A-C-B: San Cristobal, Colchani, and the Salt Hotel

The next stop after our morning adventures and lunch was the town of San Cristobal. This village was moved 8 kilometers as the crow flies, or 20 km. by road, at the turn of the century,

to make room for the expansion of a mine producing silver, zinc, and lead. The church was carefully dismantled, with each stone numbered, and reconstructed in the new location.

The front of the church compound.

The bell towers flanking the gate are impressive.

 Unfortunately the gates were locked, but I shot this photo of the church itself through the gate.

From San Cristobal Samuel, our Bolivian guide, drove us towards the town of Uyuní, first visiting the "railway graveyard". When plans for a transportation hub in the salt flats were abandoned the early 20th century trains were simply left behind.

Panorama shot into the sun.

  
There are over 100 railcars here.

Panorama shot with sun to my back.

They are freely graffiti-covered.

Yet another string of trains!

A closeup of a boiler car.

After this rusty photo-shoot we stopped in Uyuní. Samuel dropped us off for a meander, and this statue in median of the main street caught our attention.

Joan and I decided to exchange a few dollars for bolivianos and stopped in a change shop. I handed them two $20 bills. (It would have been a slightly better rate if I was exchanging $100 bills, but we didn't need that much Bolivian currency.) Here we encountered a quirk that we had read about but never encountered. The clerk carefully inspected each bill, and on finding a tiny tear, perhaps 4 millimeters, on one edge, rejected that bill. No blemishes allowed. We fished out another, which passed inspection, collected our bolivianos, and walked over to the market. (Click on the image to enlarge.) It was varied and colorful, with All Saints' Day coming soon (Nov. 1), but we didn't buy anything.

When driving out of Uyuní we noticed political murals painted on several walls. Featuring Ché Guevara, Simon Bolivar, and other revolutionary figures, they also included visions of the sea. Bolivia has never forgiven Chile for annexing its corridor to the ocean after the War of the Pacific in the late 19th Century, turning Bolivia into a landlocked country. Joan, who understands some Spanish, reports that much of the music our guide played in the 4wd was, shall we say, intensely patriotic.

Outside the village of Colchani we visited an artisanal salt processor. The equipment used to dry, crush, and otherwise prepare the salt before bagging emphasized the modest scale of the operation. Note: by Bolivian law, all salt must be iodized, including that produced by these small shops.

The salt ends up with a flour-like consistency.

We bought one bag of unflavored salt -- there were several choices -- for 2 bolivianos, or about $0.30. Joan later pointed out that we would be taking a bag of white powder from Bolivia through customs, but there were no problems.

After a long day we arrived at our hotel for the night, the Luna Salada, "Salty Moon," a salt hotel. This elegant hotel sits atop a small hill about 6 kilometers (a scant 4 miles) outside Colchani, and is constructed largely of salt, including the exterior and interior walls, hallway floors, and portions of the room. It's a vivid sight, which I'll document in the next blog post, with photos taken in tomorrow morning's light.

This evening I took some sunset pictures. First, an exterior shot.

The sunset that was reflected in the windows above.

A more panoramic view.

When I looked back towards Colchani, other lodging businesses were visible.

I'll close with a photo of this wire sculpture, up high on a pole.

A condor, of course.

Tomorrow, adventures on the Salar de Uyuní, the world's largest salt flat, followed by a drive ending at 4600 meters / 15,000 feet above sea level.