Located in Bolivia, Salar de
Uyuni is the world's largest salt flat. Within the salt flat and its thousands
of square miles of salt, the Luna Salada hotel was built using the abundant
natural resource. Almost everything in the hotel is made of salt, including the
tables, the chairs, the floors, and even the walls.
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DIRECTOR: Rob Holmes
PRODUCERS: Elivia Shaw and Laura Knudson
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Chris Low
VIDEOGRAPHER: Matt Weatherly
SOUND: Chris Cella
EDITOR: Dan Fipphen
Subscribe for more National Geographic videos: http://goo.gl/utTCAg
DIRECTOR: Rob Holmes
PRODUCERS: Elivia Shaw and Laura Knudson
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Chris Low
VIDEOGRAPHER: Matt Weatherly
SOUND: Chris Cella
EDITOR: Dan Fipphen
With thanks to You
Tube
Related:
Salt, sand, sky: A Bolivian 4x4 adventure
Landlocked Bolivia has much to offer
travelers, from the wildlife-rich Amazon rainforest to treks in the Andes
mountains.
One of its lesser known highlights,
however, is a remarkable 4x4 journey through the altiplano (high plains) in
Bolivia's desert southwest, close to the border with Chile.
Over three days, travelers can take in
spectacular and otherworldy desert scenery -- terracotta sands strewn with
volcanic rocks reminiscent of Salvador Dali paintings, smoking volcanoes,
steaming geysers, solidified lava fields and lagoons studded with flamingos.
The jewel is the world's largest salt flat
-- Salar de Uyuni.
The size of Singapore, it's bewildering
and vast -- miles of blinding white salt crust stretch in every direction.
Standing atop that crust feels like being
on the surface of another planet.
A number of tour operators offer guided
4x4 trips, which typically include transport in Land Cruisers, drivers and
accommodation in basic refugios and hotels made out of salt.
Most visitors start the trip from
Bolivia's unlovely, dusty town of Uyuni and end in San Pedro de Atacama, just
over the border in Chile.
For smaller crowds and the chance to see
the salt flat at dawn, it's better to start in Chile and end in Bolivia.
Whichever way you do it, it's an
adventurous trip through one of the most unique landscapes in the world.
Getting there
Cordillera Traveller
offers three-day and four-day one-way or round-trip 4x4 trips
through Bolivia's southwest desert and salt flat starting either in San Pedro de
Atacama in Chile or Uyuni in Bolivia.
Cordillera Traveller has offices in
Bolivia (Avenida Ferroviaria, Uyuni, Bolivia; +591 2693 3304) and Chile
(Tocopilla 429, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile; +56 55
560254).
Prices start at $185 per person and
include meals and accommodation.
Sarah Duff is a South African freelance
travel writer and photographer who's been published in newspapers and magazines
around the world.
With thanks to CNN