When I first became interested in long distance adventure motorcycling some 9 years ago I developed a fascination for the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, A top ten bucket list was to put my wheels on the Salar; today it became a reality.
The 130 mile ride from Potosi to Uyuni was through perhaps the most varied of geologic landscapes and colors I have experienced so far, then the awesome sight of the Salar came into view. There was never a doubt I would ride down and be physically on it.
The largest salt flat in the world provides an opportunity to goof around with your camera, which is exactly what I did.
As the video showed the salt flat is still wet, a recipe for problems if spray gets onto the bike, especially into the electrical wiring. It doesn't take long for corrosion to occur, so I just stayed at the entrance where all the tour operator vehicles had packed the surface.
I also took a ride down to the train cemetery in town, the graveyard for the locomotives and rolling stock that used to transport the minerals off the flats.
Martin, from the Czech Republic, is traveling north from Tierra del Fuego. We swapped a few notes on his journey north and he gave me some good information on the road I am riding out to Chile come Wednesday. It is always nice to catch up with a kindred spirit.
On a note of curiosity, in Bolivia foreigners are charged 3x the subsidized price of gasoline that the locals enjoy. Passports have to be provided, data entered into a computer that gets authority back from La Paz. Well today when I went to get fuel the system was down. After waiting for a while the station owner said it was not going to get fixed anytime soon. I politely asked if he could fill the tank at the 'extranerjo' price and fill in the computer form with the details at a later date. He looked at me, rubbed his chin and told the attendant to fill me up, then charged me the local price....nice guy! As a foreigner obtaining gasoline 'sin factura' is rare.
Cheers. T2
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