BOLIVIA: UYUNI SALT FLATS, SILOLI DESERT, GEYSERS, AND HOT SPRINGS

July 9, 2025
Basic Hostal
San Juan, Bolivia

The Main Square in Uyuni

We left the hotel in Uyuni at 9:30 to walk to the main square, but mainly to visit a grocery store to buy snacks for the next few days. I bought a bar of chocolate, some almonds, and some cookies. Then we returned to the hotel where we loaded into three Toyota Landcruisers and headed out of Uyuni towards the salt flats.

Church Built By Indigenous Miners in Uyuni

Metal Sculpture at the 
Train Cemetery

Our first stop was the train cemetery. In the late 19th century, the United States financed Chile’s invasion of Bolivia to gain access to nitrate deposits for fertilizer. They invaded during carnaval when everyone in Bolivia was inebriated. Though the war, dubbed the War of the Pacific, dragged on for five years, Bolivia and Peru, who shared an alliance, ultimately lost and Bolivia ceded 400 kilometers of coastline to Chile, ending up landlocked. Bolivia’s wealth lies in natural resources. They needed to ship their silver and tin to markets in Europe and North America. A British firm built a steam railway from Bolivia across Chile to the Pacific. Bolivia was allowed to ship their products across Chile tax free.

The Train Cemetery Swarmed with Tourists

Graffiti at the Train Cemetery

This worked for decades but, in 1952, the Nationalist Party came to power and the railways were nationalized in the 1960s. The old steam trains were abandoned and left to rot outside of Oyuni. Modern diesel locomotives replaced the old steam trains. Today, two or three trains a week make the trip across Chile to the Pacific.

The cemetery was swarming with tourists, which made it difficult to photograph the abandoned trains. There was some nice graffiti and artists had constructed some interesting metal sculptures. Oyuni, originally a mining town, was reinventing itself as the gateway to the salt flats.

Salt Grinder in Colchani

Tables & Chairs Made of Salt Blocks

A few minutes’ drive brought us to Colchani, a village on the edge of the salt flats where we stopped to eat lunch and learn how the salt was extracted. Salt was harvested by gouging crystals out, piling them in pyramids to dry, grinding it until the crystals were fine enough to sprinkle, treating it with iodine to revome the lithium that contaminated it, and then packaging it. While Bolivia has the largest deposits of salt in the world, they do not export it because the quality is not good.

Wall Made of Salt Blocks

The other method of harvesting salt involved cutting it into blocks used to build furniture and buildings. We ate lunch at salt tables in a building built of salt blocks.

After lunch, we drove across the salt flats to the Hotel de Sal where the monument to the Dakar Rally was located. The Dakar Rally passed through the Uyuni salt flats in 2016 and 2017 before relocating to Saudi Arabia. We took some photos and then headed out onto the salt flats in search of an isolated spot to take photographs. This was tough to find because there were tourists everywhere. The salt flats were deceptive and allowed us to take some shots with interesting perspective. Our guide, Daniel, shot a great time-lapse video of our group.

International Flags at the Dakar Monument

The Dakar Monument

Daniel Shooting a Video

It Was Great Fun Playing with Perspective

Cecilia, Sylvan, and I Pose for Janine

Trichocereus Pasacana

Isla Incahuasi

We continued across the salt flats to the Isla Incahuasi, a volcanic outcropping in the middle of the salt flats. The island surprised us by being covered with cactus that they called cardón, although it looked more like saguaro. In actuality, it is neither, but is related to both. The Latin name is Trichocereus Pasacana.  We climbed to the top of the island and took lots of pictures.

Me in the Salt Flats

We left the island about 17:00 to seek a spot still covered with water from which to observe the sunset. We found a spot where the water was less than an inch deep, but still deep enough to reflect the scenery. It was very cold, but we stayed until the sun set and then made a beeline for dry land. At first, the water got deeper and the drivers hurried to each a visible road before the daylight failed.

Finally, we passed between two rock cairns and onto a very low levee that was mostly dry. We followed that off the salt flats and then continued another 30 miles of corduroy road to San Juan where we stopped at a very basic hostal. By this time, it was -5 degrees Celsius. I scored a private room, but the room didn’t have enough warm blankets. I had rented a sleeping bag but, instead of the -5 degree rated bag I had had on the Quarry trail, I got only a thin fleece bag. I went to bed after dinner to write wearing all my clothes.

