La Paz

While the constitutional capital of Bolivia is in Sucre, the seat of political power is in metropolitan La Paz. Surrounded by mountains its people call apus—“protective spirits”—La Paz is quickly becoming a modern cosmopolitan hub with chic restaurants, boutique hotels, and increasingly diverse shopping. Overlooked by the triple-peaked Mount Illimani, a mountain hike is not far off after enjoying coffee in a street side café.

Red and green cable cars travel high above La Paz: the city currently has the longest overhead cable-car transport system in the world, serving over 90,000 passengers a day. Beyond its infrastructure and commerce, the National Museum of Ethnography and Folklore offers an intimate look at Bolivia’s mosaic of indigenous cultures. Housed in the 18th-century Marquis de Villa Verde Palace, exhibits such as “3,000 Years of Textiles” explores the elaborate weaving traditions of the Tiwanaku and Inca civilizations. One of the museum’s trademark displays holds 50 brilliantly-colored festival masks of the ancient Uru-Chipaya tribe, a small and endangered tribe who lives on the Altiplano.

As with most of Bolivia, ancient traditions still run thick. In the “Witches’ market” one can find such tribal remedies such as dried frogs and toucan beaks—believed to cure sickness and protect against harmful spirits—as well as witch doctors ready to give fortune-telling services.

La Paz has it all—whether enjoying a chic modern fusion restaurant, negotiating at a street side market, or partaking in ancient traditions at the Witches’ Market, the city brings all the best elements of Bolivia’s past, present, and future, in one city.

Explore La Paz with O.A.T. on:

• Southern Peru & Bolivia: Inca Landscapes & Lake Titicaca
• Pre Trip:Bolivia: La Paz, Lake Titicaca & Uyuni on Machu Picchu & the Galápagos
• Pre Trip:Bolivia: La Paz & Lake Titicaca on Colombia's Colonial Jewels & the Coffee Triangle

Tiwanaku

Tiwanaku is the 3,000 year old capital of the Tiwanaku Empire, a people wiped out by the Incas almost 700 years ago. Largely built with adobe—meaning “mudbrick” in Spanish and comprised of earth and organic material—many monoliths, temples, aqueducts, and the sacred “Gate of the Sun” still survive today.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Tiwanaku is believed to have been a city of artisans. Researchers consider the city a cosmological and moral center of the Tiwanaku Empire as evidence shows it was the site of major pilgrimages. Underground irrigation systems and the remnants of nearly 50,000 agricultural fields indicate a sophisticated farming economy.

The well-preserved images of religious iconography and enduring architecture of Tiwanaku create an immersive experience through the story of one of the greatest pre-Spanish empires in South America.

Explore Tiwanaku with O.A.T. on:

• Southern Peru & Bolivia: Inca Landscapes & Lake Titicaca
• Pre Trip:Bolivia: La Paz, Lake Titicaca & Uyuni on Machu Picchu & the Galápagos
• Pre Trip:Bolivia: La Paz & Lake Titicaca on Colombia's Colonial Jewels & the Coffee Triangle

Uyuni

On the edge of a 4,000 square-mile salt flat, Uyuni is a small city of just over 10,000 amid an other-worldly landscape. An extensive street market comprises the heart of Uyuni, where one can find all kinds of goods including cultural souvenirs, toiletries, and clothing.

As far as the eye can see, white glistening plains of salt, punctuated sparingly by tiny islands of dirt and shrub trees, are the remnants of Lago Minchín—an evaporated prehistoric salt lake. Buildings in the city are made with blocks of salt from the flats, and it is harvested both for animal salt-licks and ordinary table salt.

A trip to Uyuni would be incomplete without visiting the harrowing Train Cemetery. Built by a diaspora of British engineers in the late 19th century, the railways in and around Uyuni once served as a commercial route between Bolivia and Chile. The trains, now long dilapidated and covered in rust, were once the target of attacks from indigenous people who believed the tracks intruded on their simpler way of life.

