The brightest spot on earth

Earier this week I visited the Salar de Uyuni in central Bolivia. This was, hands down, the most amazing visual experience of my trip. At over 3000 square miles, the salar de Uyuni is the worlds biggest salt flat. From space, the Salar is the brightest spot on the earth. It is a dried up, prehistoric lake with a rocky island in the middle covered with cacti. A few minutes into a stroll on this island one realizes that the rock is not rock, but ancient coral.
One usualy visits the salt flats on a 3 or 4 day 4-wheel drive journey from Bolivia or Northern Chile. I started in San Pedro de Atacama in Northern Chile. Atacama itself is known for its moon-like desert landscapes. I piled into an old landcruiser with 4 other travellers- Jean and Vincent from France, Andrew from the States, and Laura from the UK- and Sandro, the quiet, knowledgable driver (his job description also included guide, cook, mechanic and people-herder). We set off on a journey I believe none of us will ever forget.
Day one brought us to bubbling, gurgling steaming geysers at about 4000m elevation. The heat and force sent mud flying in all directions. The sounds of mud burping and belching were accompanied by giggles all around. We got to experience the heat of he earth ourselves as our next stop was a hot spring in unforgetable desert surroundings. The heat of the springs were followed by the cold of a high-altitude night, but we all surived bundled in sleeping bags and layers of wool blankets.
Day 2 began with a sunrise over Lago Colorado, a lake colored red by the microorgnisms within. For this reason, the flamingoes, yes flamingoes, that fed on this lake were the pinkest of pink. Not only did we see a red lake, but a green one as well due to oxidizing minerals (we even saw it change from blue to green over the course of about 15 minutes), and a purely white one due to ice and precipitating salts. All of these were at over 3000m elevation. This night we stayed in the Salt Hotel on the edge of the salt flat. Walls, floors, tables and chairs were made purely of salt. You´d think it would be kitchy, it was, but cool as well.
Then came day 3, the salt flats. Words cannot describe the experience of stepping out onto a flat plain of pure, blinding white as far as the eye could see. This white was met by the bluest sky and the brightest sun. Parts of the flat were covered in a few inches to a foot of water creating a bright white lake that was continuous with the reflected sky. THERE WAS NO HORIZON. It was an oddly dizzying, disorienting, and even vertiginous experience for some.
We crossed the dry and wet flats in our vehicle without roads or landmarks. Without compass, the drivers navigated by experience alone. At least 4 flat tires and a 2 hour ordeal digging a truck out of the mud later, our caravan completed it´s unforgetable adventure.
Pics aren´t up yet, but will be soon.