Bolivia Backroads - Dec 23, 2011

Day 1 Arrive La Paz

Arrive to La Paz where we meet you and transfer you to your hotel. Enjoy your first day free to explore the city on your own. You can also arrange for a guided day tour today!

Day 2 Sucre and Hacienda Candelaria (B,L)

A short flight brings us to the colonial city of Sucre. At 9200 feet above sea level, Sucre enjoys the perfect Spring climate year round. Today is yours to explore its colorful market and visit several colonial buildings, museums, and churches while wandering the narrow streets of this pleasant town. For dinosaur buffs, you can take a half-day trip out of town to see 60 million year old tyrannosaurus rex tracks.

Day 3 Tarabuco Market (B,L,D)

Sunday is market day in the village of Tarabuco, where farmers and weavers from the countryside join together in a festive atmosphere to trade foodstuffs, fine weavings, and exchange gossip with far away friends and relatives. After trying your wits with the local vendors, you’re off to Hacienda Candelaria. Although well into her golden years, Dona Aby still runs this working hacienda, overseeing the planting and harvesting of corn, potatoes, and chili peppers each year. Her daughter Elizabeth shows you some old fashioned hospitality during your stay.

Day 4 Hacienda Candelaria

This morning you'll awake to help bake the breakfast bread in a traditional adobe oven. Then it’s off to the village of La Candelaria where the women are famous for their fine weavings, and you will visit the textile museum. Growing up near the village, Elizabeth is a local expert on these tapestries and good friends with the Quechua speaking artisans. You’ll visit several homes to talk with weavers before heading back to Tarabuco for lunch. You return to Sucre in the afternoon.

Days 5-6 Potosi (2B)

At over 13,000 feet above sea level, Potosi is the highest city of it's size in the world. After the discovery of silver in Cerro Rico (Rich Hill), Potosi grew into the largest and most opulent city in the Americas. The city's rich colonial architecture and tragic history as a colonial mining town has earned recognition from UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Your time here is free to explore the cobblestone streets and possibly visit the working mines of Cerro Rico.  With no mechanization in the mines, a visit into the maze of tunnels is sure to leave a lasting impression.

Days 7-9 Salt Desert of Uyuni (2B,3L,3D)

Today it’s off in four wheel drive trucks to the Salt Desert of Uyuni. From Potosi we travel through tortured canyons and past adobe villages where time seems to stand still. We cross a pass of over 15,500 feet before arriving to our rustic accommodations in the town of Uyuni. The next morning we start our adventure by visiting the train cemetery. Later we’ll learn about the production of salt bricks in the village of Colchani, and watch graceful flamingos wading through briny water. We’ll also see a historic hotel actually built of salt, and visit Isla de Pescadores, a bizarre island surrounded by salt and studded with 20 foot tall cactus. On our last day we climb Volcano Tunupa for a spectacular view of this great expanse of salt. Those feeling strong enough might make it to the crater’s edge at 16,500 feet. After lunch, it’s back across the salt flat to the town of Uyuni where you’ll have time for a shower and a pleasant meal before boarding the night train to Oruro. Continue your trip from Oruro to La Paz by comfortable bus.

Day 10 La Paz (D)

We roll into La Paz in time to watch the sun rise over the snow capped peaks of the Cordillera Real. The day is yours to explore the markets or take an optional tour of the Tiahuanaco ruins or the Valley of the Moon. Tonight's dinner is on us where we'll get a chance to talk about our adventures and say farewell to our wonderful hosts!

Day 11 Return Home