Uyuni

Uyuni the town is quite small, really only serving the purpose of connecting people to the nearby Salt Flats and other natural wonders.The first stop on the tour, on the way out of town is the train cemetary. The town used to have a flourishing mineral extraction business which went bust in the 1940s. All of the trains were just left behind.

Then we went to the salt flats. Because we arrived at the end of the rainy season, the flats were covered in an inch or two of water, which meant that we weren´t able to get the typical pictures of the actual salt, but it created a pretty reflective effect. The hardest part was actually walking around - the water was quite cold and the salt made walking a bit painful.

Piles of salt ready to be shipped out

Our second day on the tour was filled with interesting rocks and a number of pretty lagunas. First we went to what we deemed the "rock playground." Then it was off to three different lagunas, followed by the famous "arbol de piedra" (rock tree). We ended the day at the Laguna Colorada, which is a laguna with water that is a deep red color.

Rock playground

The first laguna

Laguna with ruins

Lunch-stop laguna

Arbol de Piedra

The Laguna Colorada is really, really red (the tiny specks on the horizon are flamingos -

all of the lagunas are filled with them)

On day three we were up at 4:30 in the morning, which was okay because it was freezing and I was unable to sleep anyway. We passed a number of geysers on our way to see the sunrise at the thermal waters. Then it was off to see two more lagunas before taking the long journey back to Uyuni, and our bus for Villazon, on the border with Argentina.