Booking our tour of the salt flats was more difficult than we had anticipated it to be. Sometimes too much research makes making a decision impossible. We read that you don't have to pre-book the tour, as there are so many tour companies vying for customers when you get into Uyuni. This idea stressed us out. We also read that you have to be careful who you book with as some companies don't use reliable vehicles or there have been incidences of drink driving. This prospect also worried us. Then there were the actual tour options, 1 day, 2 days, 3 days...what to pick. The only thing we had fully committed to was our departure city, Uyuni rather than Calama.
In the end, we booked our tour from La Paz with Kanoo Tours the day before we boarded our overnight bus to Uyuni. We selected the Spanish language tour (since it was cheaper) and a three day tour of the salt flats and national park.
Taking an overnight bus into Uyuni isn't everyone cup of tea and after doing it, I might not do it again. Instead there is an option to take a 1 hour flight into the area. I hear it is rather turbulent but it's either that or a 10-12 hour overnight drive on a bus.
Once in Uyuni, we had some time to wander around a bit, buy our 6 liters of water, a souvenir hat (gift for my dad that I used because what's his is mine--can you tell I'm an only child?), and find our travel company office. The van fit total 6 passengers and if you're a solo traveller you are tagged on to anywhere that can fit you. If you easily make friends (which you should, you're travelling solo) this won't be an issue.
Most tours begin around 10 am and the first stop is the Railroad Graveyard.
For lunch we stopped at the first salt hotel (no longer used for guests) and our tour driver prepared our meal of llama, quinoa, and veg with coke or water to drink.
We were given an opportunity to take pictures in the salt flats, this is where people get those crazy perspective photos. Everyone except Eimear and I, that is. We couldn't figure it out, but we enjoyed the scenery anyway.
We spent the first day driving through the flats, stopping occasionally to take photos or to visit the Isla Incahuasi (BEST! insert love eyes emoji!).
It was dark by the time we arrived at our hotel for our first night's stay. It was in a 'salt hotel'. The walls, furniture, and floors were made from salt. It was certainly a unique experience and more comfortable than you might think. The food served that night was quite tasty. Soup as a starter and chicken and potatoes as the main and coffee to finish things off. The next morning we had cereal and bread with jam with tea and coffee.
Our journey continued into the south of Bolivia viewing the diverse landscape of the country from dormant volcanoes, geysers, mountains and deserts, but our time on the salt flats had sadly come to an end.
Reflecting back on our trip although I had an excellent time there are a few things that I might have done differently if I got a do-over. I would have liked to have spent more time on the salt flats themselves, I would have brought my own props for photo ops, I might have flown down to Uyuni rather than take the bus, and we were so close to Chile that I would have planned to make the connection and spend a few days there before flying back to La Paz.
Things I would do the same: booked the tour ahead of time (travelling can be stressful enough), booked the Spanish language tour, the scenery speaks for itself and we had someone in our group that could translate the important bits for us. Book the 3 day tour, anything shorter wouldn't have cut it.
Do you ever look back on a trip and think about the things would do differently or do the same?
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Sounds intetesting enough for a bucket list trip!
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