2026 Mar 8,9: Uyuni

11-hour elapsed bus journey Humahuaca, Argentina to Uyuni, Bolivia; home of the Salar de Uyuni, a giant salt flat; 12,000 feet above sea level.

The day started with a bang: the taxi we had arranged the previous day to take us and our colosssal suitcase to the bus station didn’t show up. Fortunately some nice Colombians with a car had moved into the rear apartment in our building, and they were willing to drive us. Made the bus, had some fun interactions.

The bus trip had 2 parts: Humahuaca to La Quaica, Argentina; and Villazon, Bolivia to Uyuni. You got off the bus in La Quaica, got yourself over the border into Bolivia and to the bus station in Villazon, and got on the bus to Uyuni.

We didn’t know how the border transition was going to work, but we had 3 hours to do it.

Off the bus, there was this guy. 20 clams ($14), he’s walk our bags to the river that marks the border:

No nonsense, had trouble keeping up. Over the bridge to the immigration offices - one per country - we were through in 1/2 hour:

Got a taxi, driver waited for me to convert our remaining Pesos to Bolivianos, & off to the station - on the outskirts, other end of town.

Bus station - barkers hawking trips to La Paz & elsewhere:

On the bus through southern Bolivia:

Arrived strung out at 10pm, checked in to the Hotel Jumari:

We’d planned to spend a day taking care of bidniz, including finding a tour operator for a tour of the salt flats - chatgpt said there were many & you could get a better rate in person than booking ahead. They’re all clustered on a few blocks, we were able to observe tours leaving so got a feel, and picked La Perla - a bit off the beaten track. Spent the rest of the day sight-seeing in town, including a great korean/japanese lunch at Hotaru:

Tour leaves tomorrow AM at 10.