When I visited Bolivia’s largest salt flat (which is also the largest in the world) four years ago by jeep I had no idea that I would someday return to cycle across it. In fact, I didn’t even know that was possible. For the first seventy kilometers we had to share the Salar with tourist jeeps which would speed by, and then flicker out of existence in a weird optical illusion sort of way. It was funny to watch all of the tourists, who looked like tiny cartoon stick figures, taking pictures on the horizon, though we were happy to have our bikes and independence in order to explore at our own speed. We arrived to an island 100km from Uyuni where there were dozens of jeeps, and since this marked the end of the road for them, it was where the fun began for us as we crossed the rest of the Salar completely alone. It took us two full days to cross the Salar, 150km of salt and about 190km of pedaling from one town to the next.
The cycling was easy but it got a bit boring after a while. Our entertainment included zooming towards every not white speck we saw on the ground within eyesight which usually ended up being a piece of trash or a dead bird.
Kevin cycling in the distance.
My four dollar Chilean cowboy hat has been a savior out here! The sun reflected off the salt and burned any exposed skin.
Kevin and I outside of the “salt hotel” which is ten km into the salt flat.
Kevin far off in the distance. The Salar de Uyuni (though not the smaller one I’ll talk about next time) has this hexagon shaped natural marks all over the whole thing.
Kevin on the “road,” marked by worn out patches of salt.
No hands!
We met an awesome Swiss duo (father and son) going the other way. We were surprised they were the only cyclists we met since we know its a popular route.
The hexagons of salt were so defined, we assume it has something to do with how the water evaporates because every rainy season the salt flats turn into a lake.
Just keep pedalin’!
The jeeps didn’t all take the same road – road meaning path where the hexagons of salt are more worn out – so we mostly only saw them zooming by from far away.
The island which charges five dollars (that’s a lot for Bolivia, the equivalent of a room for the night, or three good market meals) just to step on. It’s a tourist trap which works as the jeeps all stop here. Instead, we went another twenty kilometers further to the next, even larger island which is exactly the same except it’s free and without people.
Island number one with a few tourist building (bathrooms, restaurant).
Island number two, which was all ours!
The island was covered with cacti.
We ate lunch on the island on our second day.
Camping was by far the best part about the Salar. It was such a unique and isolated place to camp, where it’s just you, your tent, and a whole lot of stars! And salt. Of course, we can’t forget the salt.
Some of the best camping ever!
Us, our bikes, and our home!
Beautiful sunset in solitude.
Typically when we stop cycling for the day I start cooking as Kevin sets up the tent.
After two days across the first Salar we ended up at a wonderful village which represented everything we love about Bolivia. It was a small clean village which had seen tourists before (other cyclists) and therefore wasn’t shocked by us, yet it wasn’t reliant upon tourism for its economy so the people were still friendly and honest, unlike in the tourist hot spots. We were able to get a local meal – soup, followed by a plate of chicken and noodles plus tea – at a “restaurant” (a lady with a small room with a few tables and chairs) where a toothless grinning man enthusiastically welcomed us to the village and told us about how tons of tourists go to this one island in the Salar (the one I mentioned above which charges) which he thought was so funny and interesting.
We spent the night in the village before heading off across 40km of sandy hell before reaching the next Salar. Check back in a few days for a post about it!
Finally a cycling photo of both of us!
Dance party on the Salar!
Pikes on Bikes technical details for this route: This route took place along the yellow line, through the first of two salars. We used our Garmin trekking GPS along with the Pikes GPS coordinates in order to find our way across.
For a photo of the day and other updates follow me on facebook here, and for some awkwardly cropped photos from our journey, follow us on Instagram @awanderingphoto!
The Wandering Nomads 
Awesome!
Reblogged this on darpanthinks.
Interesting journey! Visit Leh in India if you can. It’s another fascinating journey!
Yes, I’ve cycled that area twice.
Great that’s another amazing journey. Cycling to Leh is something …. I salute you. Wow ! 👍
Which country do you belong to?
New bucket list item! It looks incredible.
Reblogged this on Mister Q.
This is stunning! Wow! I hope to head there one day; and maybe do a bike adventure too.
http://www.shewalkstheworld.com
Reblogged this on welcometoclcity.
Reblogged this on gkpirawamangun0665.
Reblogged this on morristreasuremall and commented:
crazyy!!
Wow! This must be really exciting.
Good luck for all your trails!
Great photos and it seems like such an amazing experience!
nice description have fun. r u going to bike the Pantanal?
this so cool.
Reblogged this on A place to reblog the efforts of people, their piece of knowledge, research and much more things..
Gorgeous pics! I went to Uyuni last year and was blown away. One of the most awe-inspiring landscapes I have ever seen. And the cactus island was insane!
Reblogged this on My Blog.
This made me smile a lot. The photos are beautiful too – occasionally I would be thinking ‘Why won’t it load?! Why is there a big grey section at the bottom?!’ and then I realised it was the salt – just stunning. Good work and keep loving life! x
That’s hilarious! The salt was definitely weird, if I hadn’t taken the pictures I wouldn’t know what it was.
How did you have your pictures taken where both of you are in the pics?
We put the camera on the ground with a timer.
will go one day..Been on my list for a while…Love the bike idea..Great blog..
Wow what a trip
Great photos. Thanks for taking the time to tell
Reblogged this on jmark1234 and commented:
Never heard of the place. Some thing to do
Reblogged this on Royal Graffiti.
What a fantastic experience. I’ve never heard of anyone cycling the salt flats before. I did it the more orthodox way http://beatstheoffice.com/2015/06/12/graduating-from-uyuni/. Amazing photos too
Wow, having driven across the Bonneville salt flats the idea of crossing even larger ones on a bicycle really boggles the mind.
What an amazing and inspirational journey.
Amazing story and beautiful photos!
What a wonderful adventure. Such fabulous pics! I admire you both. I lived in La Paz for many years and am about to return — telling myself that THIS time I’m going to really get to know the complexity and variety of Bolivia. Thanks for great inspiration!!
Very good
Omg your photos are amazing. I love them all.
super awesome. this is now part of my bucketlist
and that is on Planet Earth? Fantastic!
Pingback: Cycling Through Bolivia: A Photographic Journey | The Wandering Nomads
Great post. Always fun to see people finding ways to explore standard tourist attractions in a more unique way!
These are some FANTASTIC pix! My one question is what did you eat? I see the little pot, but that seems too small for the two of you and the calories to make the whole journey.
Regards,
Clifford T Mitchem
Advocare Distributor
Nutrition + Fitness = Health
http://www.AdvoCare.com/13087657
The pot is bigger than it looks, we can easily make 500g of noodles, plus we have another pot where we make a sauce. It really depends on the country what we eat, but oatmeal, pasta, bananas, and then whatever is in season!
Very inspiring and great photographs!!
I love this post and the pictures! Thanks for sharing this adventure! I lived in Saudi Arabia for 16 years and it was quite an adventure too! lynzrealcooking
Wow, it looks amazing. I didn’t know you could cycle it, it certainly gives visiting there a different perspective to the tourist jeeps. It’s long been a place I want to visit, maybe I will follow in your wheel treads when I do reach the salar de uyuni!
So amazing and inspiring! Love your photos.
Reblogged this on bunkbedhead and commented:
Inspirational, and a must-do some day.
You are so lucky to make this experience!
amazing photos
Reblogged this on balabhaska and commented:
Make the way by recycling !
Beautiful places. I want to see too.
Much beautiful places. I want to see too.