Stay in a Salt Hotel on the Worlds Largest Salt Flat: Salar de Uyuni

Feel like you are walking in heaven at Bolivia's world famous salt flat!
Excerpt from the book Soul Searching in South America from the Teresa the Traveler series.
We were supposed to watch the sun set over the salt flats on day two but because of all the rain the road had turned into mud forcing us to drive to Uyuni instead.  The majority of the day was spent driving through the small lakes that had formed on the dirt road and helping to push vehicles out of the mud.  We came across one that had been stuck for over two hours. 
     At first I was frustrated by the slow pace and constant challenges.  Our vehicle broke down twice forcing us to wait on the side of the road for almost an hour while our guide and another driver fixed it.  Something I severely lack is patience.  I am usually so busy racing from place to place that I rarely slow down and just be. I think the Universe was trying to teach me something so I took a deep breath and released all my attachment to getting anywhere fast and decided to sit back and let the events of the day unfold without feeling anxious about it.
I looked down at the silver dog tag on my backpack with a quote from Albert Einstein that reads,“In the midst of difficulty lies opportunity” and waited to see what opportunities would arise.
    Once I relaxed, I discovered that the roadside stops were kind of fun.  It gave me the opportunity to get to know people.  During one of the stops I had a chance to get to know a guy from Chile who had the same camera as me and on another stop I met an interesting German guy who was traveling solo on a motorbike across South America.  He and his bike travelled over from Germany on a cargo ship that took four weeks to get to port.  I could not imagine spending four weeks on a cargo ship unless the crew consisted of Chippendale dancers and massage therapists.  He became our “Where’s Waldo” for the remainder of the trip.  We spotted him everywhere: in the small villages where we stopped to eat, on the salt flats, at our hotel in Uyuni and in the pub where we stopped for drinks before catching the bus to La Paz.  By dinner that night, the 12 of us who had been traveling in two Land Cruisers together had become good friends and isn’t that what traveling is all about…making new friends?
    When Monique had returned to Canada I felt alone not trusting in my ability to make new friends and here I was, part of an international group of backpackers feeling like I had known them for years. With each passing day my depression lifted and I started to feel like a better version of my old self.  I was having the time of my life and it was all because the Universe forced me to slow down and be where I was at.  And where I was at was in the middle of a muddy desert in Bolivia. Who knew that’s where I would find my happy?  Chances are I would lose it again but I was confident that if I forced myself to slow down and be where I am at, it would catch up to me.  Wow…my  confidence had returned.
Rain is a Good Thing
The next day we were relieved to learn that the roads were open and we would make it out to the Salar de Uyuni.  At 10,582 square kilometres and 3,656 meters above sea level, it is the world’s largest salt flat.  It was formed as a result of transformations between several prehistoric lakes which over the centuries dried up and became covered with a few meters of salt crust. Beneath the crust is a 2 to 20 meter deep pool of brine that is rich in lithium containing 50%, to 70% of the world’s reserves.  Because of its large area which can be seen from space, and its exceptional flatness, it is the ideal object for calibrating the altimeters of the Earth observation satellites.  In the center of the Salar there are a few islands which are actually the tops of ancient volcanoes.
    Despite the world demand for lithium, from which batteries are made, the Bolivian government isn’t allowing exploitation by foreign corporations which is probably a wise thing.  The locals, despite being poor, were concerned that none of the profits from the mining activity would reach them and were probably right.  The Bolivian government plans to build its own pilot plant with a modest annual production of 1,200 tons to be increased over time.
    As the Salar began to attract tourists from around the world, hotels made entirely from salt blocks cut from the Salar began to spring up. The first, which was completed in 1995 and located in the middle of the salt flat, was dismantled in 2002 due to mismanagement leading to environmental problems.  Most of the waste had to be collected manually but wasn’t. Instead the raw sewerage was being pumped directly into the Salar.  The new salt hotels were built closer to the roads and in full compliance with environmental codes.
