Our dream has been to stay in some of the most unique accommodations in the world and one of those we hope for is a house made of salt bricks at Posada Dona Lupe.

Bus Comfort

©Exploramum and Explorason – early morning arriving in the Uyuni area

This bus is freezing cold as the side window has slowly worked open. My attempts to shove a plastic bag in the gap is somewhat dismal in stopping the freezing wind. My back aches and I feel a right sciatic pain as I curl up in a ball trying to find a comfortable spot.

My socked feet are completely numb, yet in pain. I am twisted into two seats with my son on my lap, swathed in two blankets as thick as horse-rugs. They are so warm, yet I so wish for another, as I can still feel the cold seeping in through ever side crevice that is not entirely tucked around our bodies.

Barren Winding Roads

©Exploramum and Explorason – cactus and barren land

So I myself sit twisted, as we twistily drive through this snaked road, and watch as the sun rises. Our maniac driver seems to be on a lone pursuit of charging forth like a knight in the night.

Wildlife

: ©Exploramum and Explorason –

: road signs

We pass a number of mining towns, deserted mines, deserted houses, poor houses, farms, and desert sands.

Uyuni

Slowly we see blue or pink salt pools by the side of the road. Then dusty Uyuni is lying out before us. We are over one and a half hours late despite his best efforts as a maniac driver to get us here at breakneck speed.

Salt Flat Tours – Salar de Uyuni Posada Dona Lupe

As we disembark, we are ambushed by many Bolivians armed with pamphlets who try to convince us to book a Salt Flat tours with them.

I say a quick prayer for God to guide my choice as I am over being ripped off by tour companies. Yet we want to leave today as there is nothing to do in this town.

Breakfast And Waiting Time

©Exploramum and Explorason – warming by the fire

A lady keeps approaching me, and although she only speaks Spanish, I am drawn to her. She grabs my suitcase and we head off to her office which is blocks away. She informs me that a man who speaks English will be there soon. It is in a restaurant so we order Desayuno – or breakfast. So we wait around the warm fire pit inside.

After a good half an hour, this man finally arrives. He speaks a little English and I specify I want to stay in a house made of salt bricks like the one at Posada Dona Lupe. We also decide on a two-day tour, so he throws in today’s breakfast for free.

Pack The Right Gear

I have less than an hour to repack my bags, gather sleeping bags and then I discover we need OLD shoes and clothes – oops – we just gave them all away in Arequipa to the poor in a random act of kindness – oh well!

It is important to know the salt will get on your clothes and stain the dark with white splashes, it can eat into your shoes, and it can also be quite cold out there.

Uyuni Tours – 20 years and first company on the salt flats

©Exploramum and Explorason – ready to go on our tour

The 4WD arrives. ‘Uyuni Tours – 20 years and first company on the salt flats’ sports their door sticker.

We introduce ourselves to the other 4 clients. There is a lady who has flown from Japan just to see the Salt Flats. She thinks my son is gorgeous!

We talk and I discover she has paid about one-third of my price. However, I am also told we are getting special treatment, plus we are staying at a house made of salt bricks at Posada Dona Lupe.

Front Seat

Ninos (my son) gets the front seat at all times and the man explains to all we have paid for this as extra. This actually makes me feel very validated and that for once, we are getting the tour we have paid for, which is a really nice feeling!

Train Cemetery

: ©Exploramum and Explorason –

: train graveyard

We head off and visit the Great Train Graveyard or Cemetery. This is close to town and we climb about old rusty beasts.

The railway line fades to oblivion in the distance and we have a lot of fun here. It is kind of a unique worldschooling situation. There are so many locomotives here, it is like every train in South America chugged to its halt here.

©Exploramum and Explorason – heaps of fun on the trains

I would love to visit here at sunset if I had time all over again, as I think the colors would be spectacular.

We are told we have ten minutes – this turns into about ½ hour.

Laying Down Our Rights

©Exploramum and Explorason – Get that boy off the track!

We climb back into the 4WD and I relinquish our rights to the front seat. Being kind, I offer it the Japanese man the front seat. However, the driver instructs this man that he cannot sit there again because we have paid for it, and it is our right, and then I feel bad.

I wonder why society makes folks feel bad when a person might actually sacrifice their hard-earned money for something because they want it, and feeling sorry for someone should take that right away. It gives food for thought.

Driving To The Salt Flat Area

After a dusty ½ hour we head onto the salt flats. We visit a small town and shop in the markets. We add to our international Christmas Tree ornaments with a few purchases here. We’re collecting key-rings and turning them into decorations for our International Christmas Tree for when we get our new home.

Inexpensive Wares

I am amazed at how inexpensive things are here in Bolivia and have to hold myself back from buying more.
But fortunately, we are out of time. However, I do buy salt dice; a salt pot; and a salt trinket box – all of which my son has licked to confirm they are salt.

Salt Piles

: ©Exploramum and Explorason –

: fun on the salt flats

Cramming back into the old 4WD, we head off to the salt piles. We are told that this was once a lake. This is where you need old clothes, a good eye, and a sense of humor as you can have a LOT of fun!

The Workers

Now we are presented with men with shovels making piles of salt to dry it.

©Exploramum and Explorason – strike a pose

Old trucks drive away piled high with the dry salt. Bicycles lay near where the men sit and rest and this is how they work and live. In this weird beauty, there is sadness and poverty and ill-health.

You can only see their eyes – they are completely wrapped up. The white salt acts as a mirror to the sun and burns the skin.

Small pyramids and cones of salt sit in divided squares. Many are surrounded by water. We jump around and take some funny snaps.

Eating Salt

: ©Exploramum and Explorason –

: Explorason has fun jumig on the piles of salt

My son eats the salt. Licking his hands he is amazed that what looks like snow, is salt. It is as cold as the snow outside. Only a few degrees Celsius.

