Bolivia- Salar de Yuni the Largest Salt Flat
Spending about five days in La Paz, I decided to go to Uni to see Salar de Uni. State visit to Salt, World's Largest Salt Flat. Seeing the magical picture of which I have come so far.
Sergio, whom I meet in Bolivia, is seen every day in the afternoon or in the evening. I told him that I would go to Uni. I took some wisdom from him. Because there are so many ways to go to Uni. And the most common way is to go by bus. But after reading different blogs, I felt a little trouble. I didn't ask any details from fellow travelers because they are like me, they don't know some details, my only friend relies on Google and keeps reading various blogs. So I will verify the information from the local people. In the meanwhile, I found out that Uni's height is more. 13,000 feet above sea level. So I am very careful in this journey, I do not want to fall into any new danger. However, after talking to Sergio, I realized that the maximum people go by bus. 650 km road, takes 10-12 hours. There are two types of buses. One is called comma service and the other is called semi comma service. Comma bus means a full sleeping bed. And the semi-comma means the seat can be slightly bent but not like the comma bus. The main problem is that sometimes the route is canceled due to landslides and the Bolivian drivers drive very rough and stay on alcohol since evening. Bus tickets are available at the tourist stops. There is also a lot of bargaining. But about 150 Boliviano fall fare. Hopefully, again the rent takes some less. Like 100-120 Boliviano.
You can also go by train. But that is a long journey. I did not go into those details. And there is a flight service. From El Alto Airport to Uni Airport. Amazonas, Boa Daily three return flights. It costs about 220-230 to buy an advance ticket online, but my experience is that if you travel to a travel agent's office without an advance ticket, you can get it on the spot at a much lower price 150-160 dollars.
I went to Uni on the first flight in the morning. It takes only 50 minutes. I was surprised to land at Uni Airport. One by one, the plane landed in the middle of a huge field. One of the rules of that airport is that you have to pay the airport charges separately. This is not associated with airfare. Of course, the charge is not too much. I got off the flight and took a taxi in front of the airport and went straight into the city of Uni. 10 Boliviano for rent. My first job in the city was to book a tour of Salar de Uni. Many companies offer tours, one day tours, two-day tours. The whole raw market style. Anyway, I booked a day trip to a company with 100 Boliviano for a lot of money, even though their website price is around 200-250 Boliviano. Tour Includes Lunch. Group of 6 people. A four-wheeler will take me to Train Cemetery, Inca Huasi Island, Salar de Uni, and drop me off at the airport in the evening. I'll take a night flight to La Paz. I again had a condition that we have to have oxygen cylinders in our car. As a reason, I spoke about my sickness. They also accepted without any objection.
After waiting for a while, I saw a red Toyota Land Cruiser in front of the tour office. Picked up some supplies from the office for our lunch. There are six of us in this car. The other five tourists in the car were also present. In fact, they were all around, not noticing. Of course, I don't have time to notice, I'm with my portable oxygen cylinder. However, the person who will drive this car is our guide. The name is Carlos. At first glance, it seemed like a good talking man. One by one I got acquainted with the other five tourists. One is American, 56-year-old Taco Head, named Cadman. Very funny character. I will tell his story later. There are two Canadian sisters. Coming as a volunteer for six months, teaches at an orphanage school in the neighboring city of Potosi. And there is a couple. French boy and a German girl. They met in Antarctica sometime this year. The first show is in love and now she is coming to Salar de Uni to celebrate love. Of course, the matter is very interesting to me.
Carlos started the car after the introductory episode. At first, the train took us to the cemetery, very close to the city of Uni. This is a train cemetery. Many old trains and destroyed railways stand as witnesses of tomorrow. After driving for about a couple of hours, we reached the entrance point of Salar de Uni. My feelings after reaching Salar and how this magical salt sea looks like I can't explain here. In a nutshell, I was stunned to see the vast landscape and the vastness of this vast salt desert. Horizon-wide white salt fields. Sunrise and sunset are in this salt sea. As Carlos drove through the middle of this vast white empire, I wondered where he was going, the same all around, like the whole desert. They seemed to be wandering in the desert. I asked Carlos where we were going and whether he knew the route well. He laughed out loud. He noticed a few hills that could be seen in the distance. I can't see anything but the white salt sea in the distance.
At the bottom of the Salar de Uni salt, which covers an area of about 11,000 square kilometers, there are many valuable minerals. It is estimated that Salar de Uni has 45% of the world's lithium reserves.
After Carlos's briefing, we all got back in the car.
to be continued..
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