It turns out possible to walk in heaven living on Earth. It is enough to go to the south of a small country of Bolivia, to one of the most extraordinary deserts of the world – Uyuni. When looking at pictures of tourists who had been there you can’t help asking: “Are you sure it isn’t Photoshop-made?”
Huge territory
located at the height of almost 4
km above sea level that occupies over 10 000 square
kilometers is nothing else but flat lake Uyuni. When here, you don’t entirely
get at first what have this enormous expanse arose from. It doesn’t really look
like sand and it is way too weird for snow that doesn’t melt under above-zero
temperature… So when your sight fails you should rely on other senses, in this
case – on taste. You only need to try what’s beneath your feet without any misgiving
and everything becomes clear at once – it is bog-standard salt.
On the outside
the place falls a long way short of common conception of a lake. But if a time
machine could have sent us about 40 thousand years back an ordinary water file
called Minchin would have burst upon our views. After a lapse of centuries it
got separated into already familiar salt depositary Uyuni, another similar one
– Salar de Coipasa as well as into two completely “normal” lakes with
interesting names Uru Uru and Poopó. Photo tripsavvy.com
But only the
first one managed to achieve global notoriety. To a certain extent huge
dimensions of the “dry” reservoir, which made it the biggest salt lake on the
whole planet, attributed to that. As a rule, walking “cruises” along Uyuni don’t
take place in fine weather (customary for all kinds of journeys), but in a
season when the sky is fully covered with storm clouds. It lasts from May till
November. In this period all the salt is flooded with around 30 cm thick water layer,
which produces an effect of an immense mirror that reflects in great detail
clouds drifting high above. An unusual illusion becomes a background for unique
pictures that are the main goal of the majority of trips.Photo worldatlas.com
“Spilt salt
doesn’t spell quarrels, it spells additional income” – that’s how inhabitants
of the vicinity decided to “rearrange” the meaning of the proverb and created
exotic hotels in the lakeside villages. All furniture from sleeping
accommodation to stools is made of huge blocks of the mineral. Moderate fare
within limits of 20 to 30 dollars – and you ensure yourself an overnight in a
salty hotel. Notices are diligently hung in every room and in all the corridors
with the only significant request from the establishment’s administration:
“Don’t lick anything!”
Inspired by
amazing pictures and delighted recalls of the unique place, everyone is trying
to get to Uyuni in rainy season. But should mother-nature refuse to flood
everything with water by the time you arrive, there is no point in accusing
yourself of bad luck and the weather of being unfavorable. Dry “climate” will
offer a chance to admire other distinctives of the lake, particularly its
wonderful fauna and flora. Domesticated alpacas walking around are the main live
stock species in nearby villages and they like to wander to the desert to
relish moss that grows here. Being accustomed to people they don’t mind posing
to cameras.Photo fodors.com
While it is better to watch flocks of long-legged flamingos from a distance – one false step and timid birds will take wings to create a pink cloud over salty expanse. Aside from them, among to feathered tribe, two extremes are seen here: massive ostriches and tiny hummingbirds. As to vegetable world, wet climate and specific ground do not constitute favorable conditions for diverse flora forms, instead, local many-meters-high cacti that surround the desert with a thorny fence can compete even with enormous Mexican ones.Photo exodus.co.uk
Watching mining
of the thing we daily consume is also possible in Uyuni. Utilization of local
salt reserves, that constitute about 10 billion tons, has been on for a couple
of centuries thus bringing in additional money to state treasury. But some
fifty years ago “digging” was far more sweeping and as a reminder about that
period an open-air museum called train cemetery is situated three kilometers
away from the lake. When in 1950s active mineral mining decreased drastically,
employees of the railway abandoned all transportation equipment here for it to
turn into another local place of interest with time. It was Bolivian
authorities who initiated “reformatting” of old rail-tracked cars into an
exhibition, when they started implementing a development program of such an
extraordinary region in 2006.
Mauritius is a tropical paradise, for which the area of a small islands is enough to accommodate tourists coming from all over the world. This is a unique intersection of two continents, Africa and Asia, a fusion of diverse cultures, religions, and languages. The place, however, serve as a good example how to get along squeezed but pleased.
Tibet… what are you mulling over while articulating this name, drawing it in your mind mentioning the concept involved in the mild space of clouds?Tibet… There are mountains that seem to be speaking with the heaven. Here everything is penetrated with the religion and different beliefs such as culture, art, folk traditions and customs.
