Our tour continues with a day of driving, this time we will leave the high cold Altiplano, cross the Andes and descent to lush tropical Yungas.
Early in the morning we bid farewell to Copacabana and return to El Alto, where the road takes us through some of the typical suburbs where one can appreciate the different style of living of this part of La Paz from that down in the valley. It actually seems as a different world all together. Eventually we leave El Alto and start to climb along inhospitable Altiplano towards Chacaltaya. If the weather is good we will get amazing views of Mt. Chacaltaya (5400 m) and Mt. Huayna Potosi (6088 m – 19974 f). We will continue along the desolate plateau, gently ascending to a pass on a nearby ridge line. Here we will get the view of the whole Huayna Potosi massif with the Milluni valley at the base of it. If we are in luck we might be able to see herds of llamas and alpacas. The plateau has an inhospitable climate (very cold nights) thus there is no cultivation at this altitude (4000 m – 13123 f). At the pass, there is a turn off east, towards Chacaltaya. The road continues to rise gently until it gets to the base of the massif, here it becomes narrow and rocky, and it starts to climb sharply in a series of sharp curves towards the Club Andino Lodge, which can be seen high above us as an eagles nest.
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