The Vagabond Couple: Chile

Two open Tintin comic books, The Seven Crystal Balls and Prisoners of the Sun, resting on the bright white salt crust with distant dark mountains under a deep blue sky, Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia: Waiting out a salt-flat recovery with Hergé's Andean two-parter, The Seven Crystal Balls and Prisoners of the Sun, open on the world's largest salt flat

Alright, buckle up, buttercups. After we finished part one of our Bolivian bonanza - which involved not falling out of a reed boat on Lake Titicaca and staring at ancient rocks in Tiwanaku (seriously, go read Part 1, it's good for you) - we pointed our travel-hungry noses toward Uyuni. The mission? To drive across the world's largest salt flat, the Salar de Uyuni, like a bunch of modern-day explorers, but with significantly less dysentery and much better Instagram opportunities. This included sleeping in hotels made of salt (licking the walls is optional, but tempting) and a multi-day, off-road 4x4 saga across the Andes altiplano and the Atacama Desert, all the way into Chile. It was less "Thelma & Louise" and more "Family Truckster on a geologic bender."

Bolivia Part 2 — Post Summary

This second half of our Bolivian journey crosses the Salar de Uyuni, the world's largest salt flat, then climbs south across the Andes Altiplano through coloured lagoons, steaming geysers and the Salvador Dalí Desert, before crossing the Hito Cajón pass into Chile and the Atacama town of San Pedro de Atacama. Five days, two countries, and roughly 700 kilometres of salt, sand and altitude.

What's Covered
🧭	December 28 — Arrival at Uyuni — Flight from La Paz, first drive onto the Salar de Uyuni, sunset on the mirror flats
🚂	December 29 — Uyuni to the salt crust — Train Cemetery, Ojos de Agua springs, Dakar monument, Isla Incahuasi cacti, and getting three 4x4s stuck on the salt
🌋	December 30 — Across the Altiplano — Julaca, Estancia Chakha, Volcán Ollagüe, the coloured lagoons, Siloli Desert, and Laguna Colorada in the Eduardo Avaroa reserve
♨️	December 31 — Geysers, Dalí Desert, into Chile — Sol de Mañana geothermal field, Termas de Polques hot springs, the Salvador Dalí Desert, Licancabur, and the Hito Cajón border into Chile
🔭	January 1 — San Pedro de Atacama — Atacama stargazing tour, the old plaza and church, and the Ruta del Desierto drive to Calama

Peru → Bolivia → Chile

One route. Three blogs. Zero shortcuts.

Destinations

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