It’s simultaneously one of the most inhospitable places and one of the highest inhabited areas on the planet. Lonely Planet describes is as “one of the most mind boggling landscapes on Earth”. Sat on the white salt in Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest salt flat, the world seems to stretch out endless and unspoilt in front of you.
Covering almost 11000 sq km, the salt flats of Uyuni are Bolivia’s biggest tourist attraction. Social media posts show how you can play with perspective and photography to create unique images to remember your trip by from seemingly standing on someone’s hand to stepping out of a Pringles tube.
But it’s when you’ve gotten over the initial excitement of being in this white world and you continue to drive over the flats, staying in lodges built from the slat itself, that you start to really appreciate this landscape for what is truly is. Absolutely magnificent.
There’s something about staring out across the flats (and the rest of the Altiplano and the Atacama desert) with no evidence of any other human life that really puts every thing about your life into perspective. You’re stuck between the pristine white ground and the bright blue, cloudless sky with only the mountains in the distance as landmarks to help you navigate your way. It’s difficult to tell where the earth ends and the sky begins. You are a tiny insignificant dot on a vast plain and it hits you how small your place in the world is. It doesn’t matter what worries or successes you have in your life, the natural world carries on doing its thing and you realise just how little you need to be happy – water and warmth can’t be taken for granted on the flats but these and the view are all you need to put a really big smile on your face.
Now I’m not saying that I’m ready to get rid of all my creature comforts but if this trip has taught be anything it’s that I don’t need as much ‘stuff’ as I thought I did. Moments and memories not material things make me happy – now if that’s not a good enough reason to keep on travelling, I don’t know what is! Next stop, Argentina 🙂
Adventure Begins Today 