Salar de Uyuni
The Uyuni Salt marsh is located in the south of 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, sea and desert. Only it's all made up of salt. There are billions of tons of salt around here, extending up to 8 meters deep into the lake.
Thousands of years ago, the Uyuni salt marsh was part of Lake Minchin, but over time it dried up and became a salt storage facility. From a distance, the lake looks like the great white ocean.
During the rainy season, the lake is covered with water and transformed into a mirror surface. Then landscapes of incredible beauty open up - clouds are visible both from above and underfoot, and the heavenly infinity is reflected. Once here, you can feel like an alien from another planet. At this time, the salt marsh is called the mirror of the world.
During the dry period, when the water evaporates, furrows similar to honeycombs form on the surface of the salt marsh.
The Uyuni salt marsh is of great economic importance to Bolivia due to its large salt reserves. Salt is extracted in the traditional way – it is scraped off and piled up in the form of mounds. The main minerals in the salt marsh are gypsum and halite. Gypsum is a part of drywall, it is used in wall decoration. There are significant lithium deposits on the territory of the lake. Lithium is used in the production of rechargeable batteries, and it is extracted by pumping from the salt crust.
Today, the Uyuni salt marsh is a popular tourist destination that attracts tourists with its unusual recreation area and beautiful landscapes – 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 wildlife, but this is compensated in autumn, when the South American pink flamingos arrive and turn the earth into a "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. The local hotels look like the Snow Queen's castle and make you feel like you're in a fairy tale.
Another attraction of the Uyuni salt marsh that tourists should visit is the train cemetery. It is located three kilometers from the town of Uini. These trains were used by mining companies for transportation. The trains were abandoned when this industry collapsed.
