HOW IS IT BUILT OUT OF SALT?
To make such a mystery possible only two things are needed: salt and water. Contrary to modern architecture and its infinite alloys, nature gave us the simplicity of its magic.
Our hotel is built from more than one million compact blocks, extracted directly from the surface of the salt flats and assembled together thanks to a paste made from ground salt and water. Every year, after the rainy season, the hotel loses about 10% of its original structure and a reconstruction process begins. Victor Castillo Laura has been in charge of this process for 15 years, generating a circular economy with the Colchani cooperatives, responsible for providing the material year after year.
ART AND TEARS OF SALT
Inside the Palacio de Sal one can come across different sculptural pieces, also made of salt, which have been created by the artists and craftsmen of the community as well. Besides the central Andean cross, one of the most admired works of the hotel is the mural that houses our restaurant. In it you can see a tribute to the legend that narrates the times when humans were giants; there was a beautiful lady, called Thunupa, who was married to Cuzco, a young warrior who betrayed her love: while he was escaping with his lover, she - who had just given birth - cried so much that her salty tears mixed with the milk from her breasts, flooding the place. Seeing this, the angry Gods turned the humans into mountains and that sea of milk and tears, into the majestic Uyuni Salt Flats.
THE WALL OF SALT
Visitors from all over the world are fascinated by our construction system. That is why we have kept a small part of the hotel untouched by maintenance. It is a natural work of art in which you can see more clearly the saline formation of our walls, the effect of time and humidity and discover curiosities such as the age of each block and the different proportions of rain it received, based on the natural lines that indicate each year of precipitation and sediments that the salt flats accumulated before the piece was extracted.
In addition, its unique appearance makes it an excellent selfie spot.
