Bolivia is a country with some of the most stunning natural scenery I’ve seen, from the Andes, to Lake Titicaca, to the Uyuni salt flats. Situated about ten hours drive from La Paz, the Uyuni salt flats are an incredible natural phenomenon.  Pretty much all of the tour companies based in and around Uyuni town follow the same itinerary. You just have to do a bit of digging around to find one that suits.  I went with a group called Hodaka, that caters, in the main, for far eastern travelers. A funny choice? No, because they promised that their drivers wouldn’t be drunk at the wheel, seemingly not the case with every company.

Firstly, I got the 10 hour overnight semi cama bus from La Paz, again with a respected bus company, Todo Turismo. The seats on these buses don’t recline all the way back like cama buses.  Pre-departure, I spent quite a few hours sitting around people watching in the bus station. It was designed by a certain Gustav Eiffel. (better known for another, taller structure he created in Paris) Travel hubs in poorer countries fascinate me and worry me just a little too. They seem to attract not only travelers but people trying to rob, scam or harm you. Living in Liverpool, I am used to homelessness and people asking for money. It is normally men who do it there. Here in Bolivia it is wizened old ladies, bent double, who shuffle into eateries asking for handouts, berating you for the contents of your plate. As I  whiled away the hours I noticed that the country has a very active and admirable anti-trafficking policy. Anyone travelling on a bus with a child is not allowed on without a document, stamped by officials who have seen and verified the identity of the child.

On these trips you get the overnight bus, arrive about 7.30 am, have a couple of hours spare for breakfast, and then disappear in the direction of whichever company you have booked your day trip with. After taking amazing sunset pictures, most people then head back to La Paz on the overnight bus the same day, with a few heading off  into Chile.  I spent the day with a guy from New Zealand called Tom, who is on the final leg of his trip. Also on board were three Chinese girls and a Chinese couple who decided to have the mother of all domestics at one of the most spectacular things you can see on earth. She remained in the back of the bus refusing to speak, and when I asked him about it, he said that she does it every time they are away. I thought about writing an article entitled: Miserable Gits Should Stay At Home. Another time maybe.

So you set off and make your first stop at the train cemetery. When electricity became the main power for trains taking goods from Bolivia into Chile, the old steam locomotives were assigned a place in the desert. These rusting wrecks have become a major tourist attraction. In addition they have become a very interesting playground for adults who have not grown up. I particularly liked the quaint toilet block stood in the middle of it all and the big grafittied block of stone.

From there we stopped at a small market with a llama photo opp, but really wanted to get onto the salt flats. Firstly, they take you to an area where hot springs bubble up through the salt, and to an area where there is an endless horizon. This allows you to take weird photos where toy dinosaurs are chasing small adults across the plains. I’ll add these to this post when they are sent to me.

Lunch is laid on in a building made of salt, tables, chairs and all. I had to laugh, because at the front of the restaurant there are lots of flags, from all over the world. Whereas Tom found a majestic New Zealand specimen I had to strain my eyes to see the tiny, torn Union Jack that was struggling to fly. The great British Empire is alive and well. Maybe not.

Afternoon took us to a spectacular island of cacti, thousands of them rising up from the volcanic outcrop, hundreds of years old. As we went to take photos amongst them a couple of viscachas went scurrying for cover. They are like over-sized fluffy, bouncy rodents, very cute but I bet they could bite your hand off. We walked around the whole island in an hour, returning to find the young couple still in a state of blissful non-communication.

The final, and most amazing part of the trip involved putting on the wellies we had chosen earlier in the day. There is a part of the salt plain which is a wetland. The reflections are out of this world. Our group was invited to take part in a photoshoot, doing a variety of poses on small coloured stools. Then we stood around and awaited the sunset. It was incredible, but even more the view in the eastern sky opposite the spreading, vivid orange carpet. With these images imprinted on your mind, it is time to return in time for your connection back to La Paz. I had the pleasure of being on a bus with a large group of Italians. You can imagine how peaceful it was, from the moment Gepetto bounced back excitedly in his chair, exclaiming, “Si, Lucia, molto bene” and knocking my coca tea everywhere. To the moment when the bus stopped at a toll at 2 a.m. and they decided it was a good time for a fervent political discussion. Lovely people that I would prefer to meet in the daytime!

The Uyuni salt flats are well worth a visit, if only for the sunset, and reflection photo opportunities, and the dinosaur pictures of course. If you take the three day tour, you stay on the flats, possibly in a salt hotel and get to see hundreds of pink flamingoes. Unfortunately I’m afraid that Macchu Picchu won out over the flamigoes. Sorry birds!.

The train cemetery

Cactus Island

The salt flats

Lunch

The sunset

Words and pics by Si @cre8ivation