Road from Oruro to Uyuni

Hey folks,

I'm currently planning a Bolivia/Peru trip and I'm trying to decide about whether or not we should rent a car in La Paz to get to Uyuni and back since the bus trips seem to pretty unpleasent to me (in terms of travel duration).

Now I was doing some research and am wondering why buses take forever. The distance seems to be about 535 km. Bing Maps tells me it just takes me 6:30 hrs (!) to get there by car, Google Maps on the other hand says, it would be more like 12:30 hrs, which would be 43 km/h on average. Even considering the bad road conditions I read about, this sounds like snail's pace. From what I see on Google Earth, the streets seem to be just straight, no serpentines and stuff. What riddles me even more is that the bus La Paz -> Oruro seems to take 3 hrs, being almost half of the distance, while the remaining trip takes up to 7 hrs.

So what in god's name is the deal with this road section, any experiences?

Cheers,
iko

Edited by: iko79

Renting a car sounds like a bad idea all the way around. You're pretty unlikely to save much time.

La Paz to Oruro takes 3-4 hours because the road is well traveled, has been paved, and is in pretty good condition.

The road from Oruro to Uyuni is only really used by tourist buses. As such, it's unpaved in many areas and generally not kept in great conditions. Traveling on an unpaved road makes it pretty easy to fall below that 50 km/hr threshold.

If you're really keen to skip the overnight bus, flying is a much better investment. BoA should fly to Uyuni by now. Amaszonas does already. TAM is the cheapest, but probably fly once a week at best.

Thanks for your reply. Makes sense.

One more question though: is it really possible to get some rest in the night buses? Both of us are quite tall (1.85m / 6ft), I read the buses are pretty uncomfortable for tall people. I imagine being completely broken when we arrive in Uyuni. Stepping out of the bus and going straight to a Salar-tour sounds quite exhausting, might spoil the experience...

The last part of the road, from Challapata (where the road branches to Potosi) / Huari to Uyuni is pretty bad, basically a rough track winding across the desert with some stream / river crossings. The Google timings are not far off, it can be a snails pace in parts. Sometimes buses take a longer route which isn't quite so rough but doesn't really save any time. I dont know what the tourist buses are like but I'm over 6ft and never got much rest on the local overnight semi cama buses years ago when I used them a few times.

If budget isn't an issue flying is the best option. Going from La Paz to Oruro by bus then getting the train to Uyuni is a better option than overnight bus, the train doesnt run daily though. Another option is to go via Potosi (a historic city that's worth a day or 2 anyway if you have time). La Paz Potosi is all paved, there is now a new paved road from Potosi to Uyuni which takes 3.5 - 4hrs by bus.

I've never heard of tall people being uncomfortable on the buses. I can imagine it though, considering how small Bolivians are, and how close together the seats can be.

What really prevents rest on these buses are the bumps, the cold, and the altitude (for some).

This can be avoided if you take a decent semi-cama or bus-cama. At the very least, your knees won't be smashed up against the seat in front of you.

You could also look into taking the train from Oruro. I did the train one way and the bus the way back, both overnight. I did much better on the train, though my friend did much better on the bus.

Best of luck!

Alright, I think, we'll try the train then. Thank you so much!

I'm 6 foot tall and had no problem on overnight bus from La Paz to Uyuni. Got out of Bus at about 08:00, walked to hostel where I got a room; had breakfast; walked across street to Tourist office and shortly afterward I was on my way on a one day tour. Somewhere out in the middle of the Salt flats, tourists on our Toyota who were doing the 3/4 day tour got on another Toyota and persons from that vehicle doing one day tour got on our Toyota.

I would love to do the bus ride between La Paz and Uyuni in daylight as there were times I swear we were going down 90 degree slopes and had my feet braced on seat in front of me. The first class over nite bus is very comfortable and you will be able to sleep on the reclining seats.

Sounds good, thanks!

Alternatively, You can go to Potosi first which is all sealed and is on a full cama bus then Potosi to Uyuni, also fully sealed and about 4 hours away. Its longer but the road is in good condition and full cama is a bed.

Thanks for the hint! As far as I've seen, this would mean we spend 6 hrs on bus to Potosi and then 3 hrs to Uyuni, both on daytime, right? We're currently planning to take the bus to Oruro and then the night train to Uyuni. Unfortunately, timing is an issue, se we are trying to get there as fast as possible, since we want to keep a one to two days buffer to our flight home, just for emergencies...

What exactly do you mean by "all sealed" -- you mean paved roads?

Yes paved 2 lane roads. ie tarmac not dirt.

Potosi to Sucre, Uyuni and La Paz are all good roads.

I'm not sure on the schedule from La Paz to Potosi, but the overnight La Paz to Sucre bus stopped there early in the morning. That overnight bus cost about 135B and was full cama (lie flat beds)

Which bus company did you go with? Was it Todo Turismo? I am planning to vist the salt flats on March 12th or 13th of this year.

Todo Turismo operate the tourist bus direct from La Paz to Uyuni. Its not a full cama bus service.

The La Paz - Potosi buses usually leave in the evening (7.30-10pm approx), its about a 9 hr trip. A few companies do it. They arrive at the newish bus terminal on the outskirts of Potosi - get a taxi to the Terminal Provincial (the old one) which is now where services in Potosi department, including to Uyuni and Tupiza, depart from.

The La Paz - Uyuni buses (I assume Todo Turismo as well) are currently going via Potosi anyway due to rainy season and the bad state of the direct road