Thanks to our guide, we arrived at the salt flats for sunset after a long day of driving. We joined a few other groups at the edge of the salt to watch the sun disappear. We decided to shed our shoes and walk out to distance ourselves from the rest of the crowd.

Start of sunset - Uhh, so where do you want to walk to?

This time of the year, the salt flats have about two inches of water covering most of the area. The water level changes frequently depending on the amount of rain and wind. For our one and only sunset on the salar, we were lucky to have just the right amount of water and lack of wind to create the perfect reflection.

The cameras never left our hands.

Kris doing a cartwheel. This was take 37.

We walked out far enough to be the only ones in sight. It was a strange feeling standing out there, almost like your walking through a dream.

Joe walking into the abyss.

We were the only group to stay for the entire sunset, and we watched the colors change before heading back to our hotel.

Joe in the sunset as wind started blowing a bit.

This area, although it is a national park, it is still used for harvesting salt. Local workers  would rake the salt into piles, give it time to dry, and later shovel the salt into trucks. The salt can be used for eating, after iodine is added, but they seem to mostly use it for construction.

Salt pile

We stayed in a hotel in which the building blocks were made out of salt. They also made the tables, chairs, and bed frames out of salt. You could just feel your blood pressure rising just standing inside the hotel.

Salt hotel - Equipped with salt tables, chairs, and pillows.

This area can get very chilly at night, but the salt bricks did a pretty good job keeping the cold out. We convinced our guide that we also wanted to see sunrise on the salar, and being the good sport that he was, he agreed. After a delicious “last supper,” we bedded down early in anticipation of another amazing day.

After another early morning wake up, we were back in the jeep heading to the salt flat, about a twenty-minute drive from our hostel. This time we would actually drive onto the flats and in to the water.

Our guide knew just where to go to avoid the crowd and give us an amazing sunrise.

Sunrise

After sunrise we drove further into the salt flat, and again found a spot all to ourselves. We had a nice breakfast (pancakes on the salar!), and started to explore. We of course, took far too many pictures.

Great views with breakfast

We didn't ever get tired of this view.

In dry season, this place is all hard pack salt and it is possible to drive all over, but during wet season, this is not possible. Most of the jeeps stayed within sight of each other, and we only ventured about five miles in to the salar. There have been recent stories of tourists talking their guides into going further. Most of these stories have ended happily, but a few jeeps found themselves lost or stuck in the salt flats for a few days.

Our guide, who always played it safe, was not going to take any chances. He told us how easy it is to get out there, lose your bearing, and get lost, so we didn’t try to talk him in to anything.

Looks like Kris is floating.

We walked about a mile away from the jeep and felt like we were all alone in this unique place. It is easy to take a million pictures, and we probably did.

Jumping Joe

The water was so salty (duh, it is a salt flat), that by the end of the day, our pants could have almost stood on their own from the amount of salt that had collected on them. Also, walking around on the coarse salt provided great exfoliation for the bottoms of our feet. We told our guide that people in The States would pay a lot of money to have this type of treatment, and had a good laugh at this.

After six months, we still like each other!

In the dry season the entire place is covered by dry, octagonal salt formations. We were lucky to still see a little of this shape intact under the water.

One of Kris' favorite pictures.

Because there are no real points of reference, it is easy to take some interesting perspective pictures. These usually work better in the dry season without the reflection, but we were able to make a few (kinda) work.

Joe carrying Kris - As usual.

Kristen, get out of the bottle. Seriously, I just washed it.

Kris giving Joe a kiss.

It was a fun experience to walk around not really knowing where the horizon began or ended. It all just blended together. When something was a distance away, it looked almost like it was floating.

Is that jeep flying or driving?

Kris walking in the clouds.

We were even treated to a flamingo fly by! They don’t hang out in the salt flats, but sometimes fly by to enjoy the view, or to get to another non-salty pond.

Yes, more flamingos.

There is an old “historic” salt hotel that is on the actual salt flats. No one is allowed to stay here when the salar is wet, but you are still able to visit and buy something. Similar to our hotel, everything is made out of salt.

Picnic tables made of salt.

We took a few more pictures and spent a few more minutes in these great surroundings before heading back to Uyuni. This was the last day of our tour, and from here we would start our “adventure” to Chile.

Kris taking in the view, one last time.

Joe tried to convince the guide to let him drive. It didn't work.

Our guide never pressured us to leave, even though we are sure he wanted to start his drive back home. He helped us take great perspective pictures and answered all the questions we could come up with. It was an amazing trip with spectacular scenery and unimaginable views, but without our guide and cook, the trip could have easily not gone as well.

On the drive back to Uyuni, where the tour ended, the car was quiet and we all reflected on our recent adventure. It truly was a once in a lifetime experience. Yet one more reason why Bolivia is amazing. (Take that, Tee!)

Joe and Kris in the Salar de Uyuni

From Uyuni we took a 2 day jeep ride to Chile for yet another interesting border crossing. We passed a lot of the same scenery, but this time there was no slowing down to enjoy it.

Pedal to the metal, Chile awaits.