Salar de Uyuni – Like Snow but Salty

Salar de Uyuni is over 10,000 sq km (4,000 sq m) and is considered the world’s largest salt flat. It sits at 11,995 ft (3,656 m) in southwest Bolivia. (Forgive us, we are several hundred of km and a few countries behind in our posts as we are now half-way through Argentina but better late than never.)

The slat flats look like you are riding on snow and ice. It beckons the adventure motorcyclist as it is a huge expanse of ‘safe’ riding where the road surface never changes (actually an altitude change of only one metre at most) and there will never be another driver to cut you off out of nowhere or a dog to dash out from behind a tree or a gaucho herding his livestock along the main highway and so it is here some people are tempted to reach top speeds on, say, a motorcycle. Why not live a little?

Not that there’s any proof or anything but Heather may or may not have reached speeds of 140 km per hour (87 miles per hour) and Dave may or may not have been tempted to beat her score when she passed him in a ruthless race. He reached 164 mph (102 miles per hour).

Salar de Uyuni is a truly remarkable place we’re glad to have seen. We were worried about our bikes afterward, which we covered wheels to handlebars in salt that looked like caked ice and snow after a trip along British Columbia’s Coquihalla mid-winter but were informed about a car wash in the town of Uyuni that would wash every spec of salt off the bikes. They do so everyday for the many 4×4 tour vehicles that take tourists out onto the flats. For less than $10 the bikes were almost cleaner than the day they were born. Until we hit the next dirt road…