    Despite the fact the Salar is not very far from the town of Uyuni, it still took us a few hours to get there because of poor road conditions and a pit stop at one of the tiny muddy towns along the way.  Pavement is not a common sight in this part of Bolivia and the heavy rains of the past few days had transformed the land around the salt flats into one huge mud flat.  I had to go to the bathroom during our pit stop so I picked my way across the muddy market and followed a sign that said bano to a little shack manned by an old man with a deeply creased face.
    For 2 Bolivianos he sold me a few sheets of pink toilet paper and directed me to the washroom.  I use that term loosely because this was not even close to something I would call a washroom.  One of the key ingredients in washrooms is a toilet and I did not consider this hole in the ground with two footholds a toilet.  Despite the fact I have used these before in Central America and the Middle East I have still not mastered the technique. I ended up peeing on my shoe as I often do.  When I returned to the Land Cruiser, I complained to the group about my harrowing bathroom experience and the Turkish girl replied, “They gave you toilet paper?”  Apparently she ended up at a different bathroom that did not offer toilet paper and was given a stick to wedge in the door to keep it shut.  The French couple added that the worst bathroom they had used was in China. The line of holes in the ground was not even separated by walls.  Going to the John was a social event.  Yikes! 
     Suddenly my bathroom experience didn’t seem so bad after all.  My door had a lock, the wall had a mirror and a hook for your jacket and I got to wipe in private with pretty pink toilet paper.  I guess my glass was half full and not half empty as I had thought.
    The road to the salt flats was riddled with potholes and I know that for a fact because I felt each one we hit.  However, there is always someone worse off and that day it was the Irish couple who sat in the small raised seat at the very back.  By the time we reached the edge of the Salar, the Irishman claimed his neck was now two inches shorter and he was hoping it would pop back out soon.
    When we got out of the truck and caught our first chilly glimpse of the Salar, it was nothing to write home about.  The sky was socked in turning the salt flats into a white abyss.
Is this it?  I spent two days driving across the muddy desert and sleeping in crappy hostels for this!  What the..? I wanted my money back…this sucked. We piled back into the Land Cruiser but rather than head back to Uyuni we drove out onto the salt flats until we reached what I immediately recognized as a salt hotel in the middle of the flats. I had thought they built them along the shoreline not right in the middle.  
     We entered a building made entirely of salt and sat at a salt table where we drank a beer.  I decided this wasn’t so bad after all and began to have fun chatting with other tourists from around the world while the rain tapped down on the tin roof.  Then suddenly it stopped.  Could it be? I walked outside and much to my delight the sun was shining and the clouds had separated allowing patches of blue sky to peak through.  The rain had left a 2-inch layer of water across the flats which mirrored the sky creating a scene that looked like heaven. People began to trickle out of the hotel and walk across the flats to admire this incredible sight and take that perfect, “I am in heaven” picture.
    I was suddenly thankful for the rain that I had been cursing all morning.  The Luke Bryan song Rain is a Good Thing played in my head.

My daddy spent his life
Lookin' up at the sky
He'd cuss, kick the dust,
Sayin' son it's way too dry

It clouds up in the city,
The weather man complains
But where I come from,
Rain is a good thing

Rain makes corn,
Corn makes whiskey
Whiskey makes my baby
Feel a little frisky

Back roads are boggin' up,
My buddies pile up in my truck
We hunt our honeys down,
We take 'em into town
Start washin' all our worries
Down the drain
Rain is a good thing

    Rain was a good thing. So good that it inspired my best happy dance and I convinced the rest of the people on the Salt Flat to join me.  I really was in heaven.  As we drove back to Uyuni on the pothole ridden muddy roads I thought to myself, my Salar experience could not have been more perfect.
For tips on visiting Bolivia CLICK HERE
For tips on visiting South America CLICK HERE
For general travel tips on what to pack and how to plan ahead CLICK HERE
For tips on travelling on a budget CLICK HERE
Where I Stayed...
Hotel Kutimuy
Uyuni, Bolivia
Tel: 6932391
How to Get There - Uyuni is quite remote, you are best to fly
into La Paz and take a bus or train to Uyuni.