Visit or Uyuni Salt Flats and so Color Lagoons, I’m not a Bolivian deserter, I’m not for anyone. The ride included a good dose of adventure and – almost always – perrengue. All of this is due to the remote location of the city of Uyuni, from where most of the country starts, and there is a lack of structure and resources in Bolívia. In compensation, the visual is unique and surreal! Only kilometers and more kilometers of an entire plain covered in salt, along with flamingos, vultures, geysers and deserts with more than 50 tons of ocher…
Various Bolivian tourism agencies offer the most varied types of tours to the region. However, the most popular is the three-day and two-night tour, aboard a 4×4 vehicle, crossing inospitous regions and without asphalt, in search of the most fantastic scenery.
Gostou gives an idea, but is there any doubt about the level of training of the passeio?! We tell each other tim tim for tim tim da adventure, for you to decide whether to hold on or slow down.
First day
The trip begins in the city of Uyuni, a small town with an airport, near the border with Chile, where most tourists come to explore the southwestern Bolivian region.
At the scheduled time, the driver will show you no combined place, generally not a hotel. There are private tour options, but the most common ones are shared tours. Our cars, in general, fit 6 tourists, plus motorists. So, unless you’re traveling in a large group or hiring a private tour, you’ll have to split your adventure with others.
The first destination is Uyuni Salt Flats, the largest salt desert in the world, with 10,000km2. Esse é, sem duvida, um dos pontos alta da voyagem! It’s impressive! The white one transmits an idea of dream, peace, tranquility… in short, a sensation that is difficult to discover, only when you are ready to feel.
The greatest fun is photographing two different things. For this reason, there are stops for perspective photos and also in locations where the accumulated water does not create optical illusions, confusing where it ends or where it begins or where.
The lunch is served at the Hotel de Sal do Salar, which is currently deactivated and functions as a museum. Next time, the motorist turns to the kitchen, takes the food, goes to the table and then serves all the passages. The food, despite being simple, tends to be very tasty and nutritious: steak, quinoa, salty and fruits for after dinner.
After lunch, pause for photos at the monument Dakar Rallyfamous rally that passes through the desert, and the monuments of the flags of both countries.
Next stop is na Incahuasi Island, an island in the center of the Salar, where you can see giant cacti and fossils of marine rocks. It is difficult to believe, but for thousands of years, ocean water was imprisoned in the region during the formation process of the Andes mountain range, creating a huge pre-historic lake. When the water evaporates, only layers and more layers of salt will remain. It’s worth paying to go up to the top of the island: just in front of the salt flat!
Back in the car, a little before nightfall, go to the accommodation where you can eat and, if you want (only the strong ones!), you can take a bath (gelato) before going to sleep. In some accommodations you have the option of a hot bathroom, but you have to pay per person, about $10 bolivianos. Go for me, the best option is to wash the wet cloth and leave for the “cat bath”.
The accommodation, in general, has rooms and collective bathrooms. Do not heat or use cold at night. For this reason, light (ou alugue) a sleeping bag. There is electric power, but don’t expect a TV. Taken to carry electronics is usually a cause of excitement among tourists, because they are so pouquíssimas. See more details in the post Salar de Uyuni and Lagunas Coloradas: one of the two most spectacular places on the planet!
Second day
After a few hours of driving, you will begin the vulcanic region, such as the imposing Ollagüe Vulcão.
Ao enter no Eduardo Avaroa National Park, segue-se pela broken “High Andean Jewels”, as lagoas Cañapa, Hedionda, Chiarcota and Honda.
Car movements are large and, despite several stops, a large part of the time is spent inside the car. There is no road and much less asphalt. Then, prepare yourself: in certain outfits (not in everything) or the car itself. The thing is to be distracted like the visual of the windows, always spectacular. And prepare the camera, camera or visual of JHigh Andean oyas é mais do cenographic! Colorful lakes, vultures and flamingos are not missing!
After lunch next to Hedionda Lagoonalso prepared and served by motorist, it’s time to enter Siloli Desert, one of the driest in the world. Here it is possible to distinguish tons of brown from then unthinkable…
The wind is strong and he is precisely responsible for sculpting the rocks, creating curious rock formations, like “stone trees”.
Após mais um car suit, chega-se à Laguna Colorada, one of the most beautiful days. The flamingos are at the bottom of the land with the landscape looking surreal and so pretty!
At dusk, at check-in time there is no second accommodation. This time, a room shared between 10 people was what awaited us. Fortunately, there was no snoring. In case of doubt, light an ear protector.
And, once again, it was ganho bath day! And only there was no bathroom option without payment…
Third day
Not the last day, I have to get up early. At 6h we have to be ready to leave for Gêiseres Morning Sun. Due to volcanic activity, underground water is generated by volcanic lava and released onto the surface through fissures in the earth. I have to agree because the snow is more intense and the weather does not start, due to the contrast between the temperature of the water heated by the volcanic lava and the cold of the weather. It’s incredible! Best of all, we can check out perfectly!
After a few more minutes of driving, it’s time to relax in a natural hot spring pool, among vultures and flamingos. It is also difficult to face the intense cold that it is necessary to do at the beginning of the day and put on just your bath clothes before entering the hot springs. It’s worth it! It is simply a delight!
In this suit, at altitude it is at 5,000 meters, the highest of all the passeio. Therefore, it is not strange that some two adventurers come to suffer from the bad altitude, known as mountain sickness. The most common symptoms are headaches, nausea, vomiting and dullness. If this happens, drink plenty of water, chew coca leaves to chew and, if possible, take “soroche pills”, a remedy that minimizes the symptoms of “soroche”.
Back in the car, it’s time to continue to Laguna Verde, which has green water due to the large amount of some minerals, such as the vulcão. Licancabur year founded.
Don’t walk, it’s time to enjoy a panoramic view of the Deserto Dalíwith a scene that seems to be taken from one of the works of a great Spanish painter.
I do not return to Uyuni, as 4×4 caravans cut or Valley of Rocks (Vale das Rochas), with its enormous volcanic rocks up to 15 meters high.
Just before sundown, you finally head to Uyuni. Make sure the car does not break at any time while driving. Yes, it can happen. And it happens. We saw a car lose everything… Either wait patiently or get out and continue traveling.
Moral of history: Fazendo a realistic balance, if you are the owner of the backpack or if it is not important to divide the room and the bathroom with other people, and if it does not have much freshness, it is enough to throw away or passeio de letra! And, you can prove, the inospitous landscapes, or baths in the vulcanic hot springs, or mini trekking on Incahuasi Island and the photographs of two flamingos and two geysers compensate for any loss, even the two days without bathing!
*Post written by four mãos, by Anna Bárbara and Nádia Ferreira, my travel companion, author of Instagram @nadianomundo.
** We in the World traveled through the Salar de Uyuni and Lagunas Coloradas at the invitation of the Late Bolivia company.
