Global Guides

Lick Your Way Through the Salt Hotel of Bolivia

How would you like to be able to walk into a hotel and lick the walls? Margaritas anyone? Just twist the glass on the wall. Is your food bland? Rub it against the wall.

Sound absurd? Well, it doesn’t really after you hear about the new salt hotel being built in Bolivia. That’s right…a salt hotel.

The Salar De Uyuni in southwestern Bolivia is a salt desert with the most phenomenal story. About 40,000 years ago, there was a giant saltwater lake. But, its size is over 4,000 square miles so it’s more an inland sea than anything. Over years of evaporation, the water just disappeared into thin air leaving behind a blinding white sea of salt.

It’s a great tourist attraction, just seeing the salt desert. People spend about $80 on a four day tour that includes food and lodging. But, a salt hotel is going to bring even more tourists.

Salt miners extract about 25,000 tons of salt annually from the 10 billion tons of salt available in the Salar De Uyuni. So, what are a few blocks of salt to build a hotel going to do?

It has to be one of the most interesting ideas I’ve ever heard. So, my travels next year are going to have to include a salt hotel along the way to Argentina. My travel agent is going to look at me crazy. But, that’s just something she’s going to have to deal with.

But before I leave, there are a few tips that I’m going to try to remember. You should too:

Wear sunglasses when you visit the salt desert. The intense sea of blinding white will make your eyes sore and cause you to get very drowsy. You’ll get more out of your trip by wearing a nice pair of UV protective sunglasses.

Take cash in low denominations so you don’t have to keep getting change. Make sure your money is clean and crisp. Bolivian merchants will turn you down flat.

If your travel agent doesn’t know, buy your train tickets ahead of time from Oruro to Uyuni. You won’t be able to get a ticket in Oruro because you can’t buy them in advance and the line starts forming at midnight.

Those are just some tips to remember and the one greatest tip before you do any traveling is to make sure you’ve done your research. It’s not pleasant when you get surprised by the most inconvenient details like catching the train from Oruro to Uyuni. Things like that are important to know.

Photo Courtesy of National Geographic

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 6th, 2007 at 5:22 pm and is filed under Argentina, sea of salt, salt desert, travel agent, sunglasses, National Geographic, Oruro, Salar De Uyuni, Bolivia, fine dining, hotel, book, plan, travel costs, salt, travel arrangements, travel.
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