Salar de Uyuni Day 1

Today we start our 3 day, 2 night tour of the Uyuni Salt Flats. It was a pretty packed first day!

Our first stop was the train graveyard. This was briefly mentioned during our tour at the mint yesterday because the trains were used to transport the silver and minerals from Potosí to the Pacific coast. Once it was no longer efficient, the trains were abandoned here in Uyuni and have been left here for over a hundred years. Some trains are in better condition than others, but all are rusted. It looked like a scene straight out of Mad Max. We only had 20 minutes here, but made the most of them trying to see as many train cars as possible. Allan even climbed the length of a string of train cars still linked up.

A short drive later we stopped in Colchani where the families there refine the salt. There are two types of salt used, salt cut into bricks for buildings and salt that is broken up after it rains. This salt is then heated to kill bacteria, out through a grinder, and then bagged to be sold and eaten. We also had some lunch here of quinoa, beef, veg, and an orange. We got to know the people in our group a little bit more and we all seem to be at similar stages in our lives.

About 45 minutes driving through the vast sale flats, we stopped to take some perspective pictures and videos. It felt so silly in the moment and we were all laughing, but the pictures and videos all came out pretty good! During some free time, Allan and I took a couple pictures and videos being acrobatic: I cartwheeled and he did a headstand. We also took some salt from the area to take back with us.

Our next stop was Incahuasi Island. The island was covered in cactuses that the Incas apparently planted to give them a food source in the middle of the salt flats. The island seemed totally out of place in the vast white, and was made entirely of old coral due to the fact that this area was once underwater. It was nice on the island, but we spent a fair while there and I don't think we needed as much time as we were given.

The final day stop was near a reflection pool to watch the sunset. It was very windy, which meant the reflection pool didn't yield the best of results, but we did get some more silly pictures and videos of the group and had the opportunity to take some of our own. Unfortunately, it was cloudy and then a bizarre sand (salt?) storm blew in and blocked out the sun. We still had a nice time chatting over some wine and snacks while we attempted to watch the sunset.

We drove another hour and a half to our hostel for the night that was partially made out of salt bricks. It was a pretty nice place with a big bathroom all to ourselves. We didn't expect our own bathroom so it was a nice surprise. We all sat down and had dinner together and chatted before heading to bed.

Tomorrow will be a long day full of lagoons and wildlife!Leggi altro