18 Day Mission Impossible Guided Motorcycle Tour in Bolivia

Overview

Samaipata, Florida Province, Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia Mission Impossible tour is basically a Wild Wild West tour, but including five desert days. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, takes you to the unbelievable beauty of the South Lipez desert, located between 4,400 and 5,000-meter altitude. The desert sections are simply hard. Big sands and wide volcanic gravel fields, rocky roads, no roads, 1.000-meter wide corrugated roads - it is all included. Ride through the absolute highest road in the world, the double super Uturuncu volcano, a hot spring, geysers, salt lake, and snow-covered volcanoes among other, this will be a challenging, and yet rewarding adventure!

Highlights

• Starts and ends in Samaipata
• Trace back some of the revolutionary hero, Che Guevara's paths
• Ride on the absolute highest road in the world on the super Uturuncu volcano
• Set off to Potosí, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the highest city in the world
• Enjoy a fantastic “Martian” landscape in the middle of snow-covered volcanoes
• Ride to Salar de Uyuni, the enchanting largest salt lake of the world
• Enjoy a hot spring bath and the view of thousands of flamingos
• 17 nights accommodation

Itinerary

1. Day 1: Airport pickup at Viru-Viru, Santa Cruz

   - Altitude: 400 meters You will be picked up at the airport of Santa Cruz, Bolivia from where you will drive to the small town of Samaipata (120 kilometers, three hours). There, you will check into a comfortable hotel and spend the rest of the day to relax and discover. If your flight arrives late, you need to spend the night in Santa Cruz. In that case, the following day is considered as day one.

2. Day 2: Samaipata

   - Altitude: 1,650 meters You will with the briefing where you learn more about safety riding, the route, the local traffic rules, and about each other. To get used to your bike, you will go for a ride to the archeological site of “El Fuerte”. Classified World Heritage by UNESCO, it is an old Inca town build around the, much older, largest stone sculpture in the Americas. For some people, it is an ancient Alien landing field!

3. Day 3: To La Higuera (175 kilometers, 108 miles)

   Altitude: 1,900 meters Terrain: 50% dirt road Leaving early in the morning, we stop in Vallegrande to visit the hospital´s laundry building, where revolutionary hero Ernesto Ché Guevara´s lifeless body was first presented to the world in 1967. After lunch, we continue our ride towards the tiny mountain village of La Higuera, the place where the Ché was captured and executed. On the road it’s possible to observe condors, the world biggest bird. Before arriving at the hotel in La Higuera, you have the option to detour on a special ride to a fantastic view. In the evening around the campfire in t

4. Day 4: To Sucre (310 kilometers, 192 miles)

   Altitude: 2,700 meters Terrain: 50% dirt road After visiting the historic school building where Ché Guevara was executed and the related sites, we leave towards Sucre. On the suspension bridge over the Rio Grande, we have a snack stop. Pasing the picturesque village of Villa Serrano we reach Tarabuco. After lunch we continue to Sucre the capital of Bolivia. The rest of the afternoon and evening is for exploring this beautiful colonial city. The entire city center is painted white and is classified as a World Heritage site by UNESCO.

5. Day 5: To Potosí (155 kilometers, 96 miles)

   Altitude: 4,100 meters Terrain: 0% dirt road leave Sucre early in the morning. On smooth tarmac we start to climb towards the altiplano (highland planes). We stop and visit a strange monumental bridge. Then onwards to the mining city of Potosí which sits at 4,100 meters altitude, making it the highest city in the world and also classified Word Heritage by UNESCO. During the ascent, the guides will give us instructions about to deal with altitude sickness. In the afternoon, visit the miner’s market where we can buy anything, ranging from coca leaves and dynamite. Then continue to the mines wher

6. Day 6: To Uyuni (205 kilometers, 127 miles)

   Altitude: 3,700 meters Terrain: 5% dirt road Riding through incredible scenery, you will make a stop at a spectacular canyon. Along the road, look out for vicuñas (family of camelids), emus and thousands of lamas. Arrive at the small mining village of Pulacayo. Here, you'll walk around the ancient railway station, past the mine entrance and we can climb the train wagons which are the very same ones the American outlaws Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid arrived in when they came to Bolivia 110 years ago. Next break is Uyuni where you'll visit the train grave yard, a fantastic collection of dis

7. Day 7: To Quetena chica (260 kilometers, 161 miles)

   Altitude: 4,200 meters Terrain: 100% dirt-road Leaving Uyuni, you will enter the desert. Almost nothing grows here but the emptiness is far from boring. Until Villa Alota the roads are clearly, but the further you go, the less obvious the roads become and the more spectacular the scenery becomes. Far before reaching Quetena chica, you will notice the double peaks of Uturuncu volcano. You will spend the night in a basic comfort lodge at the base of the Uturuncu volcano.

