Bolivia > Walking along the salt

I slept wonderfully last night, and the cold wasn’t as bad as I had expected. Even the nightly trip to the toilet via the wobbly little staircase went well. The starry sky, visible from the courtyard, was absolutely beautiful. Breakfast this morning consists of pancakes. I’m feeling completely better again, and the nausea is fortunately gone. After a day of eating very little, I’m quite hungry, and the pancakes taste excellent. After breakfast, we drive back onto the salt flat. We head toward the village of Taque, where we take a walk through the village and visit the church. Iber, our guide, explains about the village, the local way of life, and the way the houses are built. Following the green strip, we walk along the edge of the salt flat, passing llamas and donkeys as we make our way back to the starting point of the village.

Bolivia - The Uyuni salt lake

In total, the walk takes about two hours. Elly doesn’t feel well during the walk, so she travels directly to Uyuni with Johan and Kristina. Back at the farmhouse in Jiriri, we have a hearty soup for lunch. Once the suitcases are loaded onto the roof, we set off across the salt flat toward the salt hotel, located on the opposite side. The hotel is entirely built from cut salt blocks — even the interior furnishings are made of salt. The hotel stands on the salt plain, about ten kilometers from the shore. It was once in use but now serves only as a museum. Near the salt mines on the way to Colchani, Iber explains the primitive method of salt extraction. The salt is scraped together and left to dry in small pyramids. These pyramids are then transported to the salt factory in Colchani, where the salt is further dried outdoors.

Bolivia - The salt pyramids drying in the sun

Once most of the moisture has evaporated, the remaining salt is dried on a metal plate over an oven, after which it is packed into plastic bags. In Colchani, we visit the small salt factory as well. The entire process of salt production is primitive and labor-intensive. When we return to the bus, it’s clear that our visit hasn’t gone unnoticed — several villagers have set up their goods near the jeeps, and children ask for school supplies. It’s the perfect opportunity to hand out some of the children’s shoes and sweaters we brought along to the kids at the salt factory. From Colchani, we continue on to Uyuni with the setting sun to our right. The drivers drop us off at the hotel, where we also say goodbye to them. At the hotel, we’re finally able to exchange some Bolivian currency. In the evening, we have dinner at the hotel (pizza). None of us have the energy left to visit the town of Uyuni. From the jeep, I caught a glimpse of the small town center — that will have to do. When I go to bed around ten o’clock, it’s quite chilly in the room. There’s no heating, so I quickly take my sleeping bag out of my luggage. I crawl inside it and pull the blankets over me.