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.
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.
Kyrgyzstan is called Middle Asian Switzerland. Mountains, rivers, waterfalls, caves, cols and green meadows aren’t a speck inferior in terms of aesthetics to European ones yet travelers haven't duly appreciated this country so far. Across-the-board exploration of the land by the state’s guests has only just begun. And alongside hotels that are being swiftly erected, ordinary yurts are still offered for residence to feel local natural.
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Marina Orlova is a project manager in a cultural and public organization. Working on one of her international projects, she met her love - Wim, a guy from Belgium. She succeeded to visit his country only when Ukraine obtained visa-free regime and Marina shared with OUTLOOK her observations about how the Belgians live, what they eat for breakfast and how they relax.
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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.
Ice and snow has long been used by artists to create different figures and objects, and only 1960, this age-old skill became a new trend of a land art! The largest number of winter artworks is created during special festivals about which we will tell our readers.
On this great holiday for all Christians of the Orthodox rite, we want to present you a video about the holy places of Palestine, namely the city of Bethlehem.
The cold season brings not only such important things as wrapping into a reindeer sweater, drinking hot chocolate and once again reviewing Christmas comedies. Thus, sport has not been canceled yet, so OUTLLOK compiled top five ski resort bucket list for you to cheer up and get out of your winter sleep.
In the world there is an unusual place where the biggest number of twins are born. Although at first glance it looks like a mystical coincidence, statistics makes you believe in miracles. The Indian state of Kerala can boast of a village where unusual things happen. Kodhini is the place with more twins than anywhere else in the world. Actually, there is almost no explanation for this.
Photo worldatlas.com
Photo fodors.com
Photo exodus.co.uk