8. Day 8: Climb Uturuncu volcano and to Polques (120 kilometers, 74 miles)

   Altitude: 4,400 meters Terrain: 100% dirt-road Very early in the morning, you will start to try to scale Uturuncu volcano via the absolute highest road in the world (5,800 meters or 19,000 feet). At the end of the track, at 5,800 meters altitude, the landscape looks like it looked already 4.5 milliards years before: Sand, rocks, scree fields and gases hissing from the ground, nothing has changed since. After lunch, continue the route to Polques at the Laguna Chalvin. You will spend the night next to a hot spring where you can sit in steaming hot water, gazing at a zillion stars. Only basic com

9. Day 9: Polques - Laguna verde - Agua de Perdiz (182 kilometers / 114 miles)

   - Altitude: 4.300 meters - Terrain: 100% off-road Heading south, you will pass painted desert landscapes, endless valleys littered with massive rock pillars until you arrive at the “Laguna verde”, the green lagoon. After lunch, returning to Polques, you turn north passing volcanic vents that blast their gasses into the cold sky, bubbling boiling colored mud pools and geysers at 4,950-meter altitude, and the colored lagoon (Laguna Colorada) with islands made of crystal white borax where thousands of flamingos come to breed. Passing the famous stone tree (arbol de piedra), you end the day at Agu

10. Day 10: Agua de Perdiz - San Juan del Rosario (150 kilometers / 94 miles)

    Altitude: 3,700 meters Terrain: 100% off-road This morning, you will first have a date with soft sands, than with an ambush canyon, followed by a snack at the 1,000 flamingo view point at “Laguna Hedionda”, the stinking lake. At the visitors viewpoint to the active volcano Ollague, you will make your lunch picnic. Before you arrive at the remote town of San Juan del Rosario, you will have to pass a railway over a salt lake.

11. Day 11: San Juan del Rosario - crossing the salt flats to Uyuni (247 kilometers / 154 miles)

    - Altitude: 3,700 meters - Terrain: 95% off-road / salt road Still surrounded by empty desert, you will make your way to an even more desolated area, the Uyuni salt flats. The Salar de Uyuni is a dried up salt lake, the size of a small country (11,000 square kilometers). Since the largest salt lake of the world has no references, whatsoever, and because there are only two colors in the world (blue sky and white salt), there is no perspective. Your brain will have a meltdown and you can take the weirdest photos (crazy photos with crazy bikers). On your way, you will visit the cactus island “Inc

12. Day 12: Uyuni - Tupiza (185 kilometers / 115 miles)

    - Altitude: 2,950 meters - Terrain: 20% off-road In the morning, you will leave Uyuni behind us on a new asphalt road. Be surprised to find a huge expresso machine in the small village, where you will have lunch. See some Emus along the road and you visit some dinosaur tracks and a ghost city. Before entering Tupiza, you will ride to the Bolivian Monument Valley. This is a part of the region where the (in)famous Banditos Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid operated and were finally killed. But with all the spectacular stone monuments, do not forget the hotel's pool!

13. Day 13: Tupiza - Tarija (205 kilometers / 128 miles)

    - Altitude: 1,860 meters - Terrain: 40% off-road When the rubber touches the off-road track, the landscape changes instantly into scenic back country roads with deep canyons. There is no infrastructure among this itinerary, so a picnic lunch is the only option. The ride to Tarija, the wine capital of Bolivia continues quite diverse, just after passing the last mountain, a fantastic panorama opens up to the Tarija valley. Dinner will be served at restaurant “El Marqués”, a gastronomic highlight. Possibility to visit the Casa Dorada and Castillo Azul and the paleontological museum (Extinct mamma

14. Day 14: Tarija - Villamontes (245 kilometers / 153 miles)

    - Altitude: 390 meters - Terrain: 20% off-road Snaking mountain roads take you from the rolling hills of Tarija to the arid dry Chaco region. The last part of this road is considered one of the scariest bus rides in the country. On the motorcycle, where you are in control, it is a lot less hazardous. Photographers get ready… and if you miss the part, no problem, you can just ride it again.

15. Day 15: Villamontes - Abapo (321 kilometers / 200 miles)

    - Altitudes: 445 meters - Terrain: 10% off-road After all the off-road stages, it is again pleasant to feel asphalt under the tires. Your way leads you through the gas production zone of Bolivia. You will ride on a special road to a monastery and cross an abandoned, very narrow railway bridge. An exciting ride, nothing for people with fear of height. Only basic restauration, so you will have a Bolivian grill dinner tonight.

16. Day 16: Abapo - Samaipata (206 kilometers / 128 miles)

    - Terrain: 0% or 20% off-road, varies depending on weather conditions The road to Samaipata takes you alternately over sandy tracks or asphalt roads along the Piraí River, the Eastern cordillera up to Samaipata, your starting point. You will leave your bikes behind and hurry to jump into the hotel's pool.

17. Day 17: To Santa Cruz

    Late in the morning, you set off for Santa Cruz where you can relax, hang around the plaza, and do some souvenir shopping. In the evening, you will have a farewell dinner.

18. Day 18: To the airport

    Always a sad moment when one say goodbye. But who knows? You would not be the first to come back for more.

Ride Details

Terrain

60% off-road

Bike

rental bike (Suzuki DR650SE 2018-2024)

Mileage

2,966 kilometers / 1,842 miles

Daily rides

120 - 321 kilometers / 75 - 200 miles

Riding gear

not included: helmet, boots, pants, jacket, and gloves

Meals

all meals

Accommodation

During this tour, you will stay in various hotels along the route as mentioned in the itinerary.

Getting There

This tour will take you exploring Bolivia, from the South Lipez desert, Uturuncu volcano, Salar de Uyuni, and more. [+](https://www.tripaneer.com/bolivia-motorcycle-adventures/19-day-mission-impossible-guided-motorcycle-tour-in-bolivia# "Zoom in") [−](https://www.tripaneer.com/bolivia-motorcycle-adventures/19-day-mission-impossible-guided-motorcycle-tour-in-bolivia# "Zoom out") [+](https://www.tri