Bolivia

Article Tube Sillar trek

A wilderness not far from Tupiza

Petr Liška
Wrote 2408 articles and follows him / her 241 travelers
Tube Sillar trek
Inserted: 15.12.2015
© gigaplaces.com
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You will definitely not find this beautiful hike over the Palala Valley in any Bolivian guide, yet it offers wonderful views of the rock town of El Sillar. In addition, you will experience a drop of adventure in a completely deserted landscape full of small canyons and weathered rock towers. If you set off lightly and have to return to Tupiza that day, set off very soon, so that you can return in the light. This tour is definitely not suitable for lonely tourists, if something happens to you you will not call.

View of the Palala valley

This trip follows a classic excursion to the Palala Valley. It practically expands it by a slightly more adventurous part. About a kilometer and a half walk from the junction of the valley you will come to the place where the eroded rock towers end and through the valley there is a „tube“ along which you will continue. If you do not want to take this whole trip, you can only alternatively climb the side ridge with a beautiful view. From the valley, climb steeply along the pipe to the ridge. This is a view back where you see the valley you came to and the side viewing ridge.

View of the Palala valley
Author: © gigaplaces.com

Panoramic view of the Rock City

After climbing the valley, you will have an amazing view of the rock town of El Sillar. Much in the distance you can see the mouth of the Palala Valley, which made its way through the red ridge. Directly behind it is hidden Tupiza, the center of this fairytale area.

Panoramic view of the Rock City
Author: © gigaplaces.com

Red rock fortress

Directly below you is a beautiful red castle, which would be worth a separate survey.

Red rock fortress
Author: © gigaplaces.com

Road above El Sillar

On the other side of the valley above the main part of the rock town of El Sillar, the road connecting Tupiza with San Vicente curls (Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid were killed in this village), ie. an alternative route to the amazing Bolivian southwestern Altiplano. This road is your destination and the return route to Tupiza. But it is not an easy goal at all, although it does not seem so at first glance.

Road above El Sillar
Author: © gigaplaces.com

The path along the pipe

The actual path along the pipe has a changing character, even though you are still essentially traversing the slope. For a while you walk on a pleasant wider path similar to almost the sidewalks in the Tatras. Then there is just a narrow trail, almost like chamois. The worst is overcoming smaller riverbeds, when you are waiting to climb up and down, in addition, it is sometimes a little more airy. You're probably wondering what the tube is for. Probably a water line. In several places, however, it is disconnected, so it probably does not serve its intended purpose. Suddenly a betrayal comes – the pipe leads through the air through a 3 meter wide riverbed, which is at least 6 meters deep. All you have to do is climb up and look for a little narrower place to jump. Even so, it's not a very good feeling to look under yourself and get really deep there.

The path along the pipe
Author: © gigaplaces.com

Wild canyon

However, the real adventure begins a bit further. The path leads to a twenty meter deep canyon. The tube leads elegantly more than five meters through the air and there is no sign of how to get down to the canyon. All that remains is to climb up the canyon. It can be seen from the viewpoint that the riverbed has divided – the pipe disappears in the left part and we walk along the right one and move away from the road. In addition, the terrain above is becoming increasingly impassable. All that remains is to find at least a little suitable place and descend into the canyon and return to the pipe by the riverbed.

Wild canyon
Author: © gigaplaces.com

Road through the canyon

The path through the narrow canyon is quite interesting, but it is practically not possible to „escape“ from it thanks to the steep walls around it, so you are just praying that there is no insurmountable rock step. In addition, where there is shade, the water is frozen and the terrain is highly threatened by falling.

Road through the canyon
Author: © gigaplaces.com

Skating rink in the canyon

The canyon in some places really resembles an ice rink.

Skating rink in the canyon
Author: © gigaplaces.com

Grassy four-thousanders

Finally, the canyon walls become less steep, so we head straight up to the ridge with the coveted road. After about a hundred meters of ascent, already over four thousand meters above sea level, we finally reach the open landscape of gradual grassy ridges. The road is only about 700 meters as the crow flies and is at the same height, but there are three other valleys between us.

Grassy four-thousanders
Author: © gigaplaces.com

Road to the road

Fortunately, two of the valleys can be bypassed, so you will only have to cross one. Fortunately, there is no more dangerous terrain. So you are finally by the road, but back to Tupiza it is still 18 kilometers away. So either you have almost a four-hour walk ahead of you, or if you're lucky, you'll stop someone (the locals are fortunately stopping).

Road to the road
Author: © gigaplaces.com

El Sillar a quebrada Palala

But wait a while before tracking. Don't miss the great panoramic view of the entire rock town of El Sillar and the Quebec Palalu.

El Sillar a quebrada Palala
Author: Jan Miklín © gigaplaces.com

Colorful hills around Tupiza

The surrounding landscape is really magical, but also rough and quite deserted

Colorful hills around Tupiza
Author: © gigaplaces.com

View of the road from Tupiza to the Altiplán

Finally, you get to the famous viewpoints, where there is a jeep tour heading from Tupiza to the Altiplano. However, they are only here in the morning. In the early evening it has a completely different charm.

View of the road from Tupiza to the Altiplán
Author: © gigaplaces.com
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