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[matt_barr]

Hi,

I'm planning a trip to Peru and Bolivia in May, and have found myself stuck and a little nervous that getting in a tour to the Salar De Uyuni isn't going to be possible!

My current itinerary finds me in Cuzco on Friday, 22nd May and I'm flying out of La Paz on Saturday, 30th May. That leaves me a week to get down to Uyuni and back again - and not best placed to take advantage of the well recommended Expreso Del Sur (which seems to only leave on Tuesdays and Fridays).

Can getting down to Uyuni and back again be done? Perhaps I be looking at a different route to the salt flats?

Any advice would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
Matt

[mmbcross]

What more can I say! Kathryn has just about covered every eventuality. As Kathry states, it would help a lot to know what day you will be leaving Cuzco. That gives us an exact time period to calculate.

Cuzco to Arequipa is 10 hours
Arequipa to Iquique is 10 hours (plus border crossing, which is relatively easy.)
Iquique to San Pedro de Atacama is 4 hours
San Pedro de Atacama to Uyuni is anyone's guess as you have to go through customs and immigration, and the crossing is not a very important entry point.
Uyuni to La Paz is 14 hours

So you see, it's quite a long haul. If you are going through Arequipa you should spend at least a day there. It's Peru's second city. If you take this route you will not be visiting Lake Titicaca, unless you make another stop at Puno, which is a miserable town, and probably the worst place to see Lake Titicaca from.

Frankly if I were in your shoes, I would give Uyuni a miss, and spend more time at Lake Titicaca (Copacabana in Bolivia is the best base for this) and La Paz.

See if you can get some gems of wisdom in our Uyuni forums
http://www.travelpod.com/forum-discussions...ivia/Uyuni.html

[matt_barr]

Well, thanks to you both, I really appreciate your time!

I am in a position to leave Cuzco on the 22nd, I get back from the Lares trek the day before.

I'm starting to think that perhaps a flight from Cuzco to La Paz could be an option. Not the cheapest one of course, but as I'm also keen to visit Lake Titicaca, and this won't be a trip I get to repeat in the foreseeable future, I'm seriously considering it.

My current, incomplete and possibly hopelessly optimistic, itinerary is...

• Sat May 23rd - Fly to La Paz - late afternoon/early evening in La Paz - catch Todo Turismo express bus to Uyuni
• Sun May 24th - Arrive in Uyuni early morning, start a tour late morning

Here's the hole. Either a two day or three day tour, I'm assuming a two day would be wisest. Then I'm aiming to get all the way back up to La Paz, and beyond to Lake Titicaca.

• Thurs May 28th - ...already at Lake Titicaca. Spend night in Copacabana.
• Fri May 29th - Travel back to La Paz
• Sat May 30th - Fly out of La Paz early morning.

As you can see, I'm hoping to avoid going through Chile at the moment. That's mainly to avoid missing Lake Titicaca, and also getting to Salar de Uyuni from the San Pedro side which I've heard is a brutal change in altitude.

What do you think - am I crazy?

Another option would be to shift everything a day earlier, and leave Cuzco on Fri 22nd May.

Thanks again for lending your expertise!
Matt