Uyuni: A Budget Student's Wet and Wild Ride

yo, so i just got back from this place in bolivia, and i'm still drying out from the constant drizzle. i just checked the weather and it's... doing that damp, chilly thing? hope you're into that. as a budget student, i couldn't really afford the fancy tours, but i managed to hitchhike and sleep in a few hostels. the salt flats were... well, they were wet. and muddy. and huge. but also kind of magical when the sun broke through for a second.

here's where we were, roughly:

and let me tell you, the views? they're something else.

that's the kind of backdrop we're talking about. and then, the llamas. oh, the llamas. they just stand in the road. you have to wait for them.

and then, when the sun sets, the sky turns this crazy color.

so, the food? it was cheap, mostly soups and rice. someone told me that the best place to eat is this little hole-in-the-wall that only locals know about. i heard that the owner, this lady named maría, she gives extra portions if you're nice and you ask in spanish. also, i heard that the salt flats are even more amazing during the dry season, but hey, i went in the wet season and it was a muddy adventure.

if you run out of things to do, la paz is like, a stone's throw away. or maybe not a stone's throw, but a bus ride. and you should check out Uyuni Salt Flats on TripAdvisor for ideas.

for budget stays, i used Hostelworld to find a place that didn't break the bank. and when you're hungry, Yelp can point you to some cheap eats.

also, a heads up: Lonely Planet says that the water isn't safe to drink, so stick to bottled water. and someone told me that if you try to haggle too much at the market, the vendors might get offended. so be cool.

getting there was an adventure in itself. i took a bus from la paz, which took like, forever. and the bus? it was packed. and the driver? he thought he was in a rally. but the views along the way? mountains, deserts, and then the salt flats appearing on the horizon. it was worth the backache.

once in uyu, i stayed at this hostel called 'the salt shack'. it was cheap, 5 bucks a night, and they had a kitchen. so i could make my own food. i bought vegetables at the local market and made soup. the market was chaotic, with vendors yelling prices and llamas sometimes wandering through.

also, i met this german guy at the hostel. he told me that if you go out of town about 10 kilometers, there's this abandoned train cemetery. it's free to see, and it's pretty eerie. he said that the best time to go is at sunset because the light is perfect.

so i went. and he was right. the trains are rusted and covered in graffiti. and the sunset? it made everything glow orange.

someone told me that the salt flats are a sacred place for the local community, so you have to be respectful. i heard that if you take a piece of salt, it's bad luck. so i didn't.

also, i heard that the local tour operators sometimes overcharge for the 'train cemetery' tour because they say it's private, but it's actually public. so don't pay for that.

anyway, that's my uyu adventure. wet, cold, and full of llamas. but also, kind of amazing. and for a budget student? totally doable. just bring a raincoat and some patience.