picture I have attached hopefully shows you what I am trying to describe. EVERYTHING. Everything is constructed from salt rock, and the floors are covered in a more finite grain of salt that is sorta like walking on the beach.
The next morning, we traveled across the vast expanse that is the Salar de Uyuni. The salt flats of Uyuni are the world’s largest salt flat. Quick history lesson… Once upon a time, ocean waters traveled this far inland. Over thousands of years, mountains, that later became the Andes, trapped large amounts of water in Bolivia. Over time, the water evaporated and left nothing behind except for large amounts of salt. Now, this is not table salt. It is as hard as rock. Bolivia mines the salt flats for… well….. salt!
Once you have driven out into the middle of the flats, it is a sight to behold. Every direction, as far as the eye can see, is pure white. It almost looks like you are standing on snow. At one point we drove out to a mountain in the middle of the flats that had an amazing view giving a great perspective of just how large the Uyuni salt flats really are. The mountain was also covered in some of the largest cactus I have ever seen. All of the photos you see below are “AS IS”. No photoshop, digital enhancement, etc…. The cactus really are that big, the salt really is that white, and Sharla really did carry the “six-inch man” on her hand. (That actually took quite a bit of time to set up! Hope you like it!) And for those of you that are creatively challenged, we are spelling out UYUNI in that one picture. You can see in a few of the pictures the mounds of salt, that are being made ready to ship to the factory to be made into salt for our dinners. Our driver treated us to a surprise meal out in the middle of nowhere. Just us, a blanket, some chicken, and a lot of salt.
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East to Bolivia
Ok, Ok. At long last I am finally getting around to telling the rest of my stories from South America. Things are getting mighty hectic around here, and I figure that if I do not send these out today, I may not get the opportunity to send them again. I have included a few new people on this e-mail who have shown interest in what has been going on. I can send you guys some of the older e-mails if you are interested, just let me know.
After spending several days in the Atacama Desert, it was time to head east into Bolivia. We took a small bus from our hostel and headed out of town to the Bolivian border. It was only about an hour drive. I have included a picture of the Bolivian Immigration office. It was a sign of things to come as we crossed the border from South America’s most profitable country (Chile) to its poorest (Bolivia). Bolivia is going through hard times right now. Economic and political crisis are finally coming to the forefront, only a month since Sharla and I have left the country. The USA released a statement today advising all US citizens to leave the country as it has been deemed “not safe” for Americans in light of recent news.
However, it was not quite that bad while we were there. Bolivia is poor. It is evident almost everywhere you look. But, it is poor only in the modern sense of the word. Bolivia is rich with natural beauty and resources. After clearing the immigration post (after about an hour), we were greeted by our driver for the next three days. Six of us were placed in the back of a 4-Runner for our trek across the Bolivian countryside. There were no roads. In fact, to call the ride “bumpy” might be a bit of an understatement. It was well worth it though. The next two days, we would see many amazing sights, animals, and natural landmarks. I have included pictures of some of the things we saw. Laguna Verde, a lake that appears bright green due to the algae that lies below the water surface. The next picture is of our accomodations the first night and the lady who cooked our dinner. It was freezing. Easily in the teens, if not lower. Our beds were mattresses set on top of a slab of concrete. We bundled up under eight layers of wool blankets… and shivered anyway.
The next morning we drove all day again, stopping to share friendly gestures with a local fox. I have included a couple of other pictures as well. Including a picture of me with the rest of the cars inhabitants for those three days. A couple from Spain and a couple from Switzerland. The last picture is a rock formation that you may have seen before. It is from a famous painting by Salvador Dali. This is where the inspiration comes from.
The last day would be spent discovering the Salar De Uyuni. It was such an amazing experience, that I have decided to send another e-mail with pictures exclusively from that day. Until then……
