When we left for the Salar de Uyuni in the morning, it was raining and heavily clouded. We had all hoped for sunshine, and were a little depressed by the rain. Still, we drove on to see as much as we could in this weather.
The salt flats of Uyuni are a giant area measuring about 280x180 km which consists mainly of salt. In winter, the area is completely dry, and you can visit some of the islands on the flats. In the rainy season - right now - most of the Salar is flooded. The islands are all closed because the water is too deep to drive there. The part that is accessible is covered by between 2 and 15 cm of water.
It seems that everywhere I go, I hear stories that the climate is weird and has been changing significantly over the last few years. The salt flats were no exception: the guide said it was unusual to have this amount of rain, leading to this much water on the flats, this time of year.
Our first stop was the Hotel de Sal, a building constructed entirely from salt.
Even the furniture - tables, chairs, clocks - is made from salt blocks.
After leaving the salt hotel, we started shooting the trick pictures that everyone does here. Because there are no reference points for object sizes on the salt flat, you can play with the sizes of people and things and arrange them in funny ways.
We had an additional advantage: due to the flooding of the salt flat, we also got to play with our reflections in the water.
After a while, the weather started to clear up, and we could do some really amazing shots. Hernan, our driver/guide was really kind and took most of the pictures for us. He seemed to enjoy playing with a bunch of crazy tourists ;-)
After a few hours, we got tired of shooting pictures, so we left the Salar behind to visit the train cemetery. This is a place where a handful of old trains have been dumped and left to rust. The funny part is that someone put up swings on some of the wagons...
...and some artsy sculptures on others:
The train cemetery was the last stop in the tour, and the driver left us in the center of Uyuni. All in all, I have to say that the tour was perfect. The guide let us have all the time we wanted - so much time in fact that we were the last group to arrive at the hostel every day. The food was very good. We had incredible luck with the weather. And finally, the four of us got along really well and we had lots of fun together.
After the tour, we looked for a hostel together to exchange pictures, relax and make plans for the next days. We quickly discovered that there was no electricity in all of Uyuni that day - no internet, no ATM, no light. The hotel improvised and put up gas lamps in the corridors and candles in the rooms, but we were all a bit bumped by the non-availability of internet. Having dinner by candlelight was a nice touch though ;-)
The salt flats of Uyuni are a giant area measuring about 280x180 km which consists mainly of salt. In winter, the area is completely dry, and you can visit some of the islands on the flats. In the rainy season - right now - most of the Salar is flooded. The islands are all closed because the water is too deep to drive there. The part that is accessible is covered by between 2 and 15 cm of water.
It seems that everywhere I go, I hear stories that the climate is weird and has been changing significantly over the last few years. The salt flats were no exception: the guide said it was unusual to have this amount of rain, leading to this much water on the flats, this time of year.
Our first stop was the Hotel de Sal, a building constructed entirely from salt.
Even the furniture - tables, chairs, clocks - is made from salt blocks.
After leaving the salt hotel, we started shooting the trick pictures that everyone does here. Because there are no reference points for object sizes on the salt flat, you can play with the sizes of people and things and arrange them in funny ways.
We had an additional advantage: due to the flooding of the salt flat, we also got to play with our reflections in the water.
After a while, the weather started to clear up, and we could do some really amazing shots. Hernan, our driver/guide was really kind and took most of the pictures for us. He seemed to enjoy playing with a bunch of crazy tourists ;-)
After a few hours, we got tired of shooting pictures, so we left the Salar behind to visit the train cemetery. This is a place where a handful of old trains have been dumped and left to rust. The funny part is that someone put up swings on some of the wagons...
...and some artsy sculptures on others:
The train cemetery was the last stop in the tour, and the driver left us in the center of Uyuni. All in all, I have to say that the tour was perfect. The guide let us have all the time we wanted - so much time in fact that we were the last group to arrive at the hostel every day. The food was very good. We had incredible luck with the weather. And finally, the four of us got along really well and we had lots of fun together.
After the tour, we looked for a hostel together to exchange pictures, relax and make plans for the next days. We quickly discovered that there was no electricity in all of Uyuni that day - no internet, no ATM, no light. The hotel improvised and put up gas lamps in the corridors and candles in the rooms, but we were all a bit bumped by the non-availability of internet. Having dinner by candlelight was a nice touch though ;-)
