|
Salar de Uyuni |
||
|
The next stop after investigating the salt piles was the Salt Hotel located in the middle of the Salar. No, that's not crazy paving you can see, the pattern is caused by pressure ridges as the salt crystallises from the evaporating water following the rains each year. The patterns cover the entire Salar. We stopped at the hotel for a drink, not at all cheap but very welcome. In fact this was the last place we could by food or drink until we returned to Uyuni. |
|
|
|
This is a picture of Richard and Diane sitting outside the Salt Hotel in the middle of the Salar de Uyuni. Not only is the hotel built of salt blocks carved from the Salar but all the furniture both inside and out is made from the blocks as well. You can see the white surface of this Salar stretching away into the distance behind the hotel. The intense blue sky is caused by the thin air at this height - it's nearly 3700 metres, over 12,000 feet and the light from the sun is intense. |
|
|
 |
The beds, chairs and other furniture in the hotel are also made from blocks of salt. Even the animal statues outside were sculpted from larger blocks removed from the Salar surface. The hotel only had 3 rooms for guests, each with a double bed of salt but we were not staying here for the night, we had to press on to our first overnight stop in San Juan. However, there was one more interesting stop on the Salar itself, the Isla Pescado where we stopped to have lunch. See the next page for details of this unusual location. |