Day 1
Description: You'll cross from Peru at Kasani in the morning — passport stamped out of Peru, walk through the no-man's-land, then stamp into Bolivia at the Kasani immigration office. Change any remaining soles right at the border (better rates than Copacabana). Drive 8km east to Copacabana, get cash at the Banco Unión ATM (the only fee-free option in town for Visa), wander the main plaza in front of the Basilica, grab a cheap almuerzo at the public market. Today is short on distance and long on acclimatization at 3,812m. Don't push for La Paz today; the altitude will punish you if you skip this step.
Kasani, Bolivia Immigration Office — border entry
Arco de Kasani — border photo stop
Lake Titicaca
Banco Unión - Cajero Automático Copacabana — cash stop
Punto Entel Mundo CELL D&J — sim card
Copacabana Main Square
Mercado Copacabana — lunch
Day 2
Description: The day starts with the drive along Titicaca's southern shore to Puerto de Tiquina, where the road simply ends at the lake and you put your vehicle onto a wooden barge to cross the strait. Grab snacks at the market while the barge gets organized. After the crossing, the road climbs away from the lake — stop in the small Aymara village of Chua Cocani for a quick 15-minute leg stretch on the plaza. Continue toward La Paz. From the city outskirts, peel off the highway onto the off-road track toward Tuni reservoir — this puts you at the base of the Cordillera Real for tomorrow's acclimatization hike.
Puerto de Tiquina — ferry crossing
Mercado de San Pedro de Tiquina — lunch
Plaza Chua Cocani
Day 3
Description: Up early for the Pico Austria summit hike — 4 to 5 hours round trip from the trailhead above Tuni. The path is non-technical but the altitude is real: you'll cross 5,300m on the summit ridge. This is your acclimatization test before Huayna Potosí. After descending, drive back down to La Paz and check into Camping Las Lomas — Marcos's place in Calacoto, the classic overlander base for the city. Hot shower, secure parking, real bed (or your own roof tent). One night below 4,000m before the big climb.
Pico Austria
Camping Las Lomas — overlander base
Day 4
Description: Drive the rough Zongo Pass road from La Paz up to Refugio Casa Blanca, the base camp at the foot of Huayna Potosí. Spend the afternoon doing glacier training — crampons, ice axe, rope work — with your guide. The base camp is warm and basic; you'll sleep at 4,750m tonight.
Refugio Casa Blanca — base camp
Day 5
Description: A short but punishing hike up to high camp at 5,200m. You're carrying a sleeping bag, warm layers, and not much else. Arrive by mid-afternoon, eat early, and try to sleep. Wake-up call is around midnight for the summit push, so 'sleep' here is generous — most climbers just lie still and breathe.
High Camp Rock — high camp
Day 6
Description: Summit day. You leave high camp around midnight in crampons, head torches, and every layer you own. The push is steep and slow — every breath at 5,500m+ takes effort. Sunrise hits as you near the top of the glacier; you reach the 6,088m summit shortly after, with views across the Cordillera Real and Lake Titicaca shimmering below. Descend the same route, collect your gear from base camp, and drive back to La Paz. Hot shower, beer, sleep.
Huayna Potosí
Day 7
Description: A rest and resupply day in La Paz. Start with the viewpoint over the southern zone where Illimani fills the eastern horizon. Hit Torre Ketal for the last proper supermarket run — coffee, dried fruit, propane, anything you don't trust the small altiplano towns to have. Fill the tank completely at Surtidor Calacoto (the 24-hour station that sells premium fuel), then drive south. End the day in Patacamaya at the hostal-restaurante for charque-khan dinner and a cheap bed.
Mirador Virgen Blanca
Torre Ketal — supplies
Surtidor Calacoto — fuel
HOSTAL-RESTAURANTE VIÑA DEL MAR — hotel
Day 8
Description: A long driving day across the central altiplano toward Sajama. Lunch stop in Ancaravi at Don Diego — basic Bolivian almuerzo, nothing fancy, but the only real restaurant for hours. The highway then curves through brown plateau with the perfect cone of Nevado Sajama (6,542m, Bolivia's highest peak) rising on your right. Stop wherever the light catches it well. Fuel up at Surtidor Painter on the approach — this is the last reliable gas before the empty southbound altiplano. Camp wild somewhere on the way south to Salinas de Garci Mendoza.
