From blinding white nothingness in the worldīs largest Salt lake to multi coloured lagunas teeming with wild pink flamingoes set admist active volcano landscape, one cannot help but be bewildered by the surrealist nature set in the Salar de Uyuni, southwest of Bolivia near to the border of Chile.
Departing from the chaos of La Paz and entering into what I would vote as one of the worldīs most mind-blowing journey into Uyuni, I almost cannot believe the incredible vastness of beauty that laid before me and all around me in the 3days trip. Starting at Colchani town where you learn about how salt is made and packed, you literally drive on salt grounds covering 12,000km(sq) for hours before you finally enter the unforgiving Siloli Desert. The Salar de Uyuni is the worldīs highest(3650m) and largest salt flat, and it is almost possible to think that the world is literally round if you were to stand atop the Isla Pescado and turn 360degrees round, and find yourself surrounded only by white, white salt, incredibly blue skies, rolling volcanic mountain formations all around you. The hardy cactuses that cover the entire Isla Pescado(a volcanic island in the middle of the salt lake) can grow as high as 10metres and said to be many hundred of years old.
The harsh extremes of climate can be felt distinctly in the day and night. In the Salar, the sun beats down on you as you strip away your fleece in temperature of 30degrees, only to pile it back on once the sun sets and temperature can drop to -12degrees with the wind chill factor. At the Salt Hotel where everything from the walls to the chairs are made of salt blocks, you feel tempted to lick everything around you just to satisfy that curiosity.
On the second day, the 4WD brings you across the dry arid desert for several hours before the almost mirage-like view of the white Laguna Hedionda(aka Stinking Lake) appears before you. The most impressive of the lakes that follows is definitely the red colored Lake Colorado. At 4267m high and covering 60 sq km, the view from the mirador over the huge blood-red lake with white encrusted borax(used for soap and acid) shores around is simply incredible. The pink algae provides food for James pink wild flamingoes(the worldīs largest population), alongside the common Chilean and Andean flamingoes, which gives them their pink color. The loco(crazy) wind frenzy around the lake only allows you about 30minutes of admiration around the shores before driving you straight back into the warmth of the basic refuge for the night. Temperature was around -5degrees even with strong sun.
The next day, a long drive gest you to the fart-stinky steam geyser that gets as high as 50m. The smell is beyond normal human tolerance and our group soon hopped back into the 4WD to head towards the 30degrees thermal hot springs but the freezing temperatures outside prevented us from peeling off our clothes and dipping into the knee deep springs. Usually, most tourists would do that cos you would be rather dirty by that time of the trip...
The wind-lashed jade green waters of Laguna Verde receives my thumbs up for the most fabulous finale to end the trip to Uyuni. Only when the wind is blowing(at mad speeds), it stirs up the minerals in the lake and gives it its incredible green. Set against the active volcano Licancabur, this is one of the most perfect postcard moments of the trip.
From here, most people would opt to cross into Chile from the San Pedro border. The 4days trip costs the same as the 3days trip but most people would opt for only 3days cos the last night is spent sleeping in a basic mud-bricked walled refuge with no view to boot and misery to accompany you. Heading back to Uyuni and then spending the night in the comfort of a hostal is preferred. After multiple shitty(sometimes cold) meals along the tour, one canīt help but treat yourself to the most fresh and amazingly delicious pizza by an American guy in Uyuni town, called The Minuteman. Just ask around town for the location, everyone knows. Donīt miss this after the Salar!
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