Our Vehicles in the Salt Flats

Full Moon Over the Salt Flats

Sun and Moon Reflected in the Salt Flats

July 12, 2025
Hotel Samay Wasi
Uyuni, Bolvia

The Railway to Chile

It was very cold when we got up in the morning. We ate breakfast provided by the outfitter supplying our drivers and loaded back into our vehicles. We drove across the Chiguana salt flat, stopping to visit the train tracks running from Bolivia to the Pacific.  While the Uyuni salt flat covers 10,000 square kilometers, the Chiguana salt flat covers only 415 square kilometers. The salt is mixed with different minerals, giving it a brownish color. It lies at an altitude of 12,000’ and is surrounded by volcanoes. Outside of the cities that give some perspective, Bolivia seems incredibly vast and empty.

Volcan Ollagüe Was Steaming

Our first stop was at a viewpoint where we could see the Ollagüe volcano steaming in the distance. Ollagüe is the only semi-active volcano in Bolivia. The lookout point featured interesting rock formations and some rocks completely covered in what looked like moss, but turned out to be tiny succulents.

Succulent Detail

Succulent Covered Rock

Rock Formation at the Ollagüe Viewpoint

July 12, 2025
Hostal Cerro Rico
Pototsí, Bolivia

Laguna Cañapa

Next, we went to the Cañapa Lagoon to look at flamingos. I had always thought of flamingos as tropical birds, so it was strange to see them at this freezing, high altitude lake. The Bolivian or Andean flamingo has a black tail. The Chilean flamingo has a white tail and the James Flamingo, a mix of the two, has a grey tail. Baby flamingos are born grey, gradually turn white, and then develop their characteristic pink coloration as they feed on brine shrimp. Some of the older ones had feathers that were nearly red. We were all fascinated by them and couldn’t stop taking pictures.

Flamingos at Laguna Cañapa

Flamingo at Laguna Cañapa

We continued on to the Hedionda (Stinky) Lagoon, so named because of its sulfur content. It really didn’t smell bad. We ate lunch there and gawked at more flamingos and the rock cairns piled there. On our way from the Hedionda to the Honda Lagoon, we saw a coyote who appeared to be begging for food. The Honda Lagoon was higher and colder and we didn’t see flamingos there.

Coyote

Hedionda Lagoon

Flamingos at Hedionda Lagoon

The Honda Lagoon

Human Flamingos at Honda Lagoon

Struggling Over the Pass

From the Honda Lagoon, we struggled up over a rocky pass and then down to the Arbol de Piedra, a rock formation that looked like a tree. There were other interesting rock formations there, as well, and quite a bit of snow, but the restrooms were closed. By this point, we were very high in the Siloli desert and it was quite cold. We reached the Laguna Colorado (Red Lagoon) late in the day. The lagoon gets its name from the minerals and algae in the water that make it appear red from certain angles.  We had hoped to linger there for coffee, but the coffee house was closed. We took a few pictures and then skedaddled. The elevation at Laguna Colorada was 13,903’.

Arbol de Piedra

Laguna Colorada

It was a long drive across the desert to our next hostal and darkness fell quickly. We were amazed that our drivers could even find the way in the dark and the snow. It got colder and colder. At one point that night, the temperature dipped to -20° C or -4° F. The hostel wasn’t heated, but it was warmer than the last one, although the power was turned off at 21:00. There wasn’t a wood stove because there was nothing to burn. I shared a room with Cecilia and Pam and I think having three of us in the room helped to keep it warm, also.

Our Room at the Hostal

The next morning, we had to get up at 4:00 because breakfast was served at 4:30 and we aimed to leave by 5:00. The power still wasn’t turned on in the bathroom, so we made our ablutions by headlamp. Breakfast was cold pancakes and weak tea, which did little to warm us. It was still pitch black outside. We piled into the Landcruisers and drove off into the dark. Once again, I have no idea how our drivers saw where they were going as we headed up the pass.

Steaming Fumeroles in the Dark

We heard the geyser at 15,925’ before we saw it. It was still pitch dark when we arrived there about 6:30. The first geyser was under a lot of pressure and spewed water and steam in a constant stream. A few minutes later, we stopped at Sol de Mañana where several fumeroles were steaming. In the dark, the scene revealed in the headlights of the trucks was rather hellish. It was also fiendishly cold. As interesting as it was, we didn’t linger.

