We start our tour early, as we have a rather long first day ahead of us. We pass through the Zona Sur of La Paz , which is the residential zone for majority of the middle and upper classes in La Paz . The road will take us through rich suburbs of Calacoto and Cota Cota. We will head in the easterly direction and climbs steadily out of La Paz until we reach Las Animas pass at 3740m (12270 f). Here we will have magnificent view of Mt. Illimani (6402 m - 21004 f) and Mt. Mururata (5869 m – 19225 f). The cobble stone road then descents into the Palca valley, which is one of the main supply zones of vegetables for La Paz . We pass several small communities and eventually arrive to Ventilla. Ventilla is a small village which is the departure point for the trekkers who decide to walk the Takesi Inca trail.
The road, now unpaved, climbs steadily towards Mt. Illimani. The road might be in poor conditions, and thus our four wheel drive SUVs will be handy. There are beautiful views of the Palca valley and the surrounding indigenous communities, most of them however have electricity and even phone these days. As we climb towards the pass over the Cordillera Real, the nature of the surrounding countryside changes. It becomes more and more inhospitable, just rocks and very tough grass. Eventually the road reaches its highest point at 4204 m (13793 f), the Abra Pucuani pass between Mt. Mururata and Mt. Illimani massifs
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