Arrival to La Paz Airport, transfer your accommodation and check in. Free day to relax and take it easy, maybe explore a little this high city.
Note: La Paz is really high so it is best to do everything slow the first days. Drink a lot of water, eat light, avoid alcohol and don´t rush!
Be ready to be picked up for a full-day tour to Tiwanaku ruins at 08:00. These pre-Columbian ruins surrounded by beautiful nature are located about a one and a half hour ride away from La Paz. The ancient city and culture of Tiwanaku is one of the most important on the American continent. It is believed that they were even more advanced in pottery, astronomy and math than the neighbouring Incas. You will be amazed to learn how this ancient people used to live and what they believed, so different from us nowadays. If you are travelling further north, you will see the Tiwanaku influence in the archaeological sites of Peru. After a visit to the uncovered ruins (there is a lot that is being uncovered, but is not open to the public), the tour returns to La Paz and will leave you at you accommodation at around 16:00.
Free day in La Paz to visit the old town.
After breakfast, check out and make your own way to thee bus station for the bus to Copacabana, a small town at the shores of Lake Titicaca. After a 3-hour ride, you will arrive in town and check in your accommodation. At 14:30, you will go for an easy hike to Kasanani Hill, a beautiful and ancient astronomical observation site built by the Incas to follow the movement of the Sun and the Moon and also to calculate eclipses and follow the change of seasons. 200 m from there, you will find the Intikala Temple, or Stone of the Sun, a series of big seats carved in stone. Then you will visit the Cathedral of the Virgen de Copacabana, that holds inside the image of the Holy Mary, carved by an Inka in 1583. After that, you will reach the summit of the hill so see great views of the Titicaca Lake and surroundings. Back to hotel and dinner.
At 08:00, you will take a boat to the northern part of Isla del Sol, arriving around 10:30 to the community of Challapampa. You will visit the Gold Museum and then walk for half an hour to the Inca Chincana Ruins, to later reach the Table of Stone. Along the island, many archaeological sites can be seen with one highlight: the Sacred Rock, or the Rock of the Origins, where according to the legend, Manco Capac and Mama Occlo departed to stablish the city of Cusco later on. At mid day, back to the Port to have lunch.
At 14:00, you will board the boat to begin the trip to the south of the island, stopping at Yumani Port to see boats made of "totora" (cattail in english). From the port, you will hike up to the village of Yumani at the southern end of Isla del Sol, passing by a series of Inca ruins and 3 sacred springs of water. Yumani is an Aymara comunity that built its town on top of an Inca site, with streets and walls made of stone. At the summit, you will see the sunset, and then it's back to the hotel and dinner.
After breakfast, walk down to the port through another route to pass by the ruins of the palace of Polkokaina and the Temple of the Sun. Back to Copacabana at 11:30 with time to catch the bus to La Paz. The bus to La Paz takes about 3 hours. From La Paz you will take an overnight bus to Uyuni Town.
Day 8: Chuvica - Villamar
Day 9: Villamar-San Pedro de Atacama
Day 10: San Pedro de Atacama
Day 11: San Pedro de Atacama
Day 15: Salta - End of itinerary
