From the red lagoon, geysers and thermal springs, there is plenty to make the sometimes arduous three day round trip well worth it. After all, nothing easy is worth doing right?
Day 1 - Uyuni - Train Cemetery - Salt Flats - Incahuasi Island
We arrived bleary eyed in the small town of Uyuni on the edge of the
world’s largest salt flats at 7am after a bumpy and largely sleepless
overnight bus ride from the city of La Paz in the north of Bolivia. The
blinding sunshine jolted us from our semi-consciousness and we tried to
identify our tour salt flat tour company from the collection of similar
businesses dotted along the dusty main street.
Having finally found Empexa Tours we introduced ourselves to
Marisa the owner with the confidence of having arranged everything in advance,
albeit through a third party tour operator. It gradually dawned on us - over
the ninety minute wait in the office with an increasingly agitated Marisa –
that our confidence was misplaced, and we’d been forgotten about.
Eventually another tour group arrived and we squeezed into the back of the jeep and made our way onto the edge of the desert. Our group consisted of a middle aged Belgian couple, a rather introverted Chilean couple and a lone-travelling Dutch guy in his mid twenties. With seven of us plus luggage, it was cosy to say the least.
Eventually another tour group arrived and we squeezed into the back of the jeep and made our way onto the edge of the desert. Our group consisted of a middle aged Belgian couple, a rather introverted Chilean couple and a lone-travelling Dutch guy in his mid twenties. With seven of us plus luggage, it was cosy to say the least.
After stopping at the ‘train cemetery’ – a collection of
disused steam trains around 15 minutes outside Uyuni - we entered the blinding
white expanse of the salt flats, the uninterrupted sunshine intensifying the whiteness yet further. Salar de Uyuni was once a huge fishing lake which dried up leaving a huge expanse of crystallised salt. On our visit it was dry; this meant no large-scale ‘mirror’ effect but an otherworldly, glowing whiteness stretching out to the horizon.
 |
| A dry day on the salt flats |
We stopped for a lunch of lama steaks and rice on the middle
of the salt before José - our driver
and guide - demonstrated his potential as a professional photographer by
arranging us in some imaginative takes on the traditional salt flat perspective
photos!
After a visit to Incahuasi Island - a cactus-covered former fishing spot affording panoramic views across the salt flats - we headed off into the surprisingly early sunset, for a fairly comfortable night at the salt-brick Kachiwasi Hostel.
 |
| One of many perspective shots |
Day 2 - Ollague Volcano - Hedionda Lagoon - Tree of Stone - Red Lagoon
We awoke around 7am to another gloriously sunny day and left
the salt flats behind, gradually ascending into the mountains to the south. We
stopped at the foot of the smouldering Ollague Volcano before having lunch at
the scenic, flamingo filled Laguna Hedionda (Hedionda Lagoon), backed by snow
capped mountains. It felt more crowded than the previous day with around
fifteen other jeeps sticking to the same route.
 |
| Flamingos at Hedionda Lagoon |
It was at this point that José mentioned in passing that
time was of the essence as all the other jeep drivers were effectively racing
each other to get to that night’s accommodation. We were not, he explained,
guaranteed a room for the night and if we were too late we risked a night in
the jeep; that’s seven of us in a jeep, with temperatures plummeting to past
-10°C
after dark.
We were therefore somewhat preoccupied for the rest of the
afternoon which included two of the most famous parts of the tour; firstly the Dali-esque Arbol de Piedra (Tree of Stone) – a boulder sculpted
over centuries into the shape of a tree. Then, La Laguna Colorada (Red Lagoon) - a large lake dyed a deep scarlet
by algae with swathes of bright white salt around the edges. Impressive as they were, by this point we were anxious to make it to
the underwhelmingly named ‘Hauchipato Shelter’ for the evening.
 |
| La Laguna Colorada (Red Lagoon) |
 |
| El Arbol de Piedra (Tree of Stone) |
Upon our arrival there was chaotic but ultimately successful scramble for the remaining rooms. To be fair, our accommodation for the night did provide shelter, but little else. Even having put on literally every item of clothing we had brought, we were still bitterly cold. The blood stains on the sheets were also an unpleasant discovery, but I suppose at least we weren’t in the jeep.
Day 3 - Geysers - Thermal Baths - Dali Desert - Valley of the Rocks - San Cristobal - Uyuni
Day 3 - Geysers - Thermal Baths - Dali Desert - Valley of the Rocks - San Cristobal - Uyuni
We got up in pitch darkness at 4am so that we could arrive
at the thermal springs near the hamlet of Agua Brava, around an hour and a half
away, for sunrise. Normally such an early start is the antithesis of everything
I stand for but it was a relief to leave the shelter after a largely sleepless night.
On the way to the springs we stopped at Sol de Mañana
(literally ‘sun of the morning’), a collection of geysers spraying hot steam
skywards. It was still bitterly cold at this point - José estimated -5 °C
but it certainly felt colder – and we took the opportunity to warm our frozen
hands in the blasts of hot air. In the distance, amongst the plumes of smoke,
the sky began to take on a faint orange hue.
 |
| 5 am and unbelievably cold at Sol de Mañana |
We arrived at the thermal baths just as the sun began to
rise across the steaming water before us. We were the first group to arrive and
had the place to ourselves. We watched the various birds make their first
forays of the day, darting over the face of the water. A dip in the brilliantly
warm water was the perfect rejuvenation after a day’s worth of desert dust
without a shower.
After half an hour or so the other tour groups arrived and began to pile into the water. It was at this point that the male half of our Chilean couple –almost painfully reserved until this point – suddenly cast off his inhibitions and stripped naked in front of several jeeps-worth of people in his attempts to dry off.
 |
| Sunrise at the thermal baths |
After half an hour or so the other tour groups arrived and began to pile into the water. It was at this point that the male half of our Chilean couple –almost painfully reserved until this point – suddenly cast off his inhibitions and stripped naked in front of several jeeps-worth of people in his attempts to dry off.
Mysteriously though, his omnipresent hat remained on. Our
Dutch friend left at this point to make the short journey to the Chilean
border, sadly taking his I-pod with him. As good a guide as José was, his
enthusiasm for loud Bolivian music wasn’t shared by the rest of us.
The rest of the day was spent driving through the barren
red-soil terrain of the Dali Desert, before beginning the long journey north.
We stopped to marvel at the Valley of the Rocks; a collection of rocks bearing
an uncanny resemblance to various animals including a hawk, parrot and a bear. Thankfully
photographic evidence was taken to assure us it wasn’t some sort of desert
mirage.
 |
| Two of the 'animals' at Valley of the Rocks |
It had been a tiring three days but the truly mind-blowing
array of natural wonders we experienced really did make the discomfort and
wildly varying temperatures worth it.
Read my essential tips for getting the most from
a Bolivian Salt Flats tour.
