My mother sent me this today and it was so amazing, I simply had to share.
The Largest Salt Flat in the World
The Salar de Uyuni is the world’s largest salt flat at 10,582 square kilometers (4,086 sq mi) and it’s a major tourist destination in the South American country of Bolivia. The Salar is virtually devoid of any wildlife or vegetation but it is home to an estimated 10 billion tons (9.8 billion LT) of salt.
But what is no less incredible, is where people who visit this amazing place stay, and how does one build something in the middle of the vast emptiness? The answer is quite remarkable.
Anyone arriving to visit this exotic part of the world is in for a real treat and a stay in one of the world’s most unique hotel experiences. Due to a lack of conventional construction materials in this area, many of the hotels here are built entirely with salt blocks cut from the Salar itself. The most famous one is called Palacio de Sal, Spanish for “Palace of salt”.
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The hotel is made of about 1 million 35-cm (14-inch) salt blocks, which were used for the floor, walls, ceiling and furniture, including the beds, tables, chairs and sculptures. The hotel even has a dry sauna and a steam room, a saltwater pool and whirlpool baths for guests to relax in and fully enjoy this unreal place.
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Imagine what it feels like, sleeping on salt beds, sitting on salt chairs and even eating at salt tables. And while no one can deny how beautiful everything in this hotel is, that beauty is nothing compared to the view…
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The salt flats are so white and clear they often show a perfect reflection of the sky and the objects above them. In fact, because the Salar is so flat and has such a strong reflection, similar to that of ice sheets, it is used for calibrating the distance measurement equipment of satellites in space!
The white, endless flats also offer visitors a unique opportunity to take some truly mind bending pictures. With no other objects in sights, the human eye loses its ability to establish a proper field of depth. The results are some of the most creative and bizarre pictures you will ever see…
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The salar is truly a place like no other, a magical kingdom of salt and beauty where one can drive on the endless flats and see the sky both above and below him. It is just one of many places on earth that prove that beauty has no rules and that nature always has one more trick up her sleeve.
Sigh, yet another item to add to my bucket list. At this rate, I won’t be able to live long enough to get through half of items currently on that Medusa’s Head of a list.
Definitely an appreciating Mother Nature Friday!
Cheers,
Jianne
