Salar De Uyuni - routes, hotels, gps, bike death..
 

Helloo,

We´re about to launch off into the Salar from Uyni in the next couple of days and are wondering what is the best plan.

Some people seem to follow tours, which seems ok, but not ideal... I heard conflicting reports about the salt hotels being open? We have a gps and a 400 KM range so are there any places to stay on the lake? if so where, anyone got any GPS co-ords for them!?

Also as far as the salt, whats the score, how much is it bad for yr bike? if its not too wet then i guess its ok? is there any prep that can be done to minimise damages?

cheers,

dave

* Don't try and follow a tour - you won't be able to keep up with a 4x4 in the sand/mud, even if it's carrying your gear, and the drivers are not trustworthy
* There's a village where you can refuel & sleep in a bed a wee bit after the crossing the Salar
* If it's dry, the salt is no problem. If wet, it can cause awful electrical problems. WD-40 everything & maybe make up extra guards for the spray (it gets *everywhere*). The salar should be dry now.
* Don't stay at the salt hotel - rather grotty, and they had a flamingo tied up in front last time I was there
* Try and camp - especially the islands in the Salar
* Take some dynamite (get it from Potosi) and have fun in the middle of nowhere ;)

Have fun - it's amazing!
JC

I´ve seen some amazing photos from this place. Please post some GPS coordinates when you've been there e.g. Isla de pescado.

Safe traveling, Jakob

Cover everything with WD40/oil. And carry some with you to recover anything that gets removed. Once off the salt - wash the bike with cold (not warm, not hot ) water. Then I'd recoat with WD40. After two more washes I'd then stop recoating with WD40.

It all depends on how long you want to keep the bike reliable. A wax coating would be best for the paint work - car polish. But I'd still cover that with WD40.

Incahuasi is at S20.24092 W67.62743
Salt Hotel is at S20.33057 W67.04672
Camping.....just turn off the engine, wait the the bike stops & pitch your tent...its all the same.

Wash the salt off the bike the first chance you get. Theres a place in Uyuni where the tour busses get washed & they do a bloody good job for not much money.

Only thing I can add is that you need to ask around back in Ulyni which is the better car wash. I was told a number of them recycle the salty water (!) - whereas the better ones use fresh.

I went across the Salar when it was extremely wet - and despite copious amounts of WD40 it gave me lots of problems later on (salt in the fuel tank for heavens sake) so it's worth going beyond what you feel is appropriate.

BUT - it was a real highlight of the trip and I'd repeat it in a heartbeat.

Enjoy!

not so safe
 

Hi
Just a quick word of warning regarding camping on the salar del uyuni, i crossed it last year and was warnned against camping on the salar its self because of 4x4 drivers racing about at night with no lights on, and usually drunk, this came from a local who had seen the results after a couple of montain bikers had just piched there tent and been run over, not nice he said. Its beter to camp on one of the islands. This is a great place to ride. Skip

GPS coordinates
 

Hi,

Kate and I will hit Uyuni in 2 weeks time. I would be very gratefull for GPS coordinates for a east to west crossing. Ie: the islands and the vilage with the fuel on the other side.
We will be travelling to Sant Pedro de Attacama from the Salar, so any route recommendations are also appreciated.

Jens and Kate

GPS co-ords
 

Hi happy hacker, thanks for the co-ords of the inkahausi, but there looks like a typo or somthing, when i try and tap in

"S20.24092 W67.62743"

the thing wont let me have W67.<b>6</b>2743 the 6 is not allowed, only a 5.

We{re off tommorow anyway so i'll mark the points and stick it up here...

Thanks also for other info guys, most useful, except D40 not available in Uyuni... atwoke - buy some before you get here! they sell it in la paz for sure...

To Davegonefishing,
Is your GPS set to take degrees and decimal fractions or is it set to take degrees and minutes, seconds? That could be why it won't take the "6".

ah
 

ahh that makes sense, thanks mate, i'll check it out as i think its set to degrees, mins secs..... also found this if its of use to others:

http://www.addsp.com/AK/Viajes/Uyuni2002/GPS.htm

Uyuni:
S20 27.767
W66 49.607
3684m

Hotel de Sal:
S20 19.782
W67 2.841
3641m

Isla del Pescado:
S20 14.463
W67 37.651
3650m

Atulcha:
S20 34.155
W67 38.487
3696m

Colcha K:
S20 44.372
W67 39.701
3726m

Arbol de Piedra:
S22 03.113
W67 52,990
4572m

Laguna Colorada:
S22 10.499
W67 49.172
4380m

Hito Cajones:
S22 52.862
W67 47.902
4485m

San Pedro de Atacama:
S22 54.797
W68 11.972
2452m

Cheers Dave and Happy Hacker

Much appreciated coordinates.

Any Ideas where the best place for fuel is on the western side of the Salar?

In Cusco now and preparing for the Inca Trail...

Jnens and Kate

wow!
 

Just back from 2 days in the Salar - wow what a place, defo the best riding on the trip to date and well worth it.

We went first to the Isla Pêscadores - there is a cafe here called mongos you can get yr lunch at. Then over to Coquesa which is a small town at the foot of Volcán Tunupa. There is a little Hospidaje here, simple and clean, bring your own food though.. then back to Uyuni the next day. Well reccomend it if you want to do a 2 day trip.

Co-ords from my gps in the style Degs MM.MMM
Edge of salar at colchani - S 20 18.874, W66 58.861
Colchani - S20 18.034 W66 56.071
Hospidaje in Coquesa - S19 54.078, W67 37.500

The exit of the salar at Coquesa is a bit soggy so lots of salty water will spray up, so we exited at Tahua and then hang a right to Coquesa.

There is a great lavado to wash the bike in Uyuni near the pertol station on the way out to Potosi. Full on pressure washer...

Have fun!

dave

little known secret
 

you don't need to camp, there's a sweet and FREE cabin for use on isla del pescado; just show up and ask. Apparently no one knows about this and we scored it just for us; it was actually the nicest place we stayed in Bolivia and we didn't pay a penny. It's nice and warm inside with a huge window overlooking the salar... a hell of a lot better than freezing your ass off in the cold salar wind at night. There's also a lady on the island who will cook simple meals for you upon request.

Also, I had a great experience following a landcruiser tour. My buddy and I paid a driver $5 usd each to take our boxes and gear all the way to the Chilean border which made the ride 1000% more enjoyable, as it's probably the roughest road you'll ride in south america and can easily break all of your pannier support welds. We had no problem keeping up with the landcruiser... without gear you can haul ass.

To keep up with a 4x4 in the wet-season conditions my mate & I went through would be impressive - two French guys that we ran into on the island tried to do the same and had a horrible time (one broke his ribs in a tumble caused by riding so hard). It would definitely be easier to ride unloaded, but we liked the security of having our gear with us and being able to stop & camp wherever we liked (or broke down ;)), rather than sticking to the schedule of some tour.

YMMV,
James