Train Cemetery and Colchani

First stop on our tour was only a short drive from Uyuni into the desert. Here we came across a Cemetery of old coal powered trains that had been abandoned here when more modern trains took over in the mid 1900's. The railway line is still used about once a day, however in its hay day this was a very busy line, used to carry mining products to the coast for shipping. This was back when Bolivia owned the coastline and the trains. It was built in the late 1800's and the trains were brought over from England and the U.S., which is a pretty awesome feat. Now they serve as a reminder of the once busy line and act as a giant playground for adults.

The rusting colours of the old skeletal trains contrasted so well with the marks of graffiti that adorned them and the surrounding yellow desert sand . It was a great photo opportunity, with so many different shapes and patterns to be found amongst the wreckages. It was also a great playground and we had a lot of fun clambering over the trains and leaping between the carriage roofs like we were in a bond movie. Turns out tetanus shots do come in handy ey! It was really good fun and I reckon we could definitely have stayed there longer had we had the time.
Even the railway line looked awesome, stretching away in a straight line into the distance as far as the eye could see...not seen anything like it before now and you really got the sense of just how vast this desert is! We took plenty of photos on this too, not often you get to play on a railway and I reckon we could have seen a train coming an mile away!

After this we headed to a town called Colchani, which is where all the mined salt is dried and packaged. We visited one small workshop but there are many of them in the town, each run by a family. They each have a right to mine a section of the the salt flat and they bring it to their workshops, as large salt blocks, to be processed. First they are dried in the sun, then placed in a long open oven, heated from below before being crushed and then sealed by hand into packets ready to sell. It is not a complicated process and we felt a little ripped off to have to tip a guy for literally melting a bit of plastic to seal a packet of salt (our guide did all the explaining) but I suppose at the same time they do not make a lot of money selling salt and this will go a long way for them.

We wandered around the market stalls here for around 10 mins. We have already bought souvenirs so just enjoyed taking in the colour of the markets again. I absolutely love all the colourful fabrics they make and wear here, such a contrast to the UK!

After this we headed on to the salt flats, where there would be some water and a chance to hopefully get some reflection pictures!Read more