Mount Chacaltaya & Valle de la Luna

La Paz, Bolivia

The city of La Paz is surrounded by mountains. Everywhere you look you can see the familiar white-capped peaks in the distance. One very common activity among travelers is to climb one of the mountains – Huayna Potosi – in a 3 day/2 night trek. Considering this trek involves ice climbing and wearing crampons, Mac & I deemed it a little bit out of our experience range. Instead, we opted to go on a day tour to Huayna Potosi’s neighbour as well as another unique landscape in La Paz. Our day tour to Mount Chacaltaya & Valle de la Luna was definitely memorable and provided us with some of the best views we’ve ever seen!

Mount Chacaltaya

The tour started at our hostel in La Paz where we then were driven 1.5 hours north of the city to the base of the mountains. From this point, we could see the coloured lagoons (made colourful by excessive deposits of iron, copper, led or arsenic. Though beautiful, they are quite toxic) as well as 4 different mountains: Huayna Potosi & Chacaltaya, as well as Mururata & Illimani. In one direction, you can even make out El Alto (the city above La Paz) in the distance. The landscape was so barren, but also extremely beautiful. We even saw some passing llamas & alpacas!

After a brief stop for pictures, we continued our drive up the mountain. Our driver was nothing short of amazing as he managed to navigate the switchbacks, steep hills, and cliff edges with ease. The van stopped at what used to be a main building for the ski hill that used to exist. Due to climate change, there is almost no snow present here and the ski hill is now closed. The elevation here is 5300m. From here, we climbed to the summit of Mount Chacaltaya – 5395m.

Though it was only a brief 100m climb, every step was a challenge (and I was taking teeny tiny steps). My heart was pounding and it was a struggle to catch my breath. The trail on which we walked was really unique. It’s made of volcanic rock and was like nothing I’d ever seen before. The dark rusty red colours of the trail & hills were a stark contrast to the surrounding white-peaked mountains.

We eventually reached the summit & it was absolutely unreal. Mac and I spent quite a bit of time just gazing in every direction and being constantly amazed by the beauty surrounding us.

Valle de la Luna

We eventually had to make our way back to the van to go to our second and final destination: Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley). In 1970, Neil Armstrong paid a visit to Bolivia, and after stopping at this location, he remarked how it resembled the surface of the moon. Thus, it was dubbed Moon Valley. Our group was given about an hour to explore this unique area.

Erosion, weather & time have played a significant part in what this area looks like today. Giant rock/mud formations are scattered about, with some creating extremely deep crevasses. Walking around this area was like nothing I’d ever seen before. It was really neat to look past this area and see the city surrounding it. Similar to Huaca Pucllana in Lima, the contrast between bustling city life and stand-still creations was awing.

After our walkabout, we hopped back in the van one final time to finish the tour downtown near Plaza San Francisco. Mac & I weren’t sure what to expect from this seemingly simple day tour, but it was 100% absolutely worth it. I’m so glad we decided to book this tour as the views we experienced on top of Chacaltaya were completely awe-inspiring.

Practical Information

We booked this tour through Buho’s tour agency/operators. The going rate for this tour is 100Bs plus 15Bs each for the entrance fees for Mount Chacaltaya & Valle de la Luna (for a total of 130Bs – ~$20USD each). This includes: all transportation, a bi-lingual guide, and entrance to the two sites. It does not include: tip for the guide or food.

Tips:

• Wear layers. 5400m above sea level is high. It’s also quite cold, and the wind at the summit is very unforgiving. Gloves & a hat are key. A windbreaker was also quite appreciated.

• Bring food. As mentioned above, this tour doesn’t include food. It also doesn’t include any stops for lunch (aside from Chacaltaya & Valle de la Luna – but we were too busy taking in the scenery to want to take a break & eat). My recommendations would be to bring portable, car-friendly bites such as: pre-made sandwiches, peel-able fruit (oranges, bananas etc), granola bars, and the like.

• Wear sunscreen. And reapply!! The sun is really bright & the rays are very strong. You can never have enough sunscreen!