Peru, Day 10: Las Salineras

Nothing more beautiful than the sun glinting of the the brilliant salt flats with majestic snow-covered Andean peaks in the background. Unless maybe you add some low-hanging dark grey clouds in the north for some contrast.

That little white line zig-zagging up
the mountain, that's the trail...

...and looking back after 10 minutes
of walking.

First glimpse of the flats.

And now getting closer. (Still not
that impressive...)

I admit, by now I was beginning to
the the view was breath-taking.
(That, and I was out-of-breath
from walking up a mountain...)

Alright, totally worth the climb!

Interestingly, the running water was hot - I felt it on purpose, and the standing water was cold - I might have slipped almost fallen into a salt flat...

Salt formations...salt piles...salt foot prints...salt bags...salt, salt, salt everywhere. I think I must've been salty for days afterwards. But so worth it. I've never seen anything quite so strikingly and distinctly beautiful. Certainly nothing else quite like it in the world. And yes, you can walk on the little paths in between the flats. Few people actually do it, or maybe I just went on a day when no one was feeling adventurous. There's really nothing frightening about it, I'm not sure why every one seems so glued to the path.

I know, it almost looks like the beach. Just as salty, but much more tranquil.