And I can honestly say that the salt flats and high desert (parts of it are over 4700 meters above sea level) contain some of the most striking and beautiful natural landscape I have ever seen.

The local industry, if you want to call it that, revolves around tourism, but the local people sell salt from the flats throughout South America.

The area has seen "true industry" in the past, and the remnants of it can be viewed just outside of town in the form of a train graveyard. Rusting hulks of engines dating back to the 1900s scatter a trash strewn area several hundred square meters in size.

The high desert supports populations of llama, vicuna and several distinct species of flamingo at the various lagunas in the area.

While Bolivia may be a relatively poor country, the last thing this area needs is to be destroyed in the process of multinationals mining lithium.