Uyuni – Isla Incahuasi – Llica – Coipasa – Sabaya
An at times surreal trip across Bolivia’s two biggest salars – Uyuni and Coipasa. The larger Salar de Uyuni is great fun to cycle on, but from Colchani to Isla Incahuasi you’ll often have to share it with tourist jeeps. Crossing the Salar de Coipasa was a magical and unforgettable experience – we saw no-one and nothing except sparkly salt for the afternoon it took us to cross to Coipasa island.
Make sure you clean your bike well after crossing the salars. The Salar de Coipasa especially will leave a salt deposit on your bike. Also ensure you wear sunglasses and sun cream – otherwise the strong altiplano sun and reflection off the salars will fry you. If you plan on camping on either salar note that there is absolutely no protection from the wind and also that the salt is very hard so it’s difficult to get tent pegs into it.
It’s also a good idea to check with local people on the current state of each of the salars. In wet season parts become inundated and difficult to cycle on – and the dates this occurs can vary quite a bit year on year.
Total dist. | Stage dist. | Description |
0km | Uyuni (3,650m – GPS01). Tourist town with all facilities, including ATM. | |
23km | Take the main road north out of Uyuni, passing the petrol station. | |
23km | Colchani (GPS02). Town with small shops, some pensiones to have lunch at and 2 hospedajes. Turn L (west) in Colchani at the signposted junction to get to the Salar de Uyuni. | |
5km | Once paved road to the salar. | |
28km | Reach the edge of the Salar de Uyuni. | |
8km | Jeep track to the Hotel de Sal. | |
36km | Hotel de Sal (GPS03). Water, expensive snacks, meals and accommodation available. | |
62km | Good surface to Isla Incahuasi. Take the R of the 2 tracks that leave the Hotel de Sal towards the island, as this is the most direct route. | |
98km | Isla Incahuasi (GPS04). All the tourists in Bolivia seemed to be there on the W side of the island when we arrived, but they soon left to allow us to enjoy sunset to ourselves. Water and meals are available. Alfredo (the island’s first resident) will let you stay in his ‘cave’ for a fee but you can camp on the island away from the buildings for free. 15Bs entrance fee to go onto the island (a guardaparque cycles round the island to check no-one is trying to sneak on!). For Llica take main track radiating northwest from the island. | |
22km | Head towards Llica. | |
120km | Alongside Isla del Pescado, which is a few kilometres to the south. | |
50km | Continue across the Salar. | |
170km | Exit Salar de Uyuni at (GPS05). Continue taking shortcuts across the Salar though as this is quicker than taking the road round the shore. | |
9km | After 5 kms of shortcuts across the Salar join the road for 4 kms to Llica. | |
179km | Llica (GPS06). Large village with accommodation, a number of restaurants, shops and decent internet. A brass band marched round the street playing the same tune continuously for the 2 days we stayed. | |
6km | Leave Llica heading north. | |
185km | Junction (GPS07). Signposted. Head R towards Tres Cruces. | |
5km | Sandy surface. | |
190km | Challacollo (GPS08). Small village with a nice church. Didn’t see any shops or inhabitants, but it looked lived in so probably possible to get water. | |
6km | Continue heading NE. | |
196km | Crossroads (GPS09). Go straight. R heads to a small (abandoned?) village. | |
5km | Good surface on main ‘road’. | |
201km | Junction (GPS10). We went R (very small climb) and this took us to Villa Victoria, where there was a family and we could obtain water. Unless you need water, better to go L at the junction. | |
2km | Sandy surface to Villa Victoria (1.3km from junction). 0.7 km back to the main road. | |
203km | Rejoin main ‘road’. | |
21km | Continue heading E on a track. There were many tracks heading L (north) onto the Salar de Coipasa, but we ignored these, thinking the Salar might be spongy here, and carried on to join the Salar at a ramp. This is a few kms past the village of Tres Cruces (the track we were on did not go to the village, but passed a few kms to the N of it) near the only tree we saw all day. If the salt at the edge of the salar is solid it may well be easiest just to head onto the Salar at the earliest opportunity. | |
224km | Ramp onto Salar de Coipasa (GPS11). | |
39km | Magical cycle on the Salar de Coipasa. No traffic, tracks or rubbish. Nothing but whiteness and sparkly salt. First few hundred metres on the Salar were a bit spongy, but after the surface was good (though not as hard as the Salar de Uyuni, so our bikes got a lot of salt on them). Head for the right hand side of Coipasa island, where there is a small hill. | |
263km | Leave Salar at (GPS12) and go onto Isla de Coipasa. | |
3km | Good track to Coipasa village. | |
266km | Coipasa village (GPS13). Accommodation, water, basic supplies. No restaurant. | |
19km | Leave Coipasa on track heading NW. 4kms until track re-enters the salar (GPS14). Head north-ish across the salt, straight for the shore. After 9kms we hit a dirt track and 5kms later reached land (GPS15). 1km later this track meets a larger road at the small settlement of Buen Retiro. | |
285km | Buen Retiro. Small settlement. Join main road and go R. | |
8km | Pass 2 small villages on the way to the next junction. | |
293km | Junction (GPS16). Main road goes L, but we took a good short cut and went R, heading straight for Sabaya. | |
7km | Good surface to Sabaya. | |
300km | Sabaya (GPS17). Large village with accommodation, plenty of restaurants and shops, but no internet. |
Details | |
Time taken – 4 days and amount climbed – a massive 430m | 7 hours: Uyuni – Isla Incahuasi. 6 hours: Isla Incahuasi – Llica (headwind). 8 hours: Llica – Coipasa (headwind). 3 hours: Coipasa – Sabaya. |
Traffic | Some from Uyuni to Colchani. Plenty of tourist jeeps from Colchani to Isla Incahuasi. Nothing from Isla Incahuasi to near Llica. A few vehicles around Llica, then nothing to Coipasa. Some near Sabaya. |
When we cycled | Mid July 2010. |
Difficulty | 2 |
How much we had to push on this route | 0.5kms (sand) |
GPS Point | Description | Lat/Long/Altitude |
GPS01 | Uyuni | 20.4633 S, 66.8235 W, 3,650m. |
GPS02 | Colchani | 20.3025 S, 66.9384 W, 3,660m. |
GPS03 | Hotel de Sal | 20.3308 S, 67.0468 W, 3,660m. |
GPS04 | Isla Incahuasi | 20.2439 S, 67.6239 W, 3,660m. |
GPS05 | Edge of Salar | 19.8797 S, 68.1742 W, 3,660m. |
GPS06 | Llica | 19.8507 S, 68.2485 W, 3,690m.. |
GPS07 | Junction (go R) | 19.8039 S, 68.2636 W. |
GPS08 | Challacollo | 19.7661 S, 68.2636 W. |
GPS09 | Crossroads | 19.7164 S, 68.2589 W. |
GPS10 | Junction | 19.6777 S, 68.2392 W. |
GPS11 | Ramp onto Salar de Coipasa | 19.5814 S, 68.0904 W, 3,660m. |
GPS12 | Enter Isla de Coipasa | 19.2776 S, 68.2628 W, 3,660m. |
GPS13 | Coipasa Village | 19.2778 S, 68.2782 W, 3,660m. |
GPS14 | Re-enter Salar | 19.2583 S, 68.3076 W, 3,655m |
GPS15 | Hit land | 19.1462 S, 68.3227 W, 3,660m. |
GPS16 | Junction (take shortcut R) | 19.0763 S, 68.3422 W. |
GPS17 | Sabaya | 19.0160 S, 68.3712 W, 3,700m. |
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