Yungacruz trail; from the Andes to the Amazon (TTYUNGAC)

After breakfast we will take our transport and head north towards Lake Titicaca. Half of the way we will do our first hike in this small rocky range facing Cordillera Real. After the hike we will board our vehicle to get to the shores of the lake where we will stay in one of the best hotels in the area.

Traveling through this land it is easy to understand how important the shores of Lake Titicaca have been in the development of Andean cultures. Surrounded by desert like hills and snowcapped mountains, the lake offered, and still offers, rich lands and a mild climate. On the way to Copacabana, we will be culturally transferred to the past as we go by Aymara villages where Indians have been keeping their lifestyle for centuries.

Overnight: Hotel Rosario del lago

The road towards Pinaya snakes along the ridges and slopes of the southern part of Illimani mountain in Cordillera Real massif, more precisely through the Palca canyons. The continuous change of colors and textures in the mountain sides are amazing to the eyes: the agriculture fields between the canyon faces, the protruding rocks guarding the rivers and the shining glaciers overlooked from the pastures. Pinaya is a typical Aymara Indian village. Our ever smiling porters and mule drivers live there. They worship Illimani as their protector and benefactor. The first part of the trek will be quite steep up to Chapoco; a swampy grassy plain used as a base camp for climbers who attempt this mountain. From this point we will continue on an abandon road towards our campsite located in an old mining campsite. After sunset, a shapeless “ameba” of light appears under the horizon: the city of La Paz.

Overnight: Camping

A new gold mine has started operations and now the route to our pass is very distinct and it navigates between vertical rock faces and along slopes of scree. The pass itself is but a small notch in a black rocky ridge that runs down from the Illimani massif. The passage is dramatic insofar as we leave one world behind for completely new vistas. Once through, instead of skirting round Illimani we will be facing east towards the cloud forest and spotting Quimsa Cruz mountain range for the first time – and as the mountains get lower and lower, so they get greener. It is also a good spot for sighting condors riding the thermals. We will spend some time exploring and old abandon gold mine at the other side of the pass as we descend towards the bottom of the valley where we will set our campsite. It is even possible to start smelling the perfumes of the forests down below. In the evening before it goes dark you will likely hear what sounds like thunder – in fact it is the dynamite blasts of a small handful of gold miners working on the rocky slopes above.

Overnight: Camping

On our way to the next camp we pass by “El Rancho”; a rundown farm of old buildings that probably were part of a more extensive hacienda before the land-reform that followed the 1952 Revolution (the seminal historical event in modern Bolivian history). If we are lucky to find anyone there, we may buy some sweet limes or Chirimoya (custard apples). The former are great to eat simply peeled like an orange – or if you have bought a bottle of Singani (Bolivia’s national spirit) with you, to make a citric rocket fuel aperitif before supper. Later we will ascend to the village of Quircuma and from there still higher up into a hidden valley called Trapiche where we will set our campsite.

Overnight: Camping

Today’s climb is not really noticed as the trail takes us into a “lost paradise valley”, the weirdest thing is that the higher we go the most dense the vegetation grows because of microclimatic conditions in this valley. It will fell hot and humid as we pass along ancient pre-Hispanic paths that cut tunnels through the vegetation towards our campsite located on the slopes of “Cerro Khala Ciudad” (the name of this mountain group translating as Stone City). Today we have a long way uphill towards Kasiri lagoon, our route will take us first on a scenic ridge to then drop down to Trapiche meadow which looks like a Jurassic park with grass fields surrounded by trees, ferns, parasitic orchids, bamboo and moss clad trees. In the afternoon we will get back to the altitude lands featured by lakes with vertical rocky shores. The trail gets wider and the cobble stone is in better shape. It is amazing to know that they have been built at least a thousand years ago.

Overnight: Camping

The trail gets narrower as we descend into the cloud forest. At times we will be walking through tunnels of vegetation – as it gets progressively thicker, warm and more humid our lead guides might have to use machetes to clear the way. However, it is not unpleasant and there are good opportunities to spot orchids and birds. We will be descending a ridge and suddenly the cloud forest will give way to cultivated land as we descend towards the Hacienda of Siquilini. The Yungas are the semi-tropical valleys that lie in the eastern foothills of the Bolivian Andes – coca is grown here as it has been for many centuries, although citrus fruits and coffee are also produced. Today the Yungas have become a destination for the wealthier citizens of La Paz to retreat to away from the cold and altitude of the city. We will take our vehicles to go the nearby town of Chulumani.

Overnight: Hotel San Bartolome