Laguna Verde

We dropped down, reaching Polques Hot Springs at daybreak, where we could see the hot springs steaming in the cool morning air. We did not stop but hurried on to Laguna Verde, where we managed to arrive before any of the other tourists. Laguna Verde was frozen. At 14,137’, it was still pretty high. There was a lot of snow and the scenery was breathtaking, but the lagoon is too toxic with minerals to support wildlife. Laguna Verde sits at the corner of Bolivia that intersects Chile and Argentina. We could see the immigration buildings across the lagoon. As we were leaving Laguna Verde, we saw a long line of Landcruisers heading towards the lake. We forgave Daniel for the early start because we had been able to enjoy the lake in solitude.

Chile and Argentina Across the Lake

The other advantage of being ahead of the crowd was that we got to enjoy the Polques Hot Springs mostly by ourselves. It was a bit chilly changing into swimming suits, but at least the sun was out by the time we returned. The water was a heavenly temperature and we got to spend nearly an hour soaking in the shallow pool with a soft gravel bottom. Hot water flowed in from the mountain above and exited from the far side of the pool. The water was very clean and hardly smelled of sulfur at all. Drying off with my miniature travel towel and figuring out what to do with my wet swimsuit was a challenge, but I wrapped the suit in the towel and rolled them both in my raincoat which sufficed to keep the rest of my pack dry until we got back to Uyuni.

Polques Hot Springs

After the hot springs, we embarked on the long drive back to Uyuni. The going was slow, at first. After a couple of hours, we stopped at the village of Villamar to eat lunch. The first comedor we visited was closed. The drivers had to scramble to find us another one. There was a stream that ran through the village and lots of llamas were grazing and wandering around the town. There had even been one in the courtyard of the first comedor we visited.

Llamas Grazing

We continued on after lunch. The roads improved and we were able to go faster. We stopped for ice cream at the company town of the San Cristobal mine. Unlike Uyuni, which had grown up without much infrastructure or planning, San Cristobal was very organized. All the houses were finished and painted and the roads were paved. Everyone who lived there was employed by the mine in some capacity, so the town was reasonably affluent.

The Return Drive to Uyuni

After San Cristobal, we made good time to Uyuni. Some of the road was even paved. The road deteriorated around Uyuni, but we finally dragged into the hotel about 17:00. I got a chance to write for a short while and then we headed back to Tika for another nice dinner. I had shredded dried, salted llama, which was served with a boiled potato and a boiled egg. It was delicious. We were all tired from the early start and gladly went home to bed.

BOLIVIA: LA PAZ AND UYUNI

July 7, 2025
Hotel Quantu
La Paz, Bolivia

Sunrise Over Lake Titicaca

Yesterday, we got up obscenely early to be ready to leave the hotel by 5:20. Once again, we were taking a public coach from Puno to La Paz. This was tough on those who had been out drinking and dancing until after midnight. My usually talkative roommate was silent all the way to La Paz and she looked pretty rough.

Llamas & Wheat

We boarded the bus at the bus station in Puno and followed the shore of Lake Titicaca towards the border of Bolivia. The sun rose over the lake. We drove past miles of what appeared to be wheat fields with sheaves of wheat neatly stacked. Most of the homes and businesses were built of reinforced concrete posts and beams filled in with red brick. The towns were very monochromatic, especially early on Sunday morning when everything was closed. After a couple of hours, we made a restroom stop and people were able to exchange soles for bolivianos. Since I had spent all but about 50 cents worth of soles, I had nothing to exchange. Like much of our group, I was waiting for an ATM in Bolvia.

Half an hour later, we arrived at the border. There were a couple of buses ahead of us and we waited in the chilly sunshine until we could enter the immigration building. Processing was very efficient. We waited in one line to check out of Peru and then proceeded to another line to check into Bolivia. I had no trouble with my visa. At this point, our trusty guide, Ollie, said goodbye and turned us over to our Bolivian babysitter, Wendy. I say babysitter, rather than guide, because she made no effort to get to know us and barely made an effort to keep us together. We were not impressed.

Unfortunately, customs was not so efficient and we shivered in the shade until they finished with the buses ahead of us and we could enter the customs building. We had all completed our declarations online and received a QR code which the customs agent scanned while we waited in line. Eventually, we entered the customs building where our luggage was scanned and we were finally able to use the restroom. The bus met us on the other side of the customs building, we loaded up, and headed for La Paz.

