Great Salt Flats of the world: Tuz Gölü

Massive Lake Tuz, the largest salt lake in Turkey, is one of those eerie places where you wonder if you’re still on earth. For much of the year the “lake” (technically an endorheic basin ) is actually a flat, arid, blinding white plain of salt; water flows in, but since there is no river draining them, the only way water is lost is through evaporation or seepage. Walking out into one of these salt lakes is a bizarre experience—even up close they look like they should be covered with snow or ice.

I’ve been lucky enough to visit a few of these salt deserts, some of the most extreme environments on the planet. They’re also great for some seriously weird photography, and seem to be an inexplicably popular place for ridiculous pics like standing close to the camera and pretending you’re holding your friends in your hand. (Example here)

Some of the best known are in the US, in New Mexico and Texas, as well as Utah’s Bonneville salt flats, site of many world land speed records. Some of the coolest ones, though, are in some of the world’s more remote spots.

The world’s largest is the Salar de Uyuni, in southern Bolivia:10582 square km
(4,085 square miles) of emptiness. Check out these cool photos I shot while there some years ago. (Yes, that is an emu.)

Another spot I was able to photograph salt flats was in the southern edge of Tunisia, the Chott el Djerid, the largest salt pan in the Sahara desert. Trust me, it’s hard to find a public washroom….