I did this trip in 17 days covering most sights of Bolivia, North Chile and South Peru. This was the last vacation trip I did before quitting my 9-6 job to travel full-time.
Day 1: Santa Cruz de La Sierra (Bolivia)
I flew into Santa Cruz de La Sierra and booked my first night in Jodanga Backpackers, a hostel with a pool and great atmosphere.
Day 2: Sucre, Potosi, Uyuni (Bolivia)
The next day I did the logistics overland to the city of Uyuni, with a stopover in Sucre and Potosi. I spend a night in the city of Uyuni in Residencial La Cabaña and booked my tour for the next day in one of the many possibilities of travel agency.
Day 3,4: Uyuni Salar (Bolivia)
The 2 days tour with a night in the salt hotel was a blast. We visited hot springs, colorful lagoons (including the green lagoon) and the amazing Isla de pescado (an island full of giant cactus in the middle of the salt desert)
Day 5: San Pedro de Atacama (Chile)
The 4×4 dropped us in the border with Chile where we got a transport to San Pedro de Atacama and spend a night in Chill Hostel. We also went to a nice viewpoint of the desert.
Day 6,7: Iquique (Chile)
Iquique is a lovely coastal city of Chile with the Pacific Ocean beach and huge dunes on the background. The harbour area offers a variety of good restaurants with an awesome view. I spend two nights in Backpacker’s Hostel Iquique 1 minute walk from Playa Cavancha where I booked a paragliding jump and surfing classes.
Over here I tell about my experience surfing in Iquique. I jumped for the first time in my life with paragliding using the services of the company Altazor and I detail here.
Day 8: Oasis of Pica (Chile)
I did a day trip to the oasis of Pica, a few hours from Iquique. Over there I spent time in the hot springs and headed back to the hostel.
Day 9: Arequipa (Peru)
From Iquique I took a bus to Arica (Chile) then Tacna (Peru). I kept moving to reach Arequipa where I spend a night in Los Andes Bed and Breakfast.
Day 10, 11: Cusco (Peru)
I headed to Cusco the next day and got a bed in a dorm in Pirwa Backpackers Colonial, a super structured hostel to receive travellers that go to Machu Pichu and come back to get their luggage. I explored the small town and enjoyed nightlife in the main square.
Day 12, 13: Aguas Calientes & Machu Pichu (Peru)
On the 12th day of the trip I took the cheapest way to reach Machu Pichu, using the Railway track. I explained how to visit Machu Pichu on a Budget here. The first day was only buses, vans and hiking. We reached the little town of Aguas Calientes in the end of the day where we slept and headed really early to visit the Machu Pichu site. On our way back we decided to take the train.
Day 14,15: Isla Del Sol (Bolivia)
We headed back to Bolivia, to the city of Copacabana, to get a boat to Isla del Sol, located in Lake Titicaca. We spend a night there and took the boat back in the next day.
Day 16,17: La Paz (Bolivia)
We ended the trip in the capital of Bolivia, La Paz, where we went down the death road with a bike and visited the Chacaltaya Mountain, the highest point I have even been in my life (5372m).
