Salar de Uyuni
Salar de Uyuni is located in southern Bolivia near the city of Uyuni. This is one of the largest salt marshes with an area of 10,582 km2, which is a whole complex, including mountains, the sea and the desert. Only all this consists of salt. There are billions of tons of salt around, extending to 8 meters to the depth of the lake.
Thousands of years ago, Uyuni's salt marshes were part of Lake Minchin, but over time it dried up and became a storehouse of salt. From the distance, the lake looks like a great white ocean.
During rains, the lake is covered with water and converted into a mirror surface. Then landscapes of incredible beauty open - the clouds are visible both above and underfoot, heavenly infinity is reflected. Finding yourself here, you can feel like an alien from another planet. At this time, the salt marshes are called the mirror of the world.
In the dry period, when water evaporates, furrows similar to bee honeycombs form on the surface of the salt marshes.
Solonchak Uyuni is of great importance for Bolivia on the economic side due to large salt reserves. Salt extraction is carried out in the traditional way – it is scraped and piled in the form of embankments. The main minerals on the salt marshes are gypsum and halite. The gypsum is part of drywall, it is used in wall decoration. There are significant lithium deposits on the lake. Lithium is used in the production of batteries, and its extraction occurs when rolled out of the salt crust.
Today, Uyuni Solonchak is a popular tourist destination that attracts tourists with its non-standard vacation spot and beautiful landscapes of – salt deserts with volcanoes, magical fields of geysers, islands of cacti, reaching a height of 10 meters. The local fauna is not very rich in animals, but it is offset in the fall when South American pink flamingos arrive and turn the earth into « pink dream ».
Tourists are waiting for the unusual beauty of hotels built of salt, which are furnished with salt furniture and serve as an ideal place to relax. Local hotels look like the castle of the snow queen and make you feel like in a fairy tale.
Another attraction of the Uyuni salt marsh, which is worth visiting tourists, is the cemetery of trains. It is located three kilometers from the city of Wini. These trains used mining companies to transport. Trains were abandoned when this industry collapsed.
