A man has been spotted walking on water in Bolivia, that is, until you realise it is an optical illusion. Hideki Mizuta, 29, from Japan, captured the image of the wellie-clad tourist strolling across the water and towards the sun, while he was at Salar de Uyuni salt flat in Bolivia. As one of the flattest places in the world, Salar de Uyuni becomes covered in a thin layer of water during the rainy season and becomes a mirror image of the sky at that moment in time. (Hideki Mizuta/Caters News)

Known as one of the most breathtaking places in South America, Salar de Uyuni used to be part of Lago Minchin, a prehistoric salt lake, that once covered most of southwest Bolivia. The salt flat is usually dry, but during the rainy season (between March and April), spectators are treated to beautiful, crisp reflections of the sky.

Japanese photographer Hideki Mizuta, 29, traveled to the Salar de Uyuni salt flat in Bolivia to capture stunning images. “It looked like I was dreaming,” . “If there is a heaven, I hope it is like there.”

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When the salt flat is dry, the ground forms in surreal patterns of hexagons. This happens when the crystalline salt freezes and thaws.

As the world’s largest salt flat at around 4,600 square miles, Salar de Uyuni contains approximately 10 billion tons of salt. According to Business Insider,, so it forbids mining facilities to exist on the flat. However, salt miners work on the flat to harvest the minerals.

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