Bolivia Southwest Altiplano Route: Uyuni to Laguna Colorada

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Uyuni

   At 3,650 metres above sea level, on the high plateau of south-west Bolivia, Uyuni is a dusty, windblown frontier town that exists for one reason. Just beyond it lies the Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flat in the world, a blinding white plain of more than ten thousand square kilometres, which formed when ancient lakes dried out. In the rainy season, from roughly January to March, a thin film of water turns the salt into a mirror that doubles the sky, and in the dry season the surface cracks into hexagonal plates that stretch to the horizon.

   Read the complete Uyuni write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Uyuni is where the day begins. Next is Salar de Uyuni.

2. 2. Salar de Uyuni

   The Salar de Uyuni is the largest salt flat in the world, a sheet of white about ten thousand square kilometres in extent, lying high in the southwest of Bolivia at roughly 3,650 metres. It formed when prehistoric lakes dried up, and what remains is a crust of salt several metres thick, with brine beneath it. Under a hard sun the surface is blinding, and the horizon disappears, so that the land and sky merge, and distance becomes meaningless. It is one of the strangest places a rider can reach.

   Read the complete Salar de Uyuni write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Salar de Uyuni comes up 335 km in. Next is Laguna Colorada.

3. 3. Laguna Colorada

   Laguna Colorada lies at about 4,300 metres on the Bolivian Altiplano, inside the Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve, and it is one of the strangest sights in South America. The water is a deep rust red, stained by algae and sediments, and it is dotted with white islands of borax and salt, with thousands of flamingos wading in the shallows. Three species, the Andean, the Chilean and James's flamingo, feed here, and the contrast of pink birds, red water and white crust against a backdrop of brown volcanic peaks is almost too much.

   Read the complete Laguna Colorada write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The route ends here after 501 km.