The world´s largest mirror

Trip Start Feb 01, 2010

Trip End Jun 12, 2010

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Flag of Bolivia Salar de Uyuni, Potosí, Bolivia
Monday, February 8, 2010

So we arrived in a dusty town far from anywhere at 6.30 am called Uyuni. Its only purpose is basically as a service town for tourists going to Salar de Uyun (the world�s largest salt flats). We had some pancakes for breakfast at 7 then went to check into a hotel across the road where we organised ourselves, had a walkabout of the town and then caught our tour at 10. In our jeep there were 3 chatty Argentines and two introverted Japenese brothers who didn�t say a word. We set off straight for the train graveyard which consisted of rusty locmotives beyond belief and we spent 15 minutes taking novelty photos there before moving on to a small hamlet on the edge of the salt flats where the inhabitants process and export the salt, put tourist up at a hotel entirely made of salt and sell souvenirs comprising of salt.

We then drove onto the salt flats and I shall say this- at 19 I have been extremely lucky to see many natural wonders of this world- The Himalayas, The Great Barrier Reef, Kenya�s Rift Valley, Uluru, Iceland�s ice caps and many more but I have never seen anything like these salt flats. It is just incredible to be standing on a layer of water just a few cm thick and look out over what is truly the world�s largest mirror. There is just nothing like it.

We spent hours exploring and walking, taking photos and collecting salt crystals. After getting sunburnt under the chin (the mirror obviously reflects the sun�s rays) we headed back covered in,err salt. That�s right!

We went out for a Pizza and were in bed by eight! It was like being 9 again!

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