"Lauca - Altiplano at its best" Lauca by joernme

Lauca Travel Guide: 7 reviews and 11 photos

A great daytrip (could be more) from Arica

At the end of my 6 months in Chile I took 2 weeks off to discover Chiles wonderful North. Much of this you will see on my Chile page, but Lauca must be mentioned on its own. I booked a trip with a small group in a small bus in a small travel agency in a small street in Arica. The experience was grand! From sea level to 4.600m height was quite difficult for some of us, though, especially on the way back. We chew a lot of coca leaves with cactus ash to overcome the height sickness and everybody had to sing a christmas song from his country, but still it was hard to stay awake on the way down. Until then, though, the scenery was unforgettable and the trip a lot of fun. I believe the name of the travel agency was Jurasi Tours - excellent!

Pros and Cons

Pros:Scenery, Air, Mountain villages + people, daytrip possible
Cons:the height
In a nutshell:Go!

Last visit to Lauca: Jul 1996
Intro Updated Feb 5, 2004
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Reviews (7)

Lago Chungara Things to Do (2)

This is the "final destination" of most day trips from Arica and definitely the absolute highlight. Being on 4.600m the... more travel advice

This guy has been standing here for over 300 years - Lauca

Thin air tree methusalems Favorites (2)

Check out the last trees on the way up. These are real methusalems, hundreds of years old and quite unique and beautiful... more travel advice

Thin air tree methusalems Favorites (2)

Check out the last trees on the way up. These are real methusalems, hundreds of years old and quite unique and beautiful... more travel advice

Parinacota Things to Do (2)

I guess this is an obligatory stop on the day tour - and it definitely is a nice one! Parinacota is a quiet indigena... more travel advice

Off The Beaten Path (1)
Visit the cemetery near Putre
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Comments (5)

metteks Sep 11, 2006 at 11:53 AM Report Abuse

What a great intro-photo
pepples46 Oct 31, 2004 at 6:27 PM Report Abuse

Beauty comes with a pricetag 4600m does funny things to people.....good tips how to counteract it.....excellent page, eigentlich fantastische Reise!!
mtncorg Oct 21, 2004 at 7:57 AM Report Abuse

Que magnifico! Very nice pictures and thoughts. The Parinacota Volcano and the Lauca look to be places of austere and remote beauty!
keeweechic Oct 9, 2004 at 8:53 PM Report Abuse

Gosh amazing to hear about the height sickness, interesting preventative method. Good about the lack of tourism. Lago Chungara, what a spectacular sight - sounds amazing. Interestng sights.
iandsmith Jul 17, 2004 at 2:51 PM Report Abuse

I'm breathless just looking at the photos. Is that all you took?