James, Marie, and I teamed up with Damian and Nevina, a couple from England, and another American, Jordan, to round out our group of 6 needed to fill a Toyota Landcruiser and take our tour of the Salar. And it was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! The first day lead us to a very poor village that subsists soley by mining salt. And at $1 per 110 lb. bag, it's a lot of work for almost nothing. Next we visited the Salt Hotel, a real hotel in the middle of nowhere constucted entirely of salt blocks. From there, we had lunch on a very unusual desert island and to end the day, we took the most unusual photos our creative minds could muster.
Day two took us through more desert and fantastic scenery and we finsished day three by visiting geysers and thermal springs before everyone in my group got dropped off and took a bus to Chile and I returned alone with the guide to Uyuni. I think the pictures convey this adventure quite clearly so take some time and check them out... there a lot of em! The worst part of this excursion was tolerating the cold at night and in the morning. The desert sits at 12,000 feet (3600m) and some parts of the tour took us to nearly 15,500 feet (4700m). Temperatures at night fell to -5 degrees F (-20 C). To combat the cold on night 2, we filled empty water bottles with hot water and slept with those... that seemed to do the trick. But keeping feet warm in the truck and exploring various sights was a challenge.
Now, I am off to La Paz, the highest capital city in the world... again at about 12,000 feet. Thanks James, Marie, Jordan, Damian & Nevina for the great company. Good luck with the rest of your travels...