Our last stop in Bolivia was the small town of Uyuni which is the base to see the salt flats. We decided to do a two day tour of the area. The tour operators have quite a production process going in Uyuni, and like many in the region, will tell you anything if it means they think you'll buy whatever they're selling. All of the tourists usually arrive in the town in the morning after travelling to Uyuni via overnight bus. Each tourist visits a few operators to see what they have to offer and are promised the world by each one. They eventually settle on one, agree on a price and then set out later that morning. After a few hours it becomes apparent that unless you pay an exorbitant amount extra for things such as English speaking guides, your tour is nearly identical to everyone elses. Our favourite example of creative selling was that a "buffet lunch at the Hotel del Sol" is actually your driver (and every other driver) opening containers of food in the back of the 4X4 vehicle which is parked next to the empty building of the Hotel del Sol.

The salt flats felt like an alien world - endless, flat, white landscape which was made up of crystallised tessellating shapes as far as the eye could see. If ever in Bolivia, we'd definitely recommend making the effort to go to the salt flats, even if it means dealing with the tour operators. In fact, in hindsight, dealing with our slow, fat, lazy guide was half the fun.