Travel to Tupiza and Choosing a Tour

This is one of my few posts that will be strictly informational (ok, maybe a bit anecdotal too...) because I had so much anxiety planning a trip to Bolivia. It has been a dream of mine since my friends traveled here a few years ago, and now I have finally made it a reality. But for a planner like me, planning Bolivia was a nightmare. Reliable information was few and far between and many of my plans had to be made at the last minute. For a person who has booked and planned and put on a spreadsheet our entire 4.5 month trip, Bolivia was a thorn in my side. So here I am, to share with others how I got where I got and did what I did. I hope it helps!

Getting to Tupiza:

Most people who come to Bolivia choose to do a tour starting in Salar de Uyani. I, for many reasons, choose to start in Tupiza. First, the companies that run out of Tupiza are more reliable and less crowded. More about choosing a company later, but the ideal departure point was there. You could see more things with less time sitting in a truck and less early EARLY mornings. Yes, please. Hours of Internet research and I still hadn't figured out the best way to get to Tupiza. After emailing my tour company, they told me two ways to arrive there; direct bus or bus/train combo. I am one for less changes (and opportunities to lose things or miss connections), so we opted for the direct bus. We found the Terminal de Busses a 10 minute walk from central La Paz and on suggestion of our tour company in Tupiza searched for the two companies that actually stopped in there. One of them, Trans Illumini, was all closed up so we tried the other, Trans Americano. With a kind person behind the counter and the help of Google Translate, we finally were able to buy our tickets that day for the next day's bus (this was very confusing for him, but we got our tickets in the end!)

The day of travel we had been advised to arrive an hour early. This meant we were sitting in the terminal waiting anxiously for an hour. Fun fun, right? Finally, ten minutes after our scheduled departure, we were hustled onto a bus that was clearly not TransAmericano. It was Pullman Buses, but the quality of seats was comparable. It seems we paid more for our initial seats than our tickets stated, so our 'helper' and TransAmericano made about $5 a person profit. Ah well, we made it on the bus and were going to the right place. Or were we?

About halfway through our 16 hour bus trip, I checked the folded ticket our helper had given us as he showed us our seats and sprinted off the bus. I hadn't looked at it before because it was folded, we were in our seats, and I had to correct receipt! Upon further inspection, I noticed that it had the wrong destination! When we took a 20 minute stop (the only real stop) about halfway through for food and toilets, I used my broken Spanish to inform the driver that we were not going to Villazon, but meant to get off in Tupiza. He smiled and let me know that he would call out the stop (or at least that's what I think he said - my Spanish is very minimal, remember?)

We had a restless night's sleep, even though the seats and leg rests were comfortable and our bags secured. Around 4 am we were up and waiting for a stop. At 4:30 we saw a sign that told us we had arrived and, without a call to confirm where we were, got off to find our bags still in the hold. Hallelujah! Then we went off to find a taxi to get a few hour's sleep before our tour started at 8am. Exciting, right?

Given all my anxiety, it was surprisingly easy to get the bus to Tupiza. They accept reservations the day before or day of, so show up, grab a ticket, and get ready for a long bus ride to your destination!

Choosing a Tour:

Another point of anxiety for me had been choosing a tour. I have read many, many accounts of people taking the classic 4 day tour across Bolivia, and about 75% of the accounts had very negative points: drunk drivers, terrible food, broken down cars, the list goes on and on. It stands to reason then that I would take my time to research and find a reliable company. I actually found 2 reliable companies, but based on the trip I wanted, I chose one over the other. La Torre Tours offered the five day, return to La Paz trip that I was looking for. Tired of uncertainty, I wanted to be able to get back to the airport without a problem and this tour was the one that would do it for me. La Torre Tours had positive ratings all around and so I booked the 5 day Tupiza to La Paz tour. I decided with our extreme lack of Spanish we would pay for the English guide and a slightly extra fee. And boy were were glad for this. Our guide, Elizabeth, was highly knowledgeable about every town, natural feature, and all things in between. Besides the knowledge, she was a warm, friendly, kind person who I would be happy to call my friend. If you decide to take a tour through La Torre, I would highly recommend that you request her, as she is the best you will get. Her English is impeccable as is her sense of humor. Our driver Felipe, was equally energetic and we were sorry not to be able to converse more with him. We felt safe and comfortable throughout the trip, one thing I was definitely worried about.

Paul and I with Elizabeth and Felipe. What a great group!

Elizabeth was not only our guide, but our cook! Here she is cooking us :)

Our steady and reliable driver jumping in front of his car!

If you are looking for a tour from Tupiza, look no further than La Torre Tours. I promise you won't be disappointed! (In case you are wondering, no, they're not paying me for this - it is my own experience that drives me to recommend the company, and more than that, our guide and driver!)

I hope you have as an amazing experience as we did! It is something we will never forget, and dream that I will have the chance to come back to again someday.