Travelling from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile to Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia.

Hello.

I am currently in Asuncion, Paraguay with two friends. Tomorrow we are getting a bus from here to Salta, Argentina. We will stay a couple of days and then we plan to head to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile for a few days.

After that we plan to cross into Bolivia via the Salt Flats? Is this possible? I know it is more expensive booking in Chile but this route fits better.

Are there any tour groups in San Pedro that will let us do a 3 day tour of the salt flats with them and then drop us over the border in Uyuni, Bolivia? From there we can move into Bolivia.

Thanks.

i don't have exact details but it's quite common from the uyuuni side to drop people at the end of their tour at the border (we did this), and in san pedro we met people booking three day tours that would send them to uyunni. it seemed pretty standard.

if a bus transfer is mentioned, make sure you get the ticket and do not lose it. we had 4 people on our bus who were taken out and had to scramble for cash to buy new tickets. they insisted their tour operator had never given them everything, and their driver and the bus driver seemed pretty chatty--it was all very dodgy.

Unless you haver a business in San Pedro de Atacama, it might be better for you to go for Salar de Uyuni tour from Tupiza, much closer to Salta.

There are plenty of agencies in San Pedro that offer a 3 day trip to Uyuni. Shop around but they all basically offer the same tour (there are some tours that are a little bit different in the itinerary). You basically get a small bus to the Chilean Aduana (passport control), get stamped, then travel to the nearby Bolivian border (20 or so minutes). And then you meet your 4wd driver and get going.

You should hit most of the spots - the driver is just that a driver. He won't be a guide but if you speak some spanish, you can always ask questions.

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