Bolivia looked pretty much like Peru. We drove through a sprawling suburb that must have been El Alto, creeping along through traffic on surface streets. Finally, we reached the toll road that took us to La Paz. La Paz is built in a bowl and the red brick houses stretched up the hillsides.

Our hotel was downtown. The power was out and our room was on the seventh floor. We had to leave our luggage at reception until the elevator started working. At 12,000’, even climbing the stairs to our room was an aerobic workout. We met back downstairs at 14:30. Because the power was out, the ATM next door was not operating. This made it hard for most of us to do anything. We were tired and hungry and it took some convincing to get Wendy to let us eat lunch before taking our walking tour.

Lynn, Janine, Emilie, and Sara in the Witches' Market

Llama Fetuses Are Used in Offerings

We walked through the witches’ market on the way to lunch and stopped to see the herbal remedies and talismans for sale there. Apparently, business had been brisk since covid. La Paz was very hilly and Wendy led us a merry chase through the artisan market to the restaurant where we had lunch. The other Intrepid group had arrived before us and, hungry as we were, we had to wait over half an hour for a table. We waited a very long time after we ordered. Even getting a soda took over half an hour. They made all the complicated drinks first. We finally had to complain to get our drinks. Getting food was not quick, either, but was very good once we got it. I had a roast beef, carmelized onion, and cheese sandwich on ciabatta bread. Since I can’t find roast beef in Mexico, I was thrilled.

The Franciscan Church

Once we finished eating, it was probably 16:30. We had wanted to take the cable car, but still didn’t have cash and some people just wanted to go to sleep. Most of us walked down the hill,, past the church of San Francisco to the main plaza to see the cathedral, government palace, and congress building. While Sucre is technically the capital of Bolivia, the seat of government is in La Paz. This is the result of an old compromise ending a civil war.

The Government Palace

The Murillo Plaza was not large and was filled with pigeons. The cathedral was relatively new, having only been finished and consecrated in 1993. It looked older. Most of the materials had been imported and, being built on a steep hill, construction was delayed while a platform was constructed to support the church. We were not able to go inside because it was closed.

The La Paz Cathedral

The original colonial buildings that housed the government palace and the congress had both been supplemented by modern skyscrapers, making for a bizarre melange of architecture. The president’s residence was on the top floor of the government tower. The building was protected by uniformed guards and soldiers. We spent ten minutes taking pictures and exploring the plaza. Then we finally found a working ATM and got some cash.

Monument to the Martyrs of the
Revolution in Murillo Square

I was tired when we got back to the hotel and just wanted to sleep, but found I could not. Emilie was exhausted from her debauched evening and our early start, but even she couldn’t get to sleep until about 20:00. We turned out the lights, but I remained awake until midnight, stewing over the fact that the WiFi wasn’t working.

The hotel was reasonably comfortable. The afternoon sun had warmed the room and I didn’t get cold until about 4:00. The neighborhood was noisy and I finally put in earplugs at midnight. Somehow, I managed to sleep through Emilie getting up and leaving to catch her ride to the airport at 2:30. I woke up about 4:00, got up and turned on the heater, and went back to bed to use the WiFi while it was working. I never did get back to sleep. Finally, I got up to write. I had really hoped to use my day in La Paz to catch up on blog posts, but could not connect my computer to the feeble WiFi. My phone was not connecting to data, either. I finally gave up and got up about 7:30. I couldn’t remember the last time I had slept more than four hours. The altitude was really messing with my sleep patterns.

July 8, 2025

Hotel Samay Wasi
Uyuni, Bolivia

View of Painted Houses from the Red Line

Janine, Sylvan, Cecilia, and I had agreed to meet in the morning and go ride the gondolas. First, however, Janine wanted to go to a bookstore. We got almost all the way to the main plaza when we realized we were never going to make it to the red station by 9:30 when we had agreed to meet Amanda and Raad. We dashed back up the hill, getting slightly lost in the process. None of us had a signal in La Paz, so we had to make do with a rather vague paper map. We finally arrived at the station at 9:40. There was no sign of Amanda and Raad. We waited until 10:00 and never saw them. Finally, we decided they had left without us.

We took the red line up the side of the bowl to the rim, passing over an immense cemetery with row after row of mausoleums and urn niches. The top of the bowl was nearly vertical. Nearly all the houses in La Paz were built of brick. Only a few were plastered and painted in bright colors. A number of apartment blocks had penthouses built on the roofs that looked like single family homes.

