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"Yes, my strength is in solitude. I am neither afraid of stormy rains nor of great loose gusts, for I am also the dark of night."
Clarice Lispector
The ancient greeting that the ocean and lava have been doing since the beginning of time. The moon hides behind the distant clouds watching the show
Havaianas (stylized as havaianas) is a Brazilian brand of flip-flop sandals created and patented in 1962.
The product's most well-known slogans are:
- 'The Legitimate Ones. Everybody Wears. Refuse Imitations.'
- 'They do not deform, they do not loose the strips and they do not smell.'
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Standing in defiance of the desert-like landscape that surrounds it, Uyuni occupies a desolate corner of southwestern Bolivia. Mention Uyuni to a Bolivian and they will whistle and emphasize harto frío (extreme cold). Yet despite the icy conditions, the town has a cheerful buzz about it, with hundreds of travelers passing through every week to kick off their tour of Salar de Uyuni or the Southwest Circuit.
Founded in 1889 by Bolivian president Aniceto Arce, Uyuni remains an important military base. Tourism and mining are the other major sources of employment in the town. The world’s largest lithium reserve – about 100 million tons – lies beneath the neighboring salt flat, and could potentially fuel all the smart phones and electric cars the world could build over the next century. While work on building extraction and processing facilities has been proceeding slowly, expect more and more mining activity near Uyuni in the coming years.
Our guide-mechanic-driver and chef was Poli.
Salar was formed as a result of transformations between several prehistoric lakes. It is covered by a few meters of a salt crust, which has an extraordinary leveling with variations of average altitude of less than one meter throughout the entire area of the Salar. The crust serves as a source of copper salt and a pool of brine, which is extremely rich in lithium. It contains 50 to 70% of the world's lithium reserves, a resource that is in the process of being mined. The large area, clear sky and exceptional leveling of the surface make Salar an ideal object to calibrate the altimeters of Earth observation satellites.
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PS. After Bolivia, Elon Musk says capitalists can overthrow any government they want.
Billionaire Tesla owner Elon Musk has come under fire after welcoming last year’s overthrow of Bolivian president Evo Morales in what was seen as a bid to obtain the country’s lithium reserves.
In response to a tweet on Saturday that accused the U.S. government of forcing Morales out, allowing Musk to access Bolivian resources, he wrote: “We will coup whoever we want! Deal with it.”
Hundreds of Bolivia’s Indigenous population were massacred following what was branded “a fascist coup” against Morales, who is currently in exile in Argentina.
Bolivia has between 25% and 45% of the world’s known lithium reserves, an estimated 21 tons, most of which is in the Salar de Uyuni salt flat.
Lithium is a crucial component of the batteries used in Tesla vehicles and other electric cars, as well as computers, smartphones, and other equipment, and its value is set to skyrocket as sales of such vehicles increase.
peoplesworld.org/article/after-bolivia-elon-musk-says-cap...
A very busy spot very early in the morning. Each boat takes a turn up close to the lava. No the big boat is not on fire.
Near the crest of the Andes and is at an elevation of 3,656 meters (11,995 ft) above sea level.
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For a truly out-of-this-world travel destination, it’s hard to match the Salar de Uyuni.
One of the flattest places in the world, the 4,000-square-mile salt flats were formed by a prehistoric lake.
We traveled in 4×4 vehicles across the expanse of the salt flats to visit locally fashioned structures made entirely from bricks of salt. The salt flats are at their most spectacular after a rain, when water sitting atop the cemented salt acts like a mirror, perfectly reflecting the sky above.
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PS. My second photo reaching 1,000 faves on October 10th., 2019 at 7:31 pm.
PS2. My second photo reaching 2,000 faves on February 6th., 2022 at 12:02 pm.
Although the machine can do everything from a spoon to a boat, the joy of being in touch with the most beautiful scenery is something that will never be possible to manufacture.
In the rainy season, the Salar resembles an enormous mirror that merges in the horizon with the sky. Thus the tours are restricted to some areas.
Sun Link Sea Forest Recreation Area is located in Nantou county. It is famous for its fascinating sun-link-sea scenery. It is situated at Xitou on the way to Alishan. Situated at the elevation of 1,600~1800 meter and it is about 40 hectare of Sun Link Sea Forest Recreation Area. Sun Link Sea has an average of 20 degree Celsius all year long. China Fir and hemlock dot the entire countryside and blanketed the entire area in green. This place also offers the beautiful view of Mt. Hehuan in the distance.
www.travelking.com.tw/eng/tourguide/nantou/sun-link-sea-f...
For a truly out-of-this-world travel destination, it’s hard to match the Salar de Uyuni. One of the flattest places in the world, the 4,000-square-mile salt flats were formed by a prehistoric lake. Visitors travel in 4×4 vehicles across the expanse of the salt flats to visit locally fashioned structures made entirely from bricks of salt. The salt flats are at their most spectacular after a rain, when water sitting atop the cemented salt acts like a mirror, perfectly reflecting the sky above.
