Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
However, a growing number are now resident in
La Paz
, where their skills remain in high
demand.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE: CURVA
By bus
Every other day or so, one of the La Paz-Charazani buses continues to Curva.
On foot
Alternatively you can walk up to Curva from Charazani in about four hours, fol-
lowing the footpath that starts near the hot springs and cuts across the valley floor, before
climbing up the other side to Curva (the road itself contours round and takes much longer to
walk).
Lagunillas
A fifteen-minute walk below Curva,
LAGUNILLAS
is a modern settlement beside a lake.
Usually busy with ducks,
huallata
geese and other wildfowl, the lake is actually artificial,
having been built as a reservoir to feed a series of pools nearby which are used to prepare
freeze-dried potatoes known as
tunta
. The rangers at the
refugio
can help find guides and
mules to take you on the trek to Pelechuco, and you should register with them before pro-
ceeding further into the mountains. Ask around here and you should be able to arrange a con-
sultation with a
Kallawaya medicine man
.
ACCOMMODATION: LAGUNILLAS
Refugios
No phone,
sernap.gob.bo
.
The protected areas agency SERNAP has a couple of
community-run refugios for trekkers here, with warm dormitories, solar-h
eated
showers and
a kitchen, though no restaurant; you can also camp beside the lake. Dorms
Bs20
The Ulla Ulla plateau
From the junction where the side road to Charazani branches off, the road running north
along the Peruvian frontier towards
Pelechuco
climbs onto the
Ulla Ulla plateau
, which runs
along the western side of the Cordillera Apolobamba. Covering some two thousand square
kilometres at an average altitude of 4300m, Ulla Ulla's broad expanse of green pasture and
marshland is set against a dramatic backdrop of snowcapped peaks.
The plateau has been a protected area since 1972, when the
Reserva Nacional de Fauna
Ulla Ulla
was established to protect the highly endangered vicuña population. The vicuña
population has since made an astonishing recovery, and just driving across the plateau you'll
see dozens of the animals, plus many hundreds of alpacas and llamas, as well as a wide vari-
ety of birds including flamingos, ibises and
huallata
geese. Signs of human habitacion, by
contrast, are few and far between. The biggest settlement is
Ulla Ulla village
, though it has
no facilities of any kind. If you want to spend the night here and explore areas away from the
road you'll need to camp. If you've got your own transport, there are some good natural
hot
springs
an hour's drive or so further north of Ulla Ulla village, just off the road at
Putina
.
