DETAILED PROGRAM

DAY 1: ARRIVAL AT LA PAZ/ FREE DAY (3600 m.a.s.l.)

Welcoming at La Paz airport and commuting to the hotel. Free time for the rest of the day.

DAY 2: CITY TOUR (3600 m.a.s.l.)

Meeting with your tour guide at the hotel reception.
The day will be dedicated to visiting La Paz. You will discover the main sites of the city: barrio colonial (colonial neighborhood), mercado de las brujas (Witch market), calle Jaén (Jaén street), plaza Murillo. You will be able to enjoy the colorful markets of La Paz and its typical atmosphere (mercado Rodriguez…).

You can also discover the city from above thanks to the funicular railway of La Paz known as the highest funicular in the world. From there, you will benefit from a spectacular view of La Paz.

Return to the hotel by the end of the afternoon.

DAY 3: LA PAZ – TIWANAKU – COPACABANA (3840 m.a.s.l.)

Leaving the hotel with your guide to go to the archaeological site of Tiwanaku. You will discover this archaeological site linked to the tiwanakota culture with its ruins and museum.

After lunch, we’ll travel along the edge of the Titicaca lake towards Copacabana, a village located on the shores of the lake. Visit of the main sites of the village and ascent to the calvary where you will enjoy a sunset on the lake.

Night at the hotel.

DAY 4: COPACABANA – TREK ON THE ISLAND OF THE SUN– YUMANI (3925 m.a.s.l.)

Leaving the hotel for the Copacabana harbor where our boat will be waiting for us. We’ll sail to the village of Ch´allapampa located in the northern part of the Sun Island. From then on, we’ll start our hike by following an old Inca trail towards the ruins of Chinkana. We’ll continue towards the summit which offers a spectacular outlook on the Illampu and Ancohuma mountain range.  In the afternoon, we’ll arrive at the village of Yumani located in the southern part of the island.

Night at the hostel.

DAY 5: YUMANI – COPACABANA –  RINCONADA – CHIARKHOTA LAGOON (4670 m.a.s.l.)

Leaving the hotel and walking to the ruins of Pilkokaina. Return by boat to Copacabana.

Leaving Copacabana after the lunch towards the Condoriri massif.

Arriving at la Rinconada, an hour long hike will take us to the Chiarkhota lagoon where we’ll set our base camp.

Camping Night

DAY 6: CHIARKOTA – AUSTRIA PEAK 5350m alt – CHIARKHOTA LAGOON (4670 m.a.s.l.)

Hike to the Austria Peak, viewpoint from where we’ll enjoy nice view on the summits of Cordillera Real.

Camping Night

DAY 7: CHIARKOTA LAGOON – TARIJA PEAK (5300 m.a.s.l.) –PEQUEÑO ALPAMAYO SUMMIT (5430 m.a.s.l.)- CHIARKOTA LAGOON  (4670 m.a.s.l.)

Leaving at 03:00 am.

Hike to the end of the valley to reach the foot of the glacier located at 4805 m alt.

Ascent to the Pico Tarija located at 5320 m alt.

Descent to a rocky section before climbing the final slope for the “pequeño alpamayo” (50/55º).

Return to base camp following the same trail.

Camping Night

DAY 8: CHIARKOTA LAGOON – ALA NORTE - CHIARKOTA LAGOON (4670 m.a.s.l.)

Leaving at 02:00 am.

In the first section we’ll walk through the slope moraine that leads us to the glacier. Later we will cross the glacier to the base of the route where the ascent will be pitch by pitch between snow and ice. After 8 to 10 lengths we will reach the top crest and finally the summit.

The descent will be by the northwest edge. From the glacier we will continue the same route for the descent until the base camp.

Camping Night 

DAY 9: CHIARKOTA LAGOON – RINCONADA – LA PAZ (3600 m.a.s.l.)

After breakfast, we’ll hike until “La Rinconada” where our vehicle will take us back to La Paz.

Night at the hotel.

DAY 10: LA PAZ / FREE (3600 m.a.s.l.)

Resting day in La Paz.

DAY 11: LA PAZ – SORATA (2800 m.a.s.l.)

Departure from La Paz in private car to Sorata, village located north of the Cordillera Real.

Travel through the most attractive places of this warm zone, at the valleys in the foothills of grand Illampu.

Night at the hostel.

DAY 12: SORATA - BASE CAMP (4600 m.a.s.l.)

After breakfast, we will take our transport to the next part of the journey. A dirt road will help us gain height until arriving to Lak’atiya, starting point for a trek that will take us through a not so visible trail, which generally crosses trough humidity and fog. After 4 hours we will find ourselves in a valley known as “Aguas Calientes”, which will be our base camp.

Camping Night

DAY 13: BASE CAMP – HIGH CAMP  ILLAMPU (5500 m.a.s.l.)

We will depart at 08:30 y and start the walk and a part of the climb (3°-4° of difficulty). Four hours into the journey we will install our camp in high ground Illampu which is also foothills Schulze peak. After that we will dine and rest.

Camping Night

DAY 14: HIGH CAMP –ILLAMPU SUMMIT (6360 m.a.s.l.) – BASE CAMP ILLAMPU (4600 m.a.s.l.)

We will start ascending at 2:00 am. A short plateau will make its appearance, after that, a lot of excitement and adventure awaits us with a first slope of 45°, which leads us to a ridge. We will continue this path until facing a new slope, this time one of 60°-65° that will finally lead us to the Summit. Magnificent would be the word to describe what can be observed from this point, the sunrise, the sea of clouds and the majestic Lake Titicaca.

We will descend through the same path to the base camp.  

Camping Night

DAY 15: BASE CAMP – CHILLATA LAGOON (4183 m.a.s.l.)

We will go down the same road until reaching Lak’atiya and continue through a path leading south walking around the outer edge of the mountain until arriving to Chillata lagoon where we will set up our camp.

Camping Night

DAY 16: CHILLATA LAGOON –GLACIER LAGOON (5200 m.a.s.l.)

Day of approach, walking once more uphill. We will find granite rocks through the path that might be slippery due to the humidity. After hours of walk we will find ourselves in a paradisiac lagoon which will be our base camp for the evening. Beautiful sunset and privileged view of Titicaca Lake and its sea of clouds under the lagoon.

Camping Night

DAY 17: GLACIAR LAGOON – HIGH CAMP IN SNOW (5700 m.a.s.l.)

On this day we will go through unstable morena rock with the goal of gaining height, after which we will continue ascending the glacier until reaching 5800 mts of altitude. We will set up an advanced camp over the glacier.

Camping Night

DAY 18: HIGH CAMP – ANCOHUMA SUMMIT (6427 m.a.s.l.) – GLACIER LAGOON (5200 m.a.s.l.)

We will start ascending at 02:00 am. The path shows a wide glacier without much slope at the beginning, after which a 50°, 80 mts slope will show. After going through this wall there is only a small section between a ridge and a moderated slope, which will lead us to the summit.

Descent through the same path to Glacier lagoon (base camp).

Camping Night

DAY 19: GLACIAR LAGOON – SORATA – LA PAZ (3600 m.a.s.l.)

The return will be through the same way to Lak’atiya, from which we will keep on walking downward until reaching the place where our vehicle will be waiting to take us to Sorata and then La Paz.

DAY 20: LA PAZ / FREE (3600 m.a.s.l.)

Resting day in La Paz.

DAY 21: AIRPORT TRANSFER /INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT

Transfer from hotel to the airport (3 hours before our international flight).