Once a lifetime experience - Due to its high altitude, it took me a while to decide whether I should take my family to visit Uyuni salt flats because I had some reactions in Tibet. Eventually, I decided to book a 3D/2N tour using Andean Ways. To cut down time spent at high altitude and avoid a return trip to La Paz from Uyuni, I selected an itinerary that would enable us to cross border into Chile at the end of the tour. In my hind view, this was the best itinerary. We flew in from La Paz in the morning and immediately spent one full day on the jaw dropping Uyuni salt flats. Took hundreds of wonderful pictures,had a very romantic lunch on the salt flat, and wine tasting at the sunset. Our tour guide Giovana was so good. She crept on wet salt to design and shoot unforgettable photos for us. You must spend a whole day on Uyuni salt flat. We stayed at Palacio de Sal Hotel, which was probably the best in Uyuni. I strongly suggest anyone to book the best hotels within affordability to make the trip more comfortable. In the 2nd day, we traveled to the train ruins, valley of the rocks etc. Emus were spotted along the road. The flamingo lake in Siloli desert at above 4000 meters was very very astonishing. Hundreds of flamingos were seen. Tayka del Desierto was the only hotel available. Don’t expect much. Since there was no other place nearby in the desert, I was so lucky to book a room with private bath at 4600 meters altitude. Heat and electricity were cut off at midnight. It was the most difficult night. Next morning was our last day in Bolivia. On our way to Laguna Colorada, we fed rabbit like vizcacha along the road. Before going to Chilean border, we enjoyed a 30 min bath in Polques Hot springs. You must bring swimming wears with you. This was a rare experience should not be missed. Finally, Chilean border can be closed at any time due to unpredictable reasons. Please be patient. We waited for 3 hours to clear through the custom.

Every dollar is worth it on this unforgettable memory of life - I have spent huge amount of time to plan for this trip since 8 months ago because I knew some of us would have altitude sickness and also limited time to enjoy the wonderful scenes. Finally, I booked a 3 Days 2 Nights private trip through Andean Ways. The tour guide was Giovana (+59163714710). I decided to increase elevation gradually through Mexico City, Bogota, La Paz, and finally Uyuni. I didn’t take overnight bus from La Paz to Uyuni because I felt it would be an additional night of torture and waste on road. We flew in from La Paz to Uyuni in the morning and welcomed by Giovana at the airport. She prepared rubber boots for us which were found to be critical for walking in salt water. The Uyuni salt flats were jaw dropping. More fascinating than any picture can show. But Giovana was so patient in taking pictures for us. Many times, she creeped on wet salt to get a great shot. I picked the Palacio de Sal for the 1st night. Staying in the best available hotel is critical because it will give you the comfort in case you have altitude sickness although the food won’t meet your expectations in big cities. The next day we visited many places near Chilean border at >4200 meters elevation and stayed at Tayka Hotel at 4600 meters level. We all had some mild altitude sickness. But we paid for private room with bath, which gave us minimum comfort at the difficult night. Food quality was not that good and heater was cold after 3 am. But I guess it was already the best the hotel could do because that was in the middle of nowhere. If you want to see the beautiful Laguna Colorada and play with vizcacha (a kind of special rabbits), or want to cross border into Chile, it seems there is no other choice of better hotels. Finally crossing border into Chile the day after is very difficult with unpredictable border closing. We waited more than 3 hours at the border. But I felt that if I had seen the beautiful Bolivian side, the San Pedro de Acatama side could be skipped. So our car took us from Chilean border to Calama Airport directly. Generally speaking, if you don’t want to ride on a bus overnight from La Paz to Uyuni, you have to take flight and stay at Uyuni over night. Day trip is not possible. Therefore, I still suggest a 3D/2N trip to cross border into Chile. Then you have plenty of flights to Santiago and relax in this beautiful city.

All complete and perfect - We were very happy with the tour we did... they gave us the best attention... the excellent guide... he did not help us with everything we needed... we hope to return next year with our whole family