Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

Salar de Uyuni, located in southwest Bolivia, is the worlds largest salt flat. It's approximately 11,000 sq. km. in size and was formed when a prehistoric salt lake dried up. 

We took a morning flight from La Paz to Uyuni. In this picture, you can see the salt flats from the air. After landing, a taxi took us to the center of Uyuni. From there we found a tour operator and headed to the salt flats. 

During the visit, the residents of Uyuni were striking against the town mayor. They setup barricades along the main roads and made travel difficult. To get to our destination, the tour operator took us through the long and bumpy desert backroads. 

Upon entering the flats, we were greeted by small piles of salt. Local companies make these structures to dry things out before hauling it away to sell.  

After a quick stop, our 4x4 truck tour took us further inland.

Somewhere in the middle of the salt flat, you'll find this structure. It's located next to a small hotel (Hotel Sal Playa Blanca), gift shop, museum, and rest stop. If you need to use the toilet, this is the place.

After several kilometers, we made a stop.

Our tour guide took out a variety of tools and made a little hole in the salt crust. A few inches under the surface, you'll find freezing cold water. 

We had a lot of time to run around, take pictures, and enjoy the amazing views. It's really hard to see the hills in the horizon!

Afterward, we spent a lot of time driving to other areas.

Our last stop was the famous sulfur springs. The smell is awful but the colors are amazing. From here, we started making our way back to Uyuni.

Just outside the salt flats you'll find typical houses like this.

And lots of llamas traveling in packs around the desert land. We headed straight to the airport and flew back to La Paz that same day.

Useful Tips

1. We highly recommend spending at least a few days in the area. There is too much to see for a quick day trip.

2. Book a tour operator before coming to Uyuni. We were super lucky to find one on the day we arrived.

3. Make sure you have glasses and sunscreen. If you forget, you can by them at the tourist shops in Uyuni.

4. We found very few "in Service" cash machines in Bolivia. Uyuni is a tourist town an has a number of them that actually worked.