Not without some trepidation, we chose to take a 3 day Salar de Uyuni tour from Uyuni in Bolivia to the border with Chile at San Pedro de Atacama. Judging by reviews and reputation, the tour promised to be gruelling, but we knew that we would be treated to some of the most dramatic and alien natural beauty in Bolivia and perhaps South America.

If you are interested in the more practical side of the trip and our many and varied discomforts, click here! This one is all about the pictures.

Day 1

TRAIN CEMETERY

Where trains go to rest.

End of the line.

A door to another era.

Mad Jess.

Train cemetery.

All aboard the ghost-train express.

These ghost trains have been left to decay in the desert just outside of Uyuni. Nowadays the trains which link Bolivia to the sea in Chile are diesel-powered, so these steam trains are no longer useful other than for scrap. Quite a scene to behold, and we got to do our very best Mad Max impressions!

SALT FLATS

Save that baby llama Alex!

Gotcha! That’ll teach him.

Lots of flags flying, but I couldn’t find either the UK or Italy.

More salt…I have a new appreciation of salt.

View across the salt flat.

Bosh! My hand has disappeared right up his nose.

The salt flat is, er, flat, but cycling way really hard work due to the altitude.

Cycling on the salt flats? No one mentioned this!

After a surprise bicycle ride (no one told us!), we arrived at the spot where we would be taking pictures of the salt flats. Cue some silly cliqued snaps. It’s harder than it looks!

CACTUS ISLAND

Inca souls on Inca Huasi.

An offering to Pachamama.

View from Cactus Island into the desert that was once a sea.

A sandy bay, easy to imagine that the sand is water.

These cactuses grow about a metre every 100 years. This one was over 1000 years old. It is a female cactus as it has many arms.

Cactus Island dog surveying its territory.

The sun beginning to set on Cactus Island.

Cactus island, known locally as Inca Huasi (Inca’s House) is an important site as the Inca’s believed that the souls of the dead resided there. The island is actually an ancient coral reef, a left over from when the area was part of the sea and then a vast salt lake. You can see the coral and it is actually surprisingly easy to imagine that what is now the desert, used to be water.

SUNSET ON THE SALT FLATS

Parked up for sunset.

Sunset on th salt flat.

Sunset on the salt flat.

Facing the opposite way to the sunset, arguably more stunning.

Sunset on the salt flat.

Sunset on the salt flat.

Tracks on the salt flat seem to extend to infinity.

The salt flat at dusk.

We watched the sunset further in to the salt flats. We actually found the sunset quite ordinary, but if one faced the other way a wonderful rainbow of colour could be seen sneaking up the horizon. Really quite out of this world!

Day 2

SALT FLAT NUMBER 2

Train line to the coast in Chile.

First stop of the 2nd day on another salt flat surrounded by volcanoes.

Such vast uninhabited expanses.

Our first stop was another salt flat which was completely surrounded by ancient volcanoes. Quite a panorama!

MARS!

Does it look like Mars? I don’t know!

The Mars-like red rock formations. You can see an active smoking volcano in the background.

This is a strange plant that only grows at a certain altitude, and very very slowly. Looks a bit like Slimer from Ghostbusters!

These rock formations are the result of weather erosion. The red rock is supposed to remind people of Mars, but having never been there we declined to make the comparison! You can see one smoking active volcano in the distance.

LAGUNAS WITH FLAMINGOES

They are so cool!

Sparkly waters.

This one was a poser.

The second laguna of the day.

Laguna Azul.

2nd laguna of the day.

Beautiful flamingoes on Laguna Azul.

Beautiful reflection.

Lagunas Azules. Our first glimpse of flamingoes, hooray! Having never seen flamingoes in the wild, we were really impressed. Definitely one of those wow moments! Did you know that baby flamingoes don’t have pink feathers? Their feathers change colour as they feed on algae in the mineral rich shores of the lakes. It’s actually dangerous to eat a flamingo as it’s meat contains high concentrations of poisonous minerals.

PICTURSQUE LAGUNA

This is where I’m building my cabin!

Another lagoon. I could just imagine building a little cabin here, I would never get tired of the view.

RAINBOW MOUNTAIN

Martian landscapes.

Desert tracks.

A desert fox.

Rainbow mountain.

Rainbow mountain. This mountain has various colourful mineral deposits running from it.

TREE ROCK

Is it a tree? No, it’s still a rock.

Some more weird rock formations formed by weather erosion. Apparently this is a ‘tree’!

LAGUNA COLORADA

Long evening shadows at Laguna Colorada.

Laguna Colorada looking more purple than red.

Laguna Colorada, with it’s purpulish waters.

This lagoon is supposed to take on a red colour due to the minerals which it contains, however the conditions on the day that we went made it look purple.

Day 3

GEYSERS

Primordial geyser soup.

Geysers at dawn.

It’s like we went back in time a few million years.

Geysers at dawn.

Geysers at dawn.

A very early and cold start to see these beauties at their best. The power of the geysers is actually being harnessed to generate electricity.

HOT SPRINGS

Perfect reflection at the hot springs.

Brave travellers taking a dip at the hot springs.

The sun climbing at the hot springs.

We chickened out, because we couldn’t bear the thought of taking our clothes off in the cold! It was also about 7am, far too early for a dip. Other members of our group had a go whilst we had a sneaky cup of tea.

LAGUNA VERDE

Dust devils.

Laguna Verde. Not very green, but pretty all the same.

Laguna Verde.

This lagoon turns green when it is windy as the minerals get stirred up. It wasn’t so windy when we were there but it was beautiful all the same.

BOLIVIA/CHILE BORDER

Let’s get the hell out of here!

Goodbye Bolivia.

We left the rest of our tour group at around 9am in order to cross the border with Chile at San Pedro de Atacama. We were quite glad as we knew they only had a 7 hour drive back to Uyuni without any notable stops.

Our trip was quite an experience. It was hard work and we were tired and uncomfortable, but the vast timeless landscapes and the pure beauty of the place astounded us. Bolivia may not be a country that most would see as a holiday destination, nor is it an easy country to travel in, but as you can see from the pictures, it contains a treasure chest of natural riches beyond compare.