A vast white plane the size of a small country: in the dry months it is hexagons of salt to the skyline, after rain you can walk amongst the clouds, as a skin of water turns the whole place into the worlds largest mirror.
The salar sits on the Altiplano at about , in southwest Bolivia. It is the dried remnant of prehistoric lakes; where lithium brine sits under the crust, and salt is still cut near Colchani. There are almost no buildings, yet there is an entire island of cacti, a volcano, salt hotels, and a rusting train cemetery. The overall experience is dreamlike, and the objects that appear before you (a random old train, or a mound of cacti) can seem somewhat like a mirage. In the wet this place looks like a screenshot from a fantasy video game, in the dry it’s like another planet.
*Map is pinned to the train cemetery, as the salt flats themselves do not have one particular ‘address’ as such.
Photo credits: “Salar de Uyuni” by Patrick Nouhailler, CC BY-SA 2.0 , “Uyuni Salt Flats in Bolivia” by Michael Tieso, Public Domain Dedication (CC0) , “Salar de Uyuni” by Andrey Stekachev, CC BY-SA 2.0 , “Salar de Uyuni – Villa Candelaria – Hostal de sal” by mickaeltr, CC BY 2.0 , “Bolivie – salar de Uyuni – île de Incahuasi” by BMR & MAM, CC BY-SA 2.0 , “train cemetery (Uyuni, Bolivia)” by Sasha India, CC BY 2.0
