Bolivia From Cusco to Uyuni

Two world wonders: Machu Picchu and the Salar de Uyuni

Duration: 11 days and 10 nights

INCLUDED:

  • Accomodation
  • Transportation
  • Local shared boat
  • Guides touristiques locaux
  • Meals according to itinerary
  • Entrance tickets

NOT INCLUDED:

  • Flight tickets from/to your home country
  • Extra Expenses
  • Tips

Highlights:

  • Cusco city
  • Machu Picchu
  • Titicaca Lake
  • Salar de Uyuni

Reception at the airport and transfer to hotel. Afternoon visit to the city and surrounding ruins: The Church of the Cathedral Square, the Temple of the Sun or Koricancha, Sacsayhuaman, Quenqo, Pucapucara and Tambomachay. Overnight in Cusco.

8:30 departure for the excursion to the Sacred Valley of the Incas, high Andean visit the village of Pisac, where you can appreciate the craft fair and learn more about the local culture. We continue our journey to the town of Urubamba, where they will enjoy a delicious buffet lunch. After lunch we headed to the village of Ollantaytambo to take a guided tour of the ruins. After the tour you will have time to explore the town while waiting for the train to hrs. 19.00 to Aguas Calientes. Arrival in Machu Picchu village station, also known as Aguas Calientes to hrs. 22:00, reception and transfer to hotel.

A hrs. 6.00 After breakfast, we board the buses heading to the citadel of Machu Picchu, where we will have a guided tour of this amazing archaeological site, new wonder of humanity. If they choose will have the option to visit Huayna Picchu and the rest of the morning free to remain in the archaeological complex.
A hrs. 14:00 return by bus to Aguas Calientes and then free time for lunch we boarded the train bound for Ollantaytambo expedition (alternatively Poroy station), after 1 ½ hrs. arrival travel and mobility contact for transfer to the city of Cusco, to your hotel.

Early in the morning, excursion to visit The Seven Colour Mountain or Raibow Mountain, one of the most impressive geological formations of the Andean mountain range on the way to the Apu Ausangate. Return to Cusco.

Transfer to the bus terminal to board the night bus to Puno.

We pick you up from the hotel to leave towards the port of Puno to visit the totora floating islands of the Uros. Return to Puno for lunch and continue to the bus terminal to take the transportation towards Copacabana (Bolivia), it is a 3 hour trip and it is required to cross the Peruvian-Bolivian border of Kasani to make migration procedures.

Night in Copacabana.

After breakfast we will take the boat to the Sun Island, at its south part we will visit inca’s archaeological site of Pilcocaina and enjoy a low difficult hike of one hour, up the hill to the town of Yumani, there we will visit “Escalinata Del Inca” (Inca’s stairs) and “Fuente de las 3 aguas” (the Fountain of the 3 Watersheds) where we will have some time to take pictures and enjoy a breath-taking view of the lake and the Royal Range of the Andes, then we will go back to Copacabana by boat. As the last activity we will visit the village of Copacabana and its church, a religious sanctuary in honour of Candelaria Madonna, an important pilgrimage site. Bus towards La Paz departs at 1:30 pm and arrival to La Paz city at 5:00 approximately.

There will be some free time at the center of the city before taking the night bus to Uyuni.