Next thing, I see my son land in the water. He has attempted to jump a salt pile and fallen off. Shoes off, he is hopping around complaining about the freezing temperatures burning his skin. Boys!

We have a great time – The Japanese lady on our tour has our camera and takes some great photos.

Salt Museum And Hotel

Climbing over bags, I notice how dust has now become the underlay for salt. Things are filthy. Next, as we drive over the white salt plains, we are informed that we have a strict ten minutes for photographs at the Salt Museum Hotel.

Infinity Photos

: ©Exploramum and Explorason –

: illusion photos

No way !!! I have so wanted to see this. And my son has lined up a heap of poses he wants to try for infinity photographs.

And I need a toilet (loo) so wee race around. We meet some Australians who help us with our photos which we just love as we have missed our accents. We laugh as my son decides he wants to ‘kiss Mamma’s butt’. Then there is the island of flags so we quickly pop over there for a photo to, but it is all so rushed.

Oh – where is that loo? We go into the museum and we find we have to purchase an item at a massively inflated price to enter. We decide the price of the Banos at $1 AU is our entry ticket but in these times it is worth it, as they are also so poor.

Tasting and Licking Salt

: ©Exploramum and Explorason –

: Salt Museum and Hotel

As we go in, again I find my son enthralled by the taste of salt. He is licking things and I inform him that it is meant to be pretended licks.

Hotel

©Exploramum and Explorason – the original salt hotel and museum

Our guide comes and ushers us back to our vehicle. Our ten minutes turned into forty minutes.

4WD

©Exploramum and Explorason – our 4WD has had a tough life

Piling in, we barely close the doors, and the driver ‘puts his foot down’. We laugh as we notice the speedo isn’t working. The fuel gauge says empty. The crack in the windscreen is held together with a Boliviano coin!

A Good Mum has Snacks

We feel like the horizon has not changed even after an hour. We have been heading for the volcano but it doesn’t seem to be drawing near.

After what seems like an eternity we discover that it is almost 3:00 pm and we have had no lunch. The conversation has died in the 4WD and everyone is bored and hungry. I am thankful for my snack pack – a good Mum always has snacks!

We arrive at a rundown Hostel. We meet the Australians and their team again and we all sit down for lunch. I note the other 4WD has a tablecloth and superior food.

We discover that this is where we are meant to stay but it is not a house made of salt bricks at Posada Dona Lupe. It is a dump, and dirty. In fact, the old lady sits in a dumpy room and charges us to use the toilet and we are paying for lunch and meant to be staying here. It is one of the worst places I have seen. So I head off to find our guide who informs me we can go and look at two other accommodation places, one including the Posada Dona Lupe.

I then see the terrible room at this Tahua Hostel that all the rest are sharing. It has rusty beds and a mismatch of old linen and it is really horrible.

He says he will take us elsewhere now. “Yes please”, is my instant reply.

Local Herds

: ©Exploramum and Explorason –

: Salt flats and salt lakes go on forever

We go outside and then I see my boy chasing llamas and alpacas all over the place. Next, there is one sniffing my hair. We converse and take some great snaps.

: llamas and alpacas

The tour guide wants us to leave, but I also want to stay at the grand Palacio De Sal, Uyuni – my dream. However, we drive off for another 20 minutes and come to a village called Jirira.

Posada Dona Lupe

: Posada Dona Lupe

At last, we arrive at Posada Dona Lupe and are shown a lovely room. It is so much better than the last place and we are also told we will eat here tonight, and not head back to join the others. We are the only guests and the salt bricks and décor are great. The rest of the property is rustic and we love the overall feel of the property.

All Alone

The town is so lonely. Our driver takes us back out to the salt lake and just leaves us and says he will be back in 30 minutes! Now, this is a WEIRD experience as we stand in the vast expanse of white.

God Is Here

: illusion photos

I feel this is a place of complete quietness – a place to hear God and to feel him.

I feel like we are in exactly the right place in our journey of life.

1 hour later it is starting to become dark; we are freezing, and our driver finally returns but by now I was rather freaked out I must say. A mother and son all alone out in the Salt Flats, and we had started to walk back.

Looking Around The Town

: Looking around Jirira

He drives us 500 meters and drops us back to the Posada Dona Lupe. I am completely confused about what happened in the last hour.

We grab our jackets and wander around the town. It is getting dark and my camera battery is almost giving up on me. Time to explore in the morning as we head back to Posada Dona Lupe.

Dinner

: dinner is comfort food

Washing up in our ensuite at Pousada Dona Lupe, we head upstairs for dinner with only the same clothes to wear as we came in.

Our fabulous meal is home-cooked comfort food – soup and spaghetti. Let me tell you that the soup was fabulous!

Bedtime at Posada Dona Lupe

As we go to bed, the old lady fills our hot water bottle in the lovely (kitchen) Cucina. Feeling full, happy and cozy and like we have stepped back in time, I am so pleased we are here.

We snuggle into bed and watch a movie on the laptop. What a huge day this has been and I am glad the altitude sickness has abated.

Bolivia is amazing.

The Salt Flats are amazing.

This little town of Jirira is amazing.

Posada Dona Lupe is amazing because the people who run it are amazing!

Recommendation

: Jirira and Posada Dona Lupe

This is NOT a sponsored trip. It is our personal experience and we recommend this Posada Dona Lupe – it is gorgeous, and the family is incredible.

We also recommend Uyuni Tours for assisting us whilst my son was ill – especially the driver and Antonia in the office.

Comments And Questions:

Have you ever been to a salt mine or the salt flats?
What did you think?
Are you heading to Bolivia?
Do you have anything you would like to know from us or other readers?
Please ask in the comments section below.