Uyuni

June 4, 2025 to June 5, 2025

Wednesday the 4th of June 2025

Last night we decided, for various reasons, it would be best to speed up our passage through Bolivia. The increasing level of civil unrest is the tipping point but leading up to the decision was the fact that we have struggled to enjoy the country as much as we have hoped. The key factors have been the struggle to find decent food and accomodation coupled with the icy cold weather. We've had some highlights but, apart from the Salar de Uyuni and the Cañón del Inca at Tupiza, we don't envisage any more.

So we are going to catch collectivos to Uyuni and thereafter Tupiza and Villazon, continuing the rest of the journey in northern Argentina.

With the fuel crisis, collectivos were few and far between but eventually we got one that could fit us and the bicycles after a wait of an hour and a half.

The two hundred kilometers to Uyuni was an easy enough journey. If we had continued cycling it would have taken us three days through some rather uninspiring countryside, wildcamping along the way. The highlight of the collectivo ride was seeing a number of small herds of guanacos and vicuñas, the vicuñas being the most satisfying because we have now seen all four of the South American camelid species.

Once in Uyuni we headed to the Hotel Rey David. A large and luxurious room for only 300 BOB per night. Laundry has been dropped off at a lavenderia, a couple of reasonably good pizzas and a bottle of wine have been consumed and a tour to the salar has been arranged. Happy campers, we are.

Thursday the 5th of June 2025

We had an awesome day today. Our driver/guide called Agosto collected us just before eleven and we joined a couple from Brazil and a couple from Ecuador on a tour of the railway cemetery, a tourist trap in Colchani and finally the Salar de Uyuni.

Uyuni was a key transportation hub for South American trains in the late 19th century. However, the mining industry’s collapse in the 1940s halted these developments and the trains imported from Britain were abandoned outside Uyuni. Rather than decommissioning and selling them as scrap, the demoralized people of Uyuni left the trains to rot.

We had about forty minutes to spend at the train cemetery but being the middle of the day meant that the light was already too harsh for decent photos. Then we headed northwards to Colchani passing a herd of vicuñas on the way. Agosto, who had a running commentary going on matters ranging from the sites we would see today to the intricacies of Bolivian politics, kindly stopped so I could get a few shots.

The tourist trap in Colchani was a mockup of an artisinal salt processing operation but was mainly there to sell tourist tat.

Then it was on to the main course, the Salar de Uyuni.

A long distance shot of the Dakar Rally monument. The Dakar came through here a few times starting in 2014.

A collection of national flags at the facility in the center of the salar where the guides provide a desperately poor quality lunch to their clients.

It was difficult not to confuse the salt with snow because that it how it felt and sounded underfoot. To confuse matters further its temperature was close to zero.

After lunch we headed to Isla Incahuasi, a large rocky outcrop rising above the salt pan. This was the only place on the salar where we saw birds on land (we saw flamingos and ducks flying overhead later in the evening).

The most common bird on the island were Black-headed Sierra Finches (Phrygilus atriceps).

The final stop was in a wet area on the eastern edge of the salar. The rains were very late this year so this area would normally be dry by now so we were lucky to be able to enjoy the light around sunset as it glowed off the wet salt. We had to wear gumboots and were up to our ankles in freezing cold water. Agosto made a little video of his guests and we enjoyed a bottle of wine and some snacks before heading ba k to Uyuni.

It was after seven o'clock when we got back to Uyuni. Tired and hungry, we headed straight out for supper to compensate for the rather lackluster lunch. However this didn't detract from what has been one of the highlights of this trip. Fully recommended!

Today's ride: 2 km (1 miles)
Total: 1,075 km (668 miles)

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