Salar da Uyuni, Bolivia: 2nd – 3rd March 10

Yesterday we took the bus and train for 12 hours from La Paz to Uyuni, in the south of Bolivia. Today we joined a three day private tour which will take us through the local sights.

We’re travelling in a 4 x 4 with our driver Sebastian and his wife Louisa, who will cook our lunches – so with Matt, Tania and I there are 5 of us.


The town of Uyuni is set in the middle of a huge plain, about 3,300 metres above sea level and you can see snow-capped mountains on the horizon all around. The town itself is dull, with not many redeeming features, but it attracts a lot of tourists as it’s the nearest town to the largest salt lake in the world.


We started this morning by visiting the ‘train cemetery ‘on the edge of town – it’s a weird place, where the train companies have dumped their disused trains over the years – most of them are old steam engines from the late 19th and early 20th centuries when they used to run through here carrying salt and other minerals. Now they are all rusted but make an interesting, if slightly spooky sight.


After that we visited the Salt Lake, aka the Salar da Uyuni. For most of the year it is a huge white expanse, stretching as far as the eye can see.

However, we’re lucky as we’re visiting in the rainy season which means the entire lake is covered in about 3 inches of water – this give the miraculous effect of a huge mirror, with the mountains on the horizon and the clouds up above all reflected perfectly for miles and miles around. Truly awe inspiring – it feels like you’re on a different planet.


The Salt Lake is also famous as the home of wacky photos! It’s perfectly flat and the horizon merges with the sky, so you can get some really interesting shots playing with perspective.



None of the photos are faked, they’re just us standing at different distances, and the effect becomes so surreal due to the lack of horizon.


We’re staying in a hotel made entirely of salt blocks and complete with a salty gravelly floor - every room has its own lounge, all of which are interconnected. It’s very cool!


This evening we drove back to the lake and watched the sunset with a glass of wine and toblerone, lovely jubbly!!