The Silver Line Runs Along the Rim of El Alto

Once at the top of the line we wanted to take some photos but there was cloudy glass obscuring the view. We got on the silver line and rode it along the edge of the rim until we reached the yellow line. From there, we were able to walk around behind the station and get some photographs, although we were almost eaten by a most unfriendly dog. We finished our circuit of the station in the city known as El Alto and then took the yellow line back down over La Paz to the river that ran along the bottom of the valley. From there, we took the blue line which followed the river to the station nearest the center.

The View from El Alto

Houses in El Alto

View From the Yellow Line

At this point, we walked back to the main square to go to the book store. Each errand involved walking up and down steep hills. When we arrived at the square, we found the street we wanted blocked off by riot police. We decided to circle around and approach from the other side. We found a couple of other book stores but none of them had books in English. The last one gave us directions to the book store that had originally been recommended but, when we got close, we realized it was on the block guarded on both ends by the riot police. People were passing through the line and so, we slipped through and made our way to the bookstore/cafe through the group of Bolivians in traditional dress who were protesting the lack of advanced medical facilities in their region. It was a very peaceful protest and we couldn’t understand the police response.

Protestors in La Paz

The recommended bookstore didn’t have books in English, either. We stopped in the cafe and had coffees and mint lemonades. Then Janine and Sylvan went to the bus station to retrieve the phone Janine had left on the previous day’s bus and Cecilia and I went to the cathedral. The cathedral had been built in the 20th century and was rather plain, although it did have beautiful stained glass. A lay woman was leading some kind of service, so we couldn’t take any photos of the central nave.

Stained Glass in the Cathedral Transept

Our next destination was the Franciscan church. The monastery had been converted into a museum. For our 40 bolivianos, we were given an English speaking guide named Jhon. He was a very knowledgeable young man and told us a lot about the art in the galleries. We needed to meet Lynn at 15:00 and tried to hurry him along, but he insisted on imparting his admittedly interesting information about the Cusqueño, Potosí, and La Paz schools of art. We eventually worked our way to the choir overlooking the church and then climbed out onto the roof to ascend the bell tower. After snapping a few shots of La Paz, we finally descended into the impressively gold leafed interior of the church and finished up with a visit to the crypt of the heroes where the remains of presidents and revolutionary figures rest in ornate vessels. Amidst all the remains of famous people, sits a skull of some anonymous person that was left in the church. Since it was human, they couldn’t throw it away, so it sits on a ledge in the crypt.

Roof of the Franciscan Church

St. Francis of Assisi

Main Altar in the Franciscan Church

Cloister of the Franciscan Church

The Market Street in La Paz

By the time our tour was finally complete, Cecilia and I had to dash back up the very steep hill to the hotel to meet Lynn, Janine and Sylvan. We arrived just at 15:00. We then climbed back down the hill to the Steakhouse. The Steakhouse was clearly not expecting customers at 15:00. Many of the dishes we wanted to order were not available and it took forever to get our drinks and even longer to get our food. The food was very good when it came, although there was nothing for vegetarian Janine to order except fries.

Back at the hotel, we said a sad farewell to Lynn who was flying out that night. We went to our orientation meeting for the Bolivian section of our tour and then I went to my room to finally sleep.

I had a single room with a heater and was able to get comfortable enough that I slept from 20:00 until 5:00 the next morning. Then I got up, washed and braided my hair, worked on my blog, and still had time to eat and be ready to leave by 8:00.

Metal Roofs Were the Most Colorful Things

We had a very long bus ride from La Paz to Uyuni. It took about an hour just to get out of La Paz. We stopped to buy snacks and use the restroom after a couple of hours and then stopped again in Uros, a very large town grown up around several mines. Uros was located at a crossroads and from there we took a very boring road to Challapata where we stopped to eat sandwiches in a restaurant that seemed to be primarily a wedding reception venue. We drove across more dry plains covered in bunch grass and started to see a bit of salt collecting in low spots. About sunset, we arrived in Uyuni and checked into our hotel. I was thrilled to discover than my room was heated. There was even a radiator in the bathroom.

We promptly gathered for dinner at Tika, a very nice restaurant down the road. Then we returned to the hotel to enjoy the rest of our evening.