Bolivia: See & Do Almost it ALL in 10 Days, 1st Class Traveling

Our tour of Bolivia starts in the colonial city of La Paz. It attracts visitors due to its surrounding nature and its Old Town, featuring buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries. Below is a list of highlights for today in and around the city. Also, note the cable car rides are attractions onto themselves, offering an experience found almost nowhere else on Earth.

1. Valle de la Luna (a.k.a. Moon Valley): surreal-looking rock formations

2. Green cable car ride

3. Yellow cable car ride

4. Plaza Murillo: home to Plurinational Legislative Assembly (a.k.a. the parliament, which can be visited on the outside only) and the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace

5. Red cable car ride

6. Blue cable car ride

7. Plaza San Francisco: home to San Francisco Cathedral (the views from atop are great, but it isn’t always open to the public)

Most of our international customers first arrive later-evening into the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra before reaching La Paz. If this is the case for you, then you can sleep at a hotel in Santa Cruz de la Sierra the night before our tour begins. The following morning, you could take a flight to La Paz. This tour starts the morning you have arrived into La Paz. We can arrange all of this for you. Don't worry!

Also worth mentioning, if you are required to obtain a visa for Bolivia, we recommend you do so before entering the country. While it can also be done upon arrival, the process is quite lengthy and bureaucratic.

We make a daytrip from La Paz to a village called Copacabana. There we visit a famous cathedral. Afterwards, we take a boat to Lake Titicaca’s Sun Island. There we are provided with a guided walking tour first to the Inca palace and then to the Inca stairway. Archaeologists have discovered evidence that people lived on this island as far back as the third millennium BC. Many hills on this island contain agricultural terraces, which adapt steep and rocky terrain to agriculture. There are approximately 800 families living on this island. This is the place to be if you want to immerse yourself in Bolivian culture.

Today we make a daytrip from La Paz to a very scenic mountain pass called La Cumbre. There we start a car cruise along Yungas Road, a.k.a. “The World’s Most Dangerous Road.” It was once considered just that because of its steep slopes and narrow single track. A new alternative route was built during a 20-year period, ending in 2006. The modernization included enlarging the carriageway from one to two lanes, asphalt paving, bridges, drainage, guardrails and the building of a new section between Chusquipata and Yolosa, bypassing the most dangerous sections of the original road.

Later on in the day, we take a biking tour in the same area, but further down the mountain. Photos and short video clips of our journey are provided to us complimentary and via email. Lunch is included on today’s tour and is served at a hotel. There we can also go swimming.

Today we fly from La Paz to the town of Rurrenabaque and then drive to a village called Santa Rosa. There we take a wonderful boat ride along a river called Yacuma, with the destination being our ecolodge. Welcome to Bolivia’s wetlands, where the river cruises never cease to amaze. Note that all meals are included by our ecolodge during our stay.

The highlights during our stay in the wetlands are fishing, cruising alongside pink dolphins, river cruises, searching for anacondas and seeing lots of beautiful wildlife. Many of these activities are done today.

Before returning to the city of La Paz, we spend much of the day on river cruises searching for caimans, monkeys, a unique-looking rodent called capybaras and numerous species of birds.

Today we relocate early morning from the city of La Paz to the town of Uyuni. There we immediately start the 3-day Jeep safari tour. The first stop is the Train Cemetery. There we are provided with a guided tour. Next is a guided tour of the salt factory in the village of Colchani. Following this is lunch, which is included on today’s tour. After our meal, we are taken to the salt flats. They are called Salar de Uyuni. It is the largest salt flat on earth. It was formed as a result of transformations between several prehistoric lakes. We are first provided with a guided tour of some wells, getting an idea as to how they work geologically. We then see salt piles which resemble cones.

Following the salt piles is a visit to the old Salt Hotel. There we have a quick look as to what is now a museum. Next is a site called Isla Incahuasi Island. There we have enough time to take postcard-perfect photos of the salt flats. Lastly for today is the village of San Juan, where we lodge for the evening. Dinner is included on today’s tour, around 8:30pm.

*Note that today's itinerary changes a bit during wet season, which is January through March.

The destinations for today are Cañapa Lagoon, then Hedionda Lagoon, then Honda Lagoon, then Siloli Desert and finally Laguna Colorada (a.k.a. Red Lagoon). Laguna Hedionda is notable for various migratory species of pink and white flamingos. Llamas and alpacas are also seen grazing in the area. Home to flamingos, Laguna Colorada is a shallow salt lake whose white color contrasts with the reddish color of its waters. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and lodging are all included on today's tour.

The destinations for today are the geothermal field at Sol de Mañana, then Termas de Polques hot springs (bring swimming attire and a towel!), then Salvador Dalí Desert, then Laguna Verde (a.k.a. Green Lagoon) and then the village of Villa Mar. Sol de Mañana is a geothermal field characterized by intense volcanic activity. The sulfur springs field is full of lakes and steam pools filled with boiling mud. Known for its spectacular scenery, hot springs (where we go bathing) and flamingos, Laguna Verde is a salt lake home to minerals that render the color seen in the water.

Breakfast is included on today’s tour, around 7:30am. Lunch is also included on today’s tour, around 1:00pm, specifically in Villa Mar. Following lunch is a visit to the Valley of the Rocks. Our last destination for today before flying to Santa Cruz de la Sierra is again, Uyuni.

This is the end of our tour of Bolivia. Transportation will be arranged for you to reach the airport in Santa Cruz de la Sierra.

Worth noting, not included in our tour of Bolivia are (1) the city of Sucre, (2) the mines of Potosi, (3) Amboró National Park and (4) Noel Kempff Mercado National Park. However, upon request, CharlieTheTraveler can fully arrange a visit to any of these destinations. The two parks, especially Noel Kempff Mercado, are difficult-and expensive-to reach. As for Sucre, while there are only a handful of worthwhile historic monuments to check out, a track site called Cal Orcko is arguably the city’s main draw. Nine different morphotypes of REAL dinosaur tracks have been documented there.

Not least is Potosi. This town was founded in 1546 after the discovery of the rich silver deposits in the Cerro Rico Mountains. It soon became one of the wealthiest and largest cities in the Americas. Some of the city’s wealth from silver mining was used to build magnificent baroque churches and monasteries. The history of Potosí is still reflected in the narrow streets, colonial mansions and the many churches. Potosi is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Nevertheless, the town itself isn’t charming by any means. The real reason to visit Potosi is for its silver mining tour. The mines of the Cerro Rico mountain are the richest in all of world history and may have produced 60,000 tons of silver back in the day. Some tourists enjoy this tour. Others get a bit sad after observing the miners’ working conditions. These mines are more of a ‘special interest’ type of attraction.