Salar de Uyuni

This month we took an amazing trip to see the Uyuni Salt Flats. Along with three other families, we drove about 3 hours to Oruro and boarded a 7 hour train to Uyuni. We arrived at 10:30 and headed for the hotel. I was pleasantly surprised...our hotel was clean and actually had hot water. This is somewhat uncommon in the country parts of Bolivia. The next morning, we piled in some jeeps and headed off on our adventure. Before entering the salar, we stopped to buy some salt souvenirs. The kids really enjoyed picking their favorite piece. Then we piled back in the jeeps and drove out to the Salar. It was stunning! The sky was so blue and the white clouds reflected in the water that covered parts of the salt. It was so bright that sunglasses were a must! The salt went on for miles, and miles. We had fun taking pictures and then drove to the fish island. This was a beautiful island covered in beautiful rock formations and cacti. We had lunch, and explored the small island. The kids had so much fun and Matthew was a real trooper. He enjoyed the hike. We then drove to see the salt hotel. The entire hotel was made of salt, but because of sewage problems, it is no longer operational. Sewage problems in Bolivia, go figure! We then drove to the train graveyard where the kids had a ball playing on the old trains. Thank heavens our tetanus shots were up to date. After about 7 hours of the tour, we headed back to the hotel for some yummy pizza and hot showers. We rested up, then left for the 12:00 train. In typical Bolivian fashion, the train didn't arrive until 1:30 am, even though the hotel supposedly called to confirm it was on time. The kids were exhausted and slept on the train floor. Once on the train, they slept until about 7:30 am. We then had another 3 hour drive back to La Paz. This was truly one of the most amazing things I have seen. Boliva may be poor and dumpy, but it does have lot's of beauty...you just have to look for it. Can't wait for the next adventure!