We are continuing our narration about the most breath-taking national reservations in Africa! There are five more primordial world areas where time hardly slowed down its running being afraid of worrying the natural harmony…
Mon amour, mon ami… All most beautiful words and songs of love sound in French. Review every curve of France and find privacy in province of Provence that gently swings in the south-east of Brigitte Bardot and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Ancient cities from Marseille to Monaco are penetrated with lyric antiquity so ideas of staying at Côte d’Azur keep coming back to your head.
If you like having rest in Bulgaria but haven’t picked a town to stay in, try and do it in Balchik. It will suit those who value cozy yet non-costly trips without a flow of holiday-makers and an empty pocket afterwards. And the town’s ancient age together with unique landmarks will create a great alternative to sun and sea bathes.
Majority of people associate Morocco with either red or yellow – Africa, after all, heat, sand, spices and so on as the list goes. But it only happens in heads of tourists who have never visited an amazing city with such a pleasant and tender name as Chefchaouen. After that one the whole country seems to be a single cloud.
Mexico is a hot and passionate country. At least, legendary Mexican soap operas have contributed to this image. It is time to go there and get your own unforgettable experience that will forever stir your soul! Mexico is a country in the south of North America washed by the Pacific Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of California and the Gulf of Mexico. Surfers say the waves are amazing there...
Bulgaria rests on two pillars: beautiful nature including perfect beaches and thousand-year history. There are mystical and magnetically attractive places, vibrant discos and nature reserves. We invite you to check out our list of unexpected ideas for holidays to discover all faces of Bulgaria.
While on a trip, willy-nilly you take one of the local excursions. Big promises of travel agents and reviews on sites for travelers do not always help compose a correct picture of your destination. Today we will get you ready as we selected the most amazing trips in the world.
When moving to a new country, more often than not people tend to get settled nearby emigrants like themselves. It is pretty convenient: accommodation isn’t expensive, job can be found right on the location and there is no need to study a new language – everyone around understands you. This is how national ghettos appear.
Today OUTLOOK tells about another inspiring example of how a dream can become a lifetime project. Creation of one of the most successful channels in history of television – Discovery Channel, followed by a huge media empire Discovery Communications, simply cannot but motivate to own great engagements.
In the nooks of Earth we want to talk about people live according to very specific rules of nature. Here rains don’t start out of the blue and frosts don’t come unexpectedly. It’s much more serious. Should a good wind once bring you there, you’ll be prepared and may have a grateful memory of OUTLOOK.
Insanely beautiful, raw and refined Africa is exactly the place where one should plunge into a whirlpool of wild nature, taking over an unusual role of a guest in the abode of animals, not vice versa... Here you can free your mind from all artificial and imaginary stuff, feeling like a tiny speck in the vast and exciting world...
One can get from Kyiv to Helsinki by car in less than a fortnight. In day and a half by railway. For more impatient travelers planes exist. Several airlines fly from Ukraine to Lapland. By sky it will merely take you two hours to reach crystal surface of the Gulf of Finland, famous saunas and clothes made of deerskin.
Beaches, forests, deserts are not enough to say that you have already visited many parts of the earth. Definitely, you wanna something extraordinarily special? Why not! Humanity has flown into space a long time ago! Frankly speaking, the journey to Mars will seem too expensive even for a millionaire. After all, a trip outside the Earth costs the budget of a personal island.
Often the Balkan countries are deemed to be something very close to us in terms of mentality, culture and traditions, that traveling there seems to be something second-rate, no match for a trip to Europe, or to some islands. However, today we would like to tell about magic Balkan cities that can compete with the much favoured tourist centres!
Ancient Fez medina is firmly holding time in a criss-crossing maze of tiny alleyways and picturesque shops. The medieval town of craftsmen does not recognize modern technology, however, it is not difficult to trace a full production of cute handbag with embossed lettering. The leather for souvenir is produced there, in courtyards, and at a reasonable cost a tannery owner would reveal details of folk art with a millennial history.
Impressions of this city depend much on what you have visited before being introduced to it. After Los Angeles it may seem very business-like and culturally rich, after New York – provincial and old-fashioned somehow. In any case, it has a bright and memorable face of a gentleman from Massachusetts.
5 tons of water fall off into the ravine every single moment, roaring, raising steam and disseminating spatter in all directions. ‘Liquid wall’ of Iguazu Falls extends its crescent on the border of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.
As a child I could spend hours gazing at the sky and spying majestic flocks of birds winging their way south. For a kid this movement was a real magic. Today my bookshelf hosts almost no books about magic, though I am still excited about feathered tribes travelling in hope to land on their winter grounds.
Photo worldatlas.com
Photo fodors.com
Photo exodus.co.uk
