Bolivian Salt Flats

[peteFoulkes]

Hi guys,

A mate and I are currently on a round the world ride on a couple of DRZ400s. We've teamed up with two other riders from Holland and are keen to hit up the Bolivian salt flats in the next few days. We've been told they are still dry and we should be able to ride them without any issues but we don't have any GPS way points or tracks.

Has any one ridden these flats before and have any tips for us? We will be riding from the Bolivian side, probably Uyini and ultimately want to end up in Chile's San Pedro de Atacama. Any hints or tips would be massively appreciated. We've got camping equipment and can usually cover between 400 and 500km on a tank depending upon surface.

Cheers in advance.

Pete.

[stickman1432]

Check out this thread I think that there is stuff on the salt flats..................it was a good read...............

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=836200

[peteFoulkes]

Originally Posted by stickman1432

Check out this thread I think that there is stuff on the salt flats..................it was a good read...............

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=836200

Looks like my bed time reading is sorted then! :-)
Thanks for the link. Looking forward to having a read.

[peteFoulkes]

Originally Posted by stickman1432

Check out this thread I think that there is stuff on the salt flats..................it was a good read...............

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=836200

Thanks for pointing me in the direction of your report. It makes for an excellent read. I think we will plan to ride the same road as you from Oruro to Uyini but in the oppoiste direction. I also then hope to ride on the flats themselves and hopefully get to see the Cactus Island you mentioned.

How did you guide manage to navigate you across the flats to the island? Did he use GPS or was he just familiar with the route? We have also been advised to try and get to Laguna Verde. Have you heard anything about that at all and if so, any idea how we will find the thing if we don't have GPS co-ordinates?

Thanks again for your input. I really enjoyed your ride report.

[stickman1432]

Hey Brother the report is not mine...........I just read it and passed the information on to you. Send a message to xs400 who is the author.............

[crashmaster]

Hi Pete. You can pick up a great map of the area at any InfoTur office. I went to the one in Sucre. Route finding can be problematic in spots, but if you follow the Land Cruiser tour tracks, you should be in good shape.

The rough route is as follows:

Uyuni - Isla Incahuasi - Isla Pescado (camp for the night.)
Isla Pescado - Isla Incahuasi - follow tracks to the south exit off the Salar
South exit - San Juan
San Juan - Chinguana
Chinguana - 3 little lakes Go south from Chinguana not west!
3 little lakes - Laguna Colorado
Laguna Colorado - Hot springs
Hot Springs - Laguna Verde
Laguna Verde - San Pedro de Atacama


Check out this post for more info. http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=833958

This is epic South America riding and should not be missed.

Here is my RR post on the region: http://advrider.com/forums/showpost....65&postcount=2

Cheers, Vin

[peteFoulkes]

Originally Posted by stickman1432

Hey Brother the report is not mine...........I just read it and passed the information on to you. Send a message to xs400 who is the author.............

Ah my mistake! Im on the case!

Big thanks again.

[peteFoulkes]

Originally Posted by crashmaster

Hi Pete. You can pick up a great map of the area at any InfoTur office. I went to the one in Sucre. Route finding can be problematic in spots, but if you follow the Land Cruiser tour tracks, you should be in good shape.

The rough route is as follows:

Uyuni - Isla Incahuasi - Isla Pescado (camp for the night.)
Isla Pescado - Isla Incahuasi - follow tracks to the south exit off the Salar
South exit - San Juan
San Juan - Chinguana
Chinguana - 3 little lakes Go south from Chinguana not west!
3 little lakes - Laguna Colorado
Laguna Colorado - Hot springs
Hot Springs - Laguna Verde
Laguna Verde - San Pedro de Atacama


Check out this post for more info. http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=833958

This is epic South America riding and should not be missed.

Here is my RR post on the region: http://advrider.com/forums/showpost....65&postcount=2

Cheers, Vin

Awesome! This is exactly what i needed! We're headed for Uyini tomorrow. I'll let you know how we get on!

Pete

[Redhed]

Originally Posted by peteFoulkes

Awesome! This is exactly what i needed! We're headed for Uyini tomorrow. I'll let you know how we get on!

Pete

Well, are you two Brits dried and salted like chips and gravy?? What's up and tell us how you didn't get lost....a week on the flats should have baked you...

[peteFoulkes]

Originally Posted by Redhed

Well, are you two Brits dried and salted like chips and gravy?? What's up and tell us how you didn't get lost....a week on the flats should have baked you...

Hahahaa. No, we made it out alive. We had an awesome time although by the time we got there the flats were really quite flooded in areas. We decided to only jump on for one day, have a ride around and then get back to wash the salt off before we screwed the bikes up. I'm in the process of updating our ride report now so will have all the details in that but in the mean time, here is an example of how it was....




A big thanks to everyone for all their advice as always. I'll get the link up to the ride report real soon.

Pete.