Salar de Uyuni and La Ruta de las Lagunas

For those of you that are not familiar with the Salar de Uyuni it is the world's largest salt flat spanning 4,086 square miles. This is roughly five times the size of the Booneville salt flats in Utah. It is located in South West Bolivia at an elevation of 11,995 ft. This place must be put on the list as one of the true wonders of the world, both for it's geologic features as well as for it's stunning natural beauty and otherworldly mystical landscape. It has become a major playground for travelers in South America and a must see destination for nature lovers from around the world. Apparently it also contains 50-70% of the world's Lithium reserves of which most electrical batteries are made.

approaching the island

leaving Uyuni for the Salar

entering the Salar

salt hotel

arsenal of tourists

enjoying the splendor

no steering,braking or thinking. just panoramic awareness

full moon on the island

the trucks arrive early in the morning

my campsite at the visitors center

reuniting with friends from La Paz

full moon at the salt chateau

blind rabbit on the altiplano

Volcan Licancahur (5760 M)

Our three day excursion of the Salar and Southern Bolivian Altiplano ended at the Boivian border where the driver dropped me off. From here I had two options: either go into Chile and stay in San Pedro de Atacama or go directly to Argentina, I decided to go directly to Argentina and rode about 150kmto the border along a wonderful road. The small problem was that once I left Bolivia I was immediately in Chile, however the border was not for another 35km or so in the opposite direction of which I was traveling. The road from Laguna Verde where the border is to Paso de Jama is a kind of no-mans land. Beautiful asphalt road, more lagunas,and salt flats and no cars, every twenty minutes or so a car would come by. In addition to the good road I had a very strong tail wind all the way to the border. Pushing me on the uphills and throwing me on the down. I arrived at the border just as the sun was setting and entered the immigration office. Of course the officer behind he counter asked me why I didn't have a chilean stamp since I was coming from Chile and I explained my story. He then stamped my passport and I was in a new country: Argentina!
This was a barren frontier town called Passo de Jama and did not have much to offer. I could not exchange my Bolivianos and there was no ATM machine but at least the gas station accepted my visa card. This allowed me to get some water and snacks for the night. I then found a Japanese bike tourist camping behind the gas station and asked him if I could share his campsite. He told me that he traveled the exact same route that I did but when he arrived at the border they would not let him in and forced him to go back to the immigration office in Chile to get his passport stamped. I was lucky to not have to go through this ordeal.
To be continued.....

leaving Bolivia

entering Chile

camping at Argentina border with Kogi

truck stop camp