Less than 30 km or so northwest of Uyuni lies the sleepy village of Colchani right on the edge of the largest salt flats on earth. Heaps of salt like some miniature pyramids dote the blindingly bright slat flats as villagers dig up the abundant material here for the salt trade.This century-old tradition of making a living by salt mining is slowly being phased out by the burdgeoning tourism trade though.