Andean Contrast

Reception at El Alto’s international airport and transfer to the hotel. Free time to enjoy the hotel's spa which offers massages, facials and other services. The hotel has an indoor pool, a gym, trendy bar and excellent restaurants. In the afternoon, depart to Moon Valley. Hike through its geological clay labyrinth and deep gaps. It is artwork. It looks like a stalagmite desert. Return to the hotel.

Meet your guide in the lobby of the hotel and go to the historic city center of La Paz. Your tour starts at the central station of the red cable car. In addition to your English speaking team, a "special" guide will show you the city in his own way. A shoe shiner will accompany you all morning. After a cable car ride, you will visit different markets. At the potato market, you will experience the distinctive smell and taste of a variety of dehydrated potatoes, like las tuntas and los chuños. You will experience the fish market, where goods arrive every morning between 3.30 and 5am as the cholitas prepare their stands. Afterwards, you will visit the shops where the cholitas paceñas buy their outfit’s colorful pleated skirts worn over layers of petticoats, embroidered shawls held by a brooch, and small bowler hats. As you will learn, being in fashion is expensive! We then take a break for lunch. We will eat at Ali Pacha, the universe of plants. Let yourself be surprised and enjoy its unique menu made from exotic Bolivian ingredients. In the afternoon, you will walk the city, visiting its colorful markets, colonial district, Murillo main square and the art galleries of Jaen street. We close the day with dinner at Gustu, one of the best restaurants in South America. Its "tasting" menu will delight your taste buds, blending ancestral knowledge of traditional cuisine with Bolivian grown and harvested food.

Departure in private vehicle to the airport. Flight La Paz - Sucre (variable schedule). Pick up at Sucre’s airport and transfer to the hotel. Meet your guide at 2pm in the lobby of your hotel. The day will be designed according to your desires, do not hesitate to let your guide know as soon as you meet him. Walking city tour of the "white" city listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Visit the convent of the Recoleta and the Ethnographic Textile Museum (ASUR) located in the heights of the city, the 25 de Mayo Main Square and La Casa de la Libertad (closed on Sunday afternoon and Monday). Dinner at Peña Origenes. A beautiful evening with folkloric dances awaits you.

Departure from the hotel towards the Sucre market to buy the necessary ingredients for the Bolivian cooking workshop. Discovery of local spices, a colorful moment and smell. Then, you will go to the cooking workshop where you’ll make 2 recipes: The Bolivian peanut soup (sopa de maní) and a Quinoa cake. 2 hours of cooking class in very good company. Then you will enjoy your preparation. A delight! In the early afternoon you will attend a traditional weaving workshop. Rest of the day is free.

We depart in the morning to the colonial city of Potosi. We arrive at the Hacienda Cayara Museum and hotel. We visit the farm of Hacienda Cayara, which offers a unique cultural exchange with the family living in the hacienda. The rest of the day is yours to explore life on the farm, the City of Stone, and/or the museum.

You will meet your guide at 09:00 in the lobby of the hotel. Visit the "Casa de la Moneda" (closed on Sunday afternoons and Mondays). This is the largest colonial building built by the Spanish in the Americas, it’s an impressive building with an impressive history. Departure at 2pm from the hotel in private vehicle to reach the city of Uyuni located not far from the Salt Flats.

We take off towards the Lipez region. Along the way, we visit the train cemetery on the outskirts of Uyuni, and go through San Cristobal, a village that was relocated after a mining company arrived. Of special note is its church, which was rebuilt stone-by-stone at a cost of almost half a million dollars. We stop to explore the Valley of Rocks. Erosion created strangely shaped rocks several meters high, almost as if by magic. Before reaching our destination, we take a short photo-op at a panoramic viewpoint of a magnificent canyon. We arrive in the village of Villamar in the late afternoon.

Our journey runs along the Salar de Capina, mined for borax. We stop at the thermal baths of Polques (4.000 m above sea level / 13.123 FT), where you can brave a swim with the Laguna Chalviri in the background. We drive through an area aptly named the "Dali Desert” for its almost supernatural landscape in earthy, ocher tones with rocks scattered throughout. We arrive at Bolivia’s border with Chile and the emerald colored Laguna Verde (4.300 m above sea level / 14.108 FT) at the foot of the Licancabur Volcan The wind blusters here. We explore the "Sol de Mañana,” characterized by geysers, fumaroles or mud puddles. We continue the Laguna Colorada, home to colonies of pink flamingos. We take an extended break here. Our journey then follows the Siloli desert road and its geomorphological formations, like the stone tree,” a local favorite, to the Hotel del Desierto, where we spend the night.

We continue towards the north on the "1001 Lagoons" road, where one beautiful lagoon after the next appears (Honda, Ch'arkota, Hedionda and Cañapa). Some are home to flamingo colonies. In the background, the colors play on the mountains creating impressive and changing landscapes. We stop after a while to stretch our legs and be awed by the majesty of the Ollaguë and Tomasamil volcanoes. Our day’s journey ends as we cross the Salar de Chiguana and arrive at the village of San Pedro de Quemez.

As we make our way to the Salar of Uyuni, we stop at the cave of the Galaxies, a unique place. The Salar of Uyuni blows us away. Even better than pictures or what we could have imagined. Its snow white surface, speckled with islands, play with our perception and awe us with beauty. We explore the island of Incahuasi and its unique cacti that seem to have come out of nowhere and into interesting poses. We enjoy the sunset over the salar.

Transfert to the Uyuni airport and return to La Paz. Our staff picks you up at the airport and takes you to your hotel.

Transfer out to El Alto’s international airport in private vehicle. (3 hours before the international flight departure time).