Departure from Uyuni at 7 a.m. We head to the Chilean border “Hito Cajón“ driving for approximately 6 hours, we pass by the nice town of “San Cristobal”. Then we continue southwest towards the border to meet our other companions that come from San Pedro de Atacama (Chile). Before we will stop in the Valley of the Rocks, this bizarre eroded rock formation has hundreds of reddish colored rocks, shapes are due to the constant pounding of the wind and sand. There is a large quantity of viscachas (related to chinchillas) an quirquinchos(armadillos) in the whole area.
Arrival to the border where we wait for a short time while other passengers do the immigrations paper work. Later we drive into the Eduardo Abaroa National Reserve. The first stop is at Laguna Verde at the foothills of Licancabur Volcano, this lagoon has a surface of more than 17 Km2 of salt water with an elevated content of magnesium, arsenic, lead and calcium carbonate, giving this lagoon a brilliant emerald green color.
Then we drive through Dali’s Desert (the name was given because it resembles a painting of Salvador Dali, the Spanish painter). We continue to Sol de Mañana, where we can observe the bubbling mud “fumaroles” emerge from the depths of the earth.
The highlight of the day is the beautiful Red Lagoon (Laguna Colorada), which receives its name from the reddish colored waters, caused by the presence of “plankton”, a microscopic algae of the specie called Dunaliella Salina. The lagoon is also home to the three types of flamingos: The Andean Flamingo, the James Flamingo and the Chilean Flamingo
It’s time to head towards the Hotel where we will overnight, on our way we visit Árbol de Piedra (Tree of Stone), a very particular eolic formation. Arrival to “Tayka del Desierto”, it stands in the middle of a landscape painted by nature with a range of colors, in the heart of Siloli Desert at 4,600 m.a.s.l.

After breakfast we will start towards the “Joyas Andinas Lagoons”, the first one is “Laguna Honda” (Deep Lagoon), is the smallest of the surrounding lagoons and has a great variety of wild ducks and partridges. Then Laguna Hedionda (Smelly Lagoon) is a rather strange lagoon, the sulfur saturated waters give off an odor that can be noticed from several kilometers around the area, finally Cañapa Lagoon is surrounded by mountainous terrain and extinct volcanoes, its green color water contrasts majestically with the flamboyant colored flamingos that inhabited the area.
In a southwest direction to Uyuni, close to the border with Chile is Ollagüe Volcano, it has smoke near the top because is an active volcano.
It is time to go to the Hotel Tayka de Piedra at San Pedro de Quemes for lunch. Close to the hotel it is located the Burned Town, called this way because when Bolivia and Chile where at war at the end of the XIX century, the Chilean Army came through and burnt the old town down.
Inside the magnificent Salar de Uyuni we will drive towards Incahuasi Island located 102 Km. from Uyuni village. It stands in the center of the salt flat, and it is the highlight of today’s trip and the most popular due to the stunning flora and fauna unique in the world, there we will make after the short hike to the top of the island.
We continue our trip driving north entering the magnificent Salar de Uyuni and head towards the hotel for overnight, Hotel Tayka de Sal at the village of Tahua.

At 8 a.m. we start the drive up to the Thunupa Volcano, then after a 2 hours trek we can observe from the “Mirador Colorado” the “Ruta Intersalar”: Salar de Coipasa, Salar de Empexa and the majestic Salar de Uyuni, which can be seen with all its splendor.
Then we are back to the beautiful Salar to take beautiful pictures. Later arrival at the Playa Blanca Hotel which is built of salt blocks, the general construction is very rustic and since it’s setting in the middle of the Salar it has a astonishing landscape. Then we will observe the “Ojos de Agua” (Water Eyes), are holes on the surface of the salt plain, inside which the brine (salt saturated water) located under the superficial crust bubbles up. Finally, we arrive to Colchani whose residents extract the salt using rudimentary tools such as a pick and shovels and later continue to the Train Cemetery (also called Train Graveyard), it is possible to observe a great number of antique steam locomotives and rail wagons of the early railroad days, built mainly in France and England.
Arrival to Uyuni at 5 p.m. approximately.

Night bus to La Paz.

We will pick you up from your hotel to start the city tour, it begins at the “Witches market” where you will find traditional remedies and witchcrafts to offer to “Pachamama” (Mother Earth)
We continue visiting the exteriors of the San Francisco Basilica, the most representative religious temple of the Baroque-Mestizo style in Bolivia and then we address ourselves to Murillo Square, in its surroundings there are: the Presidential Palace, the headquarters of the Congress of the Republic and the Cathedral, later we will visit a museum at the Jaen Street, a small beautiful patrimonial street which is a reflex of the colonial past of the city.
Our next stop is a panoramic viewpoint from there you will have a great view of La Paz city. Finally we go to the south part of the city to get to the Moon Valley, a natural area formed due to the erosion and clay composition of the soil, wind and rain have created a valley filled with stalagmites.
Return to hotel

Transfer to airport for your return flight.

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