Day 1: (L, D)
Your adventure will begin by visiting an outdoor museum of the ancient and impressive field trains. Enter the Salar by Colchani, where you will see the salt processing and piles of salt, visit the salt hotel and then continue downtown to visit the Incahuasi Island composed of volcanic rock and giant cactus. Then, climb to the top for an extraordinary viewpoint of the white salt plains. Afterwards, travel north, a distance of several kilometers to the Thunupa Volcano, Pucara of Ayque (pre-Columbian ruins) with great views, the Coquesa mummies and the Mirador de Thunupa, where you will ascend by car to its crater for breathtaking views of the salar in all its glory. Overnight at Hotel Tayka de Sal, an ecological hotel with private bathroom, heating and excellent service located at the foot of the majestic Volcano Tunupa.
Day 2 (B, L, D)
In the morning, head to Fish Island and then continue to