In Uyuni, tourists spend the night in hotels made of salt

At the world’s largest salt flats, Uyuni in Bolivia, almost everything that meets the eye is white – even the hotels. The Hotel Luna Salada (Salty Moon Hotel) is a hotel built entirely of salt, from its walls to the furnishings. Hotel Luna Salada was built in 1993 by a salt extraction dealer who observed the growing number of tourists to the area. The hotel is made of salt blocks joined by cement, with concrete-reinforced foundations to withstand the weather, especially rain. The only part of the structure made of a different material is the ceiling, which is made of straw. The Uyuni Salt Flats have an extension of 10,582 square kilometers and are found 3,650 meters above sea level in the Andes, in southwest Bolivia. They were part of Lake Minchin 40,000 years ago, but when it dried up, two lakes were formed, the Poopó and the Uru Uru, and two salt deposits, the Coipasa Salt Flats and Uyuni. This hidden area in the Bolivian lithium reserves is awakening the curiosity of many backpackers, while the Bolivian government is beginning to see the area as a great opportunity for tourism.