Wow! Uyuni was great! We had an amazing group and a fantastic driver. Check out the pictures and prepare your trip to the remote lagoons and huge salt flat in Bolivia’s southern highlands with these helpful tips:
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The
area is very remote and high up in the mountains. Should you be tempted to
visit without a tour be reminded that there is no public transport, no shops,
really nothing but some mining villages and the tour agency camps
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Pick
your tour operator wisely. It is mostly same-same-but-different but you can
save a lot of money and still have a nice trip by shopping around
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Your
guide will not speak English although you have been pomised. Expect to pay significantly more for an
Engish speaking guide
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No
need to book anything in advance (it will be a lot more expensive doing so).
You can actually show up in the morning and book a tour for the same day, which
means you can come and go with night busses
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Although
the Lonely Planet or Booking.com might suggest otherwise, you can find cheap
and nice hostels in Uyuni
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Bring
warm clothes. We even had snow
But now for
the real important tips concerning your tour. There are many tours going every
day with twenty to forty jeeps. They drive in a bulk so you will always be with
a lot of people. However, I feel that these natural treasures can be cherished
more if you are alone. Here is how you can achieve this easily:
-
Do
the tour in reverse. Start with the Lagunas and end it with the Salar de Uyuni.
You’ll mostly be alone on the
first day
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Another
advantage is that you will see the spectacular sunrise over the Salar
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Should
you be trapped in the endless caravan of jeeps, simply ask your driver to do
the furthest attraction first and visit the others on the way back or to skip
one and get ahead (sharing the hot springs with 6 other people was so relaxing
compared to the beach party of 120 people three hours before)
-
Keep
in touch with your driver. If you are friendly he will do some extras for you.
Remember that the 3-day and even the 4-day tours mean that you will spend most
of the time in the car