Explore Uyuni with O.A.T. on:

• Southern Peru & Bolivia: Inca Landscapes & Lake Titicaca
• Pre Trip:Bolivia: La Paz, Lake Titicaca & Uyuni on Machu Picchu & the Galápagos

Valley of the Moon

Millennia of strong winds and weather blasted away prehistoric mountains, leaving the jagged and flinty landscape of the Valley of the Moon. One part desert, one part lunar landscape, the valley was given its name by Neil Armstrong, the first human to walk on Earth’s celestial Moon.

The Valley of the Moon’s soil and rock formations are saturated with a rich variety of minerals which paint the stark landscape deep hues of red, purple, and beige. Just over six miles from La Paz, this destination has left many, including Armstrong, speechless.

Traversing the Valley of the Moon offers a physically challenging—and rewarding—experience. Uneven paths, sharp edges, and narrow trails through the valley make for a true excursion off-the-beaten-path.

Explore the Valley of the Moon with O.A.T. on:

• Southern Peru & Bolivia: Inca Landscapes & Lake Titicaca
• Pre Trip:Bolivia: La Paz, Lake Titicaca & Uyuni on Machu Picchu & the Galápagos
• Pre Trip:Bolivia: La Paz & Lake Titicaca on Colombia's Colonial Jewels & the Coffee Triangle

Lake Titicaca

Lake Titicaca is the largest lake in South America, covering an area of more than 3,000 square miles, and is the highest navigable lake in the world, straddling the border between Peru and Bolivia within the Andes mountain range at an altitude of 12,500 feet above sea level.

Its beauty is the stuff of legends, and is a holy place in the Inca religion; in their lore, the god of civilization, Virachocha rose from its depth and willed the sun, moon, and all of creation into existence. Religious and folk traditions of all types are still powerful here; Puno, a city located on the shore of the lake, is considered the folkloric capital of Peru, and is the scene of numerous festivals and celebrations honoring the old indigenous religions, as well as Catholic traditions brought over by the Spanish.

The area was, and still is, inhabited by the indigenous Uros people. Centuries ago, when the Inca encroached upon their lands, they retreated onto the lake itself, constructing entire floating islands out of reeds. Today, around 40 manmade islands still exist where the Uros follow their traditional way of life, centered around fishing and handcrafts.

Explore Lake Titicaca with O.A.T. on:

• Southern Peru & Bolivia: Inca Landscapes & Lake Titicaca
• Pre Trip:Bolivia: La Paz, Lake Titicaca & Uyuni on Machu Picchu & the Galápagos
• Pre Trip:Bolivia: La Paz & Lake Titicaca on Colombia's Colonial Jewels & the Coffee Triangle

Isla del Sol

According to Incan folklore, the great creator deity Viracocha rose from the central depths of Lake Titicaca and traveled to Isla del Sol, giving birth to Manco Capac and Mama Occlo—the “Adam and Eve” of the Inca—as well as the revered sun god Inti. This story was in reality created to justify an invasion of the island, then controlled by the Tiwanaku. One of the remnants of these ancient times is Chucaripupata, a Tiwanaku ritual site built into the side of a rough crag.

Covered in eucalyptus trees on rugged terrain, driving on Isla del Sol is an impossibility. Without navigable roads, this farming and fishing community of about 800 families travels largely on foot. A slower and more provincial lifestyle, Isla del Sol offers a welcome respite from bustling La Paz or the rigors of Bolivia’s nature. Here, life runs on “island time.”

Explore Isla del Sol with O.A.T. on:

• Southern Peru & Bolivia: Inca Landscapes & Lake Titicaca
• Pre Trip:Bolivia: La Paz & Lake Titicaca on Colombia's Colonial Jewels & the Coffee Triangle
• Pre Trip:Bolivia: La Paz, Lake Titicaca & Uyuni on Machu Picchu & the Galápagos