Quote Of The Day

"Victory goes to the player who makes the next-to-last mistake - Chessmaster Savielly Grigorievitch Tartakower (1887-1956)"

Thursday, October 20, 2022

South America : Day 7 : To Uyuni. Salt galore. But the first stop was the Train Cemetery…

Warning: silly photos ahoy. 

We had an early start today followed by two short flights ending up in the Bolivian town of Uyuni. Uyuni is famous for its humongous salt flats - the highest and largest in the world. At nearly 4,000 sq miles it is a blinding expanse of white that stretches to the horizon. The salt is just a few metres thick but there is enough of it to be mined commercially in the nearby town of Colchani. 

The salt forms large hexagonal shapes as it crystallises which is stunning. 

Before the salt was mined the whole area was a mining town of copper and tin with trains trundling the ore to La Paz. That mining is long gone though so the trains now rust in the Train Cemetery and are used by tourists for photo opportunities. 

After visiting the cemetery we drove deep into the salt flats stopping for lunch before driving in to the very centre where a cactus-ladened island offered further Insta friendly snaps. 

Artists also carve the salt into impressive sculptures that look very pretty on the flat white landscape. More photos. 

That night we stayed in a hotel made of salt. Even the furniture was crystalline   

An amazing day at what was probably one of the most fabulous natural wonders of the world. Shame we spoilt it with out silly photos! 😂
























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