Salar was formed as a result of transformations between several prehistoric lakes. It is covered by a few meters of a salt crust, which has an extraordinary leveling with variations of average altitude of less than one meter throughout the entire area of the Salar. The crust serves as a source of copper salt and a pool of brine, which is extremely rich in lithium. It contains 50 to 70% of the world's lithium reserves, a resource that is in the process of being mined. The large area, clear sky and exceptional leveling of the surface make Salar an ideal object to calibrate the altimeters of Earth observation satellites.
In the rainy season, the Salar resembles an enormous mirror that merges in the horizon with the sky. Thus the tours are restricted to some areas.
For a truly out-of-this-world travel destination, it’s hard to match the Salar de Uyuni. One of the flattest places in the world, the 4,000-square-mile salt flats were formed by a prehistoric lake. Visitors travel in 4×4 vehicles across the expanse of the salt flats to visit locally fashioned structures made entirely from bricks of salt. The salt flats are at their most spectacular after a rain, when water sitting atop the cemented salt acts like a mirror, perfectly reflecting the sky above.
Standing in defiance of the desert-like landscape that surrounds it, Uyuni occupies a desolate corner of southwestern Bolivia. Mention Uyuni to a Bolivian and they will whistle and emphasize harto frío (extreme cold). Yet despite the icy conditions, the town has a cheerful buzz about it, with hundreds of travelers passing through every week to kick off their tour of Salar de Uyuni or the Southwest Circuit.
For a truly out-of-this-world travel destination, it’s hard to match the Salar de Uyuni. One of the flattest places in the world, the 4,000-square-mile salt flats were formed by a prehistoric lake. Visitors travel in 4×4 vehicles across the expanse of the salt flats to visit locally fashioned structures made entirely from bricks of salt. The salt flats are at their most spectacular after a rain, when water sitting atop the cemented salt acts like a mirror, perfectly reflecting the sky above.
For a truly out-of-this-world travel destination, it’s hard to match the Salar de Uyuni. One of the flattest places in the world, the 4,000-square-mile salt flats were formed by a prehistoric lake. Visitors travel in 4×4 vehicles across the expanse of the salt flats to visit locally fashioned structures made entirely from bricks of salt. The salt flats are at their most spectacular after a rain, when water sitting atop the cemented salt acts like a mirror, perfectly reflecting the sky above.
Salar de Uyuni (or Salar de Tunupa) is the largest and highest salt desert in the world, with 10,582 square kilometers and 3,656 meters above mean sea level. It is located in the departments of Potosí and Oruro, in southwest Bolivia, near the edge of the Andes. Salting is also the only bright natural spot that can be seen from space. He served as a guide for the Apollo 11 astronauts, who arrived on the moon in 1969. When the astronauts saw the white plain for the first time, they even thought it was a glacier.
Xitou Forest Recreation Area, Nantou Lugu Town, Taiwan.
Panasonic DMC-LX10
ƒ/1.4
1/125
8.8 mm (equivalent full frame 24 mm)
ISO 1000
One major tourist attraction is an antique train cemetery. It is 3 km outside Uyuni and is connected to it by the old train tracks. The town served in the past as a distribution hub for the trains carrying minerals en route to Pacific Ocean ports. The rail lines were built by British engineers arriving near the end of the 19th century and formed a sizeable community in Uyuni. The engineers were invited by the British-sponsored Antofagasta and Bolivia Railway Companies, now Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia. The rail construction started in 1888 and ended in 1892. It was encouraged by Bolivian President Aniceto Arce, who believed Bolivia would flourish with a good transport system, but it was also constantly sabotaged by the local Aymara indigenous Indians who saw it as an intrusion into their lives. The trains were mostly used by the mining companies. In the 1940s, the mining industry collapsed, partly because of mineral depletion. Many trains were abandoned, producing the train cemetery. There are proposals to build a museum from the cemetery.
For a truly out-of-this-world travel destination, it’s hard to match the Salar de Uyuni. One of the flattest places in the world, the 4,000-square-mile salt flats were formed by a prehistoric lake. Visitors travel in 4×4 vehicles across the expanse of the salt flats to visit locally fashioned structures made entirely from bricks of salt. The salt flats are at their most spectacular after a rain, when water sitting atop the cemented salt acts like a mirror, perfectly reflecting the sky above.
Sunset. And here's the Zuiderkerk (South Church) from our bedroom window. This church was the first in Amsterdam to have been built for Protestant church services. But more interesting perhaps is the story that Rembrandt - who lived just down the street - painted the Nightwatch here because his studio was too small. Tour guides like to state this as a fact to jaw-dropping visitors. The story is apocryphal, but nice to tell with the necessary winks. Regardless, three of his children were buried here...
For a truly out-of-this-world travel destination, it’s hard to match the Salar de Uyuni. One of the flattest places in the world, the 4,000-square-mile salt flats were formed by a prehistoric lake. Visitors travel in 4×4 vehicles across the expanse of the salt flats to visit locally fashioned structures made entirely from bricks of salt. The salt flats are at their most spectacular after a rain, when water sitting atop the cemented salt acts like a mirror, perfectly reflecting the sky above.
"The failures of men are eternalized in bronze,
Your virtues are written in the water."
William Shakespeare