The Saltiest Day of My Life

Some places on this planet are stranger than words can describe. The only things that come to mind are 'otherworldly' and, similarly, 'alien.' We spend our lives in places we consider 'normal,' sometimes pondering the environmental possibilities outside of this definition. Three days in the highlands of southwest Bolivia have reminded me that strange and strikingly beautiful can be synonymous. As there is no way for me to properly spell out what it feels like to be surrounded by this astounding landscape, I will provide more pictures than words. At some points we were in a seemingly endless desert, sometimes staring at volcanoes from what might as well have been the surface of Mars. Overall, our journey from the salt flats of Uyuni to the edge of the Chilean Andes left us almost burned out on sightseeing, as we were so incredibly overwhelmed by what exists at the furthest extent of one of the highest lands on Earth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uyuni

Slowly climbing toward Uyuni I could only think about the absolute desolation, and how easy it must be for one to disappear forever into the undulating, rocky landscape. Shrubs and cactuses thrive in the burning sunlight amongst the copper cliffs and valleys. Scattered trickles of water are few, and where they appear so do tiny towns built of rocks and mud, inhabited by few llamas and fewer people. The only thing clearly discernable as different from the endless, empty surroundings is the road we drive in on, gleaming and new, curving around hillsides into the vast nothingness.

Uyuni is the name of the salt flat in this region. The first signs of salt can be seen hours from our destination, glistening in the dried riverbeds, which possibly flow in the rainy season though they look as if they've been empty for years. It is a monstrous region located in the southwest of Bolivia, large and white enough to be identified from space.

We passed through Potosi about four hours in. Once the largest city in the world due its thriving silver mining industry, it is now as dried up and adobe as the surrounding lands. Though the city can still lay claim to being one of the highest on earth at 4090meters, it is a dried, crumbling husk of its former glory.

As we drew closer, the land seemed to flatten as if stretched tight across the high plain. So flat at some points that snowcapped peaks of the Andes became just barely visible in the far, far away distance. Hills and riverbeds still dotted the surroundings.

The town of Uyuni itself is a flaccid one. Short and colorless, blending into the surrounding landscape as much as the dull hills in the distance. It is large enough that there seems to be industry beyond tourism, but not much. It is there we spent a night prior to taking off on our three day expedition across the flats and into Chile.