Uyuni is one of the most popular destinations in Bolivia as most visitors to the country try to include a salt flats tour in their itinerary and Uyuni is the main starting point for these tours (Tupiza and San Pedro de Atacama in Chile are other places where tours can be started). Although not a small town Uyuni is located in an isolated part of the country and road infrastructure is not in good condition in this area although there are plans to improve the road.
Buses From La Paz to Uyuni / Bus Uyuni to La Paz
There are direct buses each night from La Paz to Uyuni. There are no direct buses in the day although it is possible to take local buses from La Paz to Oruro then onto Uyuni , these are low quality and not recommended.
Tourist Bus Todo Turismo
There is a nightly tourist bus service run by Todo Turismo that leaves La Paz at 9pm and leaves Uyuni at 8PM each night (although from time to time there are cancelations for maintenance or due to conditions). This service is semi cama (reclining seats half way back) and has heating, toilet, hot meal, English speaking attendant and emergency oxygen bottles. This is a safe bus service and the drivers are breathalised before and after the journey. The journey is usually around 10 to 11 hours although during rainy season there can be significant delays and when conditions become too bad the service is stopped until things improve.
In the last year or so there has been many news reports on the potential for Bolivia to profit from its vast lithium carbonate reserves (search google for Bolivia + lithium and you will find hundreds of articles). Lithium has been touted as the “new oil” as it is only available in limited amounts in certain parts of the world and is a vital component in a number of popular products used today and also for products of the future. Mobile phones, PDAs and laptops all use batteries made with lithium and, perhaps the most crucial factor for the future, the car industry is moving towards a greener future with electric cars that use lithium or lithium hybrid batteries. This will increase demand immensely and with Bolivia having around 50% (5.4 million tones) of the worlds Lithium deposits it could offer the poorest nation in South America a chance to increases its revenues dramatically. The deposits are located in the Salt flats of Uyuni which is a principle tourist attraction in the country.