Restaurante Don Diego — lunch
Nevado Sajama
Surtidor Painter — fuel
Day 9
Description: Today you reach Salar de Uyuni. Stop in Salinas de Garci Mendoza for lunch at Enzo's — TAMBO SALINAS, where the wine is local and the conversation lasts. Top up fuel at R&T on the way out of town, then drive onto the salt. The approach is via the northern entry — the Salar opens up suddenly, white to every horizon. Hit Tunupa's lower viewpoints, then drive south across the salt. The driving feels surreal — no roads, no markers, just compass and instinct. Reach Isla Incahuasi in the late afternoon, pay your 30 Bolivianos entry, walk the cactus loop, then drive your vehicle out onto the salt 200m from the island and sleep there. The silence is total. The stars are absurd.
TAMBO SALINAS Restaurant & Cafe — lunch
Surtidor R & T — fuel
Tunupa volcano
Uyuni Salt Flat
Isla Incahuasi — bivouac on salt
Day 10
Description: Drive east off the Salar via Colchani into Uyuni town for the big resupply day. Fuel up at the YPFB station, then go straight to Minuteman Pizza for the most famous post-Salar meal in South America. Stock cash, get any vehicle work sorted, then drive back onto the salt and exit south via Escalera al Cielo — the salt-block staircase on the eastern edge. From here it's a long off-road push southeast into the upper edges of Sud Lípez. Wild camp tonight; the elevation creeps above 4,000m.
Surtidor YPFB Uyuni — fuel
Minuteman Pizza — lunch
Escalera al Cielo
Day 11
Description: A driving day deep into Sud Lípez. The day's centerpiece is the Cañón de las Vizcachas — narrow rock walls, wild chinchilla-relatives sunning themselves on the cliffs. Bring binoculars and approach quietly. The rest of the day is driving through increasingly empty volcanic terrain. Wild camp somewhere with a windbreak; tonight will be the coldest yet.
Cañón de las Vizcachas
Day 12
Description: The day Sud Lípez earns its reputation. Cross into the Desierto de Siloli for the morning — rock formations everywhere, vizcachas in the crevices, the famous Árbol de Piedra at 4,576m. Wander the rock garden around it. Pay your reserve entry at the Eduardo Avaroa checkpoint, then descend to Laguna Colorada — first from the elevated mirador, then closer to the red water itself. Sleep on the shore. The flamingos are still there at dusk.
Siloli
Árbol de Piedra
Entrance point - Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina "Eduardo Avaroa" — 150 BOB fee + 25 BOB road fee
Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa — park entry
Mirador Laguna Colorada
Laguna Colorada — bivouac
Day 13
Description: Wake up to Laguna Colorada at sunrise, then climb to 4,850m at Sol de Mañana for the geyser field. The sulfur smell hits hard but the boiling mud and steam jets in cold morning air are unforgettable. From there, drop to 4,400m at Salar de Chalviri. Start with a quiet soak at Aguas termales Chalviri — the smaller, less-touristed pool — then move to the main Termas de Polques in the afternoon. Pay your entry, soak in the hot springs while flamingos work the lake. Camp at Polques.
Sol de Mañana
Salar de Chalviri
Aguas termales Chalviri — morning soak
Termas de Polques — bivouac
Day 14
Description: The big finish. Drive to Quetena Chico, pick up the mandatory local guide for Cerro Uturunco, and grind the 4x4 up to 5,650m. From there, hike to the 6,008m summit — about 2-3 hours of slow, lung-burning steps. Down by early afternoon, then race the light south to Laguna Blanca with Licancabur volcano reflected in its borax-white water, and Laguna Verde just beyond it turning emerald as the wind picks up. Clear Bolivian customs at Hito Cajón, then climb the final pass at Portezuelo del Cajón. The descent into Chile and San Pedro de Atacama starts on the other side.
Cerro Uturunco
Laguna Blanca
Termas de Laguna Blanca — sunrise soak
Laguna Verde
Bolivia Customs and Immigration — exit stamp
Portezuelo del Cajón — border crossing
