Uyuni was not our favorite place so we were not sad to leave & head for the Salt Flats. Our transport was 3 Landcruisers for 12 of us plus our guide plus 2 cooks & all our gear & food for 2 nights & 3 days. Our first stop was a little village of 100 people where the houses & furniture were built of salt blocks. We saw the primitive methods of processing the salt. Our cooks presented us with an amazing meal of llama chops, fresh vegetables, potatoes & queinuo (a cous cous like grain which is grown locally) all prepared under the most basic conditions. We then headed to the Salt Flats. We had seen lots of pictures beforehand but the expanse of white salt was unbelievable. The miners dig the salt into piles & then shovel it onto trucks. We moved to an area away from the mining activity & spent some time taking photographs with optical illusions. We were appreciative of our drivers as there is only one pathway onto the Salt Flat & apparently several tourists who think they can manage on their own have become lost & run out of fuel with tragic consequences. Our accommodation for the night was at a little village called Alota. Our rooms were basic & better & warmer than we had expected. The cooks had hot tea & coffee ready for us & a 3 course meal followed not long after. Overnight the temperature dropped to -7degC but despite no heating, we were warm in our rooms.