Tupiza (May 16, 2006)

The tour started at 10:00, so we had time before it to book a Salar de Uyuni tour. We went to Valle Hermoso Tours and ended up booking a tour with them that goes around most of the southwest corner of Bolivia before going to the salt flats. We had to pay US$10 extra for an English guide, and there were already two other Australians booked on it. We were hoping to get the maximum number of six, because the price would drop considerably, but in the end there were only four of us. We paid a hefty US$140 each, probably double what the tour would have cost us from Uyuni, but apparently when the tours leave from here you see more stuff because the tours from Uyuni spend an entire day just to get back to Uyuni. Oh well, with only four people in the jeep there will be more room.

Back to today’s tour…there were two jeeps doing the tour with eleven people. The nine other people were a group from the UK who were doing an extended motorcycle tour of Argentina, Bolivia and Peru (two months, I think). They had parked their bikes for the day and opted for the 4x4 tour of the area. It was very interesting talking with them, and they made motorcycle touring sound great. Julia, one of the women in our jeep, owns the company Globe Busters (www.globebusters.com) with her husband, and they have been leading tours around north, central, and south america for several years. They are based in Wales, and also run a “learn to ride” program that teaches how to handle a bike and then takes you on roads around Wales. Hmmmm…something to keep in mind! (Gerald & Michelle – you guys should look into that company or one similar; you would love the tours they do!).

The landscape around Tupiza is absolutely gorgeous. The hills and rocks are all different colours – red, orange, various shades of brown, black, and the odd shade of green thrown in. Our first views were of the Quebrada Seca, south of Tupiza. Next stop was the Canyon del Duende, where we hiked up an ancient riverbed for a couple of kilometres. The scenery along this walk was great – pinnacles of stones that had been washed away by what Lincoln believes was an ancient river delta. During the rainy season, the riverbed has flash floods that last only two hours, with water only around a meter deep, and then it dries up again. We wedged ourselves between rocks and went as far as we could until we hit a wall that was too high to climb over and then turned around and walked back out. As we were nearing the end we met some other people doing a similar tour, but on horseback. There are lots of horseback tours in the area, including a two-day “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” tour that traces the last route the boys took before they were killed in San Vincente, close to Tupiza.

Our next stop was the Toroyoj bridge and a picnic area beside it. What a great setting to eat lunch! The picnic area was alongside a river and had several benches set up. Lunch for Lincoln & I was fried egg and cheese sandwiches, and the others ate tamales filled with llama meat, onions and vegetables. There were also apples, bananas, and yoghurt; not a bad spread.

After lunch we headed back through Tupiza and went north of the town. We drove through the Quebrada de Palala, and then the road started climbing steeply up switchbacks to reach El Sillar, with more stunning scenery. The next phase of the tour was the most fun – we unloaded the bikes that were on top of the jeeps and rode back down the winding switchbacks, all the way into town and back to the tour agency. It was great fun! The bikes were not very good – the shocks didn’t work on mine so my arms rattled around like crazy, Lincoln’s rear derailleur completely fell off halfway down and he had to change bikes, one guy got a flat – but at least the brakes worked. We were able to get up some speed in a few sections, but had to slow down to go around the curves that had cliffs off the edges. It was nice to be riding a bike again after the Canadian winter, however Lincoln seemed to have forgotten how to wear a helmet because when I saw him part way down I had to inform him he had it on backwards…this was after telling the others in the group about how much he mountain bikes. I had a good chuckle!

After reaching the bottom of the mountain, the guide waved us on and told us to keep going. As we rode through the outskirts of town it was fun to respond to the young children yelling “hello!”, and “hola!” The tour ended around 3:00 so we had plenty of time to download our pictures and prepare for the next tour. We ate dinner early, checked back with Valle Hermoso to find out that there would be only four of us, went to the painfully slow internet café, picked up our laundry, packed our bags, drank some tea, and went to bed early again, excited to start the tour tomorrow.

To see pictures from Tupiza, click here