Wow! It has been over a month since the last post. I have been busy trying to soak up all that Peru had to offer me before heading back to the United States last week. I did so many amazing things that I'm excited to write about. I plan to post every Tuesday going forward, so be on the lookout!
This post will be about the tour I took over Spring Break to the Salar de Uyuni. Before leaving for South America, a friend told me this stop was a must. I'm so glad we took his advice!
As you know, my friend and I spent a day in La Paz, Bolivia. From there, we boarded a plane (~$100) for an hour flight to the south corner of Bolivia. We landed at a tiny airport in the middle of nowhere. Originally, we had planned to walk to our hostel from the airport, but we quickly realized that wouldn't be possible. The entire landscape was dark and desolate.
We hopped in a taxi outside of the airport who charge a base fee of S./15 per person. He delivered us to our hostel which seemed more like a hotel. Asides from the shoddy wifi, I would recommend Piedra Blanca Backpackers Hostel to anyone traveling to Uyuni. I would also recommend arriving at night so as to not waste a day in this empty town.
Day 1
We set out around 8am the following morning and walked to the center of town. There, we found numerous companies selling Salt Flat tours. We went to each asking their prices. When they told us, we would ask for the wifi so we could contact our banks, but we would really look up reviews online. This saved us from some bad companies. It is also important to note that most places only accept cash in Bolivianos. The places we'd heard of with good reviews were already full, which was disappointing at first.
We ended up selecting Empexsa Tours, where we could pay with card. We selected a 3 day 2 night trip and paid around $100 USD. The reviews online weren't great, but I had a wonderful experience with them! After we bought our seats, we were told to return at 10am for departure. To pass time, I walked through the few souvenir shops and bought water. When we returned, there were 4 other people who would join us on our journey. We loaded our bags (we were each permitted one which was put on top of the van and only accesible at the end of each day) and headed out in our Pathfinder.
The first stop was the train graveyard. For the daring, you can climb on the trains for a great photo. Since the tour compahnies all take the same routes (more or less), the stop was crowded with tourist, but it was still neat. Our tour guide told us a breif history and answered any questions we had before letting us out to explore on our own for about 20 minutes.
Then we headed out to the Salt Flats. They were absolutely incredible. Many parts weren't reflective, but it was still as wonderful as I'd imagined. We had plenty of time to take photos while our tour guide set up lunch inside. As a vegetarian, I had no problems with food at all during our journey. After lunch, we had some more time for photos before driving nearly four hours to the other side of the salt flats where we found our lodging for the night. The scenery was beautiful along the drive.
Day 2 and Day 3
We woke up early (around 6am and 4am respectively) to continue on our journey. We drove through endless desert and saw amazing scenery. Our tour guide spoke with us and explained whatever we had questions about. He spoke Spanish and Quechua, but not English (which is why the trip was cheaper than English trips). The journey consists of lots of driving with 20-30 minute stops at sites of interest. Instead of explaining all the amazing things we saw, I'd like you to see for yourself...
It was so hard to choose just a few photos! Make sure to follow my instagram to see more!
Overall Thoughts...
Salar de Uyuni was one hundred and ten percent worth it! If you're in South America, you should try to go. Being disconnected from the entire world and traveling through pure nature with 4 strangers was the experience of a lifetime (and now I have French friends!). The accommodations were comfortable, the food was good, and the tour was great. Considering that I paid only $100 USD for all of this included, I can't complain. The price also included my transfer into Chile which I will talk about in my next blog post. I'd also like to note that you see many of the same people at each stop on the tour because all the companies visit the same stops...I don't think you can go wrong on a Salt Flat tour!
What's Next...
This post covers just a portion of my journey. I have so much more to share! Stayed tuned and subscribe for notifications about my upcoming blog posts.
I'll be talking about...............
-From Bolivia to Chile: Crossing the Border
- My Mollendo Beach Town Day Trip
-Semana Santa in South America
-Colca Canyon and its Condors
-The City of Arequipa
-A Day in San Pedro De Atacama, Chile
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