It was a really early start today as we left the hotel at 530am. It was an experience driving over the rough terrain in the dark. We drove for around 30 minutes before we got to the Salt Flat itself. Salar de Uyuni is the world’s largest salt flat at 10,582 kms squared. It formed as a result of transformations between several prehistoric lakes and is covered by a few meters of salt crust, which has an extraordinary flatness. The crust of the salt flat serves as a source of salt and covers a pool of brine which is rich in lithium. It contains 50% to 70% of the world’s known lithium reserves, which is in the process of being extracted.

As we drove onto the Salt Flats we were driving through around half a meter of water which felt like we were driving through the ocean.

We watched the sunrise over the salt flat which was magical. We got out to take photos and were advised to wear flip flops because of the depth of the water and so as not to ruin our walking boots. The water was freezing so you could only stay in for a few minutes before getting back in to the jeep to dry and warm up your feet! The reflections in the water on top of the salt flat were amazing.

We then drive further into the salt flat where it was slightly drier so we didn’t have to walk through any water.

After a little while we had some breakfast out of the back of the jeep, again the food they produced was impressive and tasty.

This area was great for taking perspective photos and we played around for a good couple of hours doing this. It’s quite hard to take these photos, especially as none of us had actually researched how to do it. But I think we made a pretty good job of it. We took some videos too which turned out well too.

It was great fun and the sun soon warmed us up. Around 11am we unfortunately had to leave. Normally we would drive right over the salt flat but there were areas that were flooded so the jeeps can’t get through. So we left the sane way we came in.

Just as we were coming out of the salt flat we realised we didn’t have a photo with Rodolfo in it so he quickly stopped the jeep so we could take a group photo. I was a little eager and as I jumped out of the jeep I walked a little bit too far and one foot sunk through the salt crust into the icy cold water below, not pleasant!

We drove back to the salt hotel passing many quiona fields. I must admit I had no idea what a quiona plant looked like until now. Rodolfo kindly made an extra stop so we could get some photos.

The lunch back at the hotel was delicious and we had a bit of time to relax before heading out again to Uyuni. We were around 40 mins from the hotel when Rodolfo started to get messages and calls. From what we could gather one of the jeeps had got stuck and the bags from the group needed transporting. It actually turned out that the driver had not gone back to the hotel to pick up the bags and have lunch which was a bit strange.

As none of our group had to be in uyuni by a particular time we turned round and drove back to the abandoned train station where the staff from the hotel met us with the extra bags. Fully loaded we drove on to Uyuni.

Our last stop of the day was the train cemetery – Cementerio de Trenes. The train lines were built by the British from 1888 to 1892, and primarily used for mining purposes. They were frequently sabotaged by indigenous people, and in the 1940’s left to rust in the salty winds after the mining industry collapsed. The train robbed by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is among the wrecks at the cemetery but I don’t know which one it was.

We arrived in Uyuni around 430pm and said our goodbyes before I headed off to book my ticket for tomorrow’s journey to Sucre and then book into my b&b.

But we met up again for some dinner before the girls all caught the overnight bus to La Paz.

This was one of the most amazing tours I have done. The scenery and landscape is incredible and the salt flats themselves are indescribable. Just standing on the vast whiteness was such an amazing feeling.

I was lucky I was with such a great group too, you never know when you travel solo who you’ll end up travelling with, but everyone was so lovely. And our guide Rodolfo was always smiling and making sure we were all ok – it’s really hard work for the guides with all the driving, the food, the packing and unpacking of the jeeps as well as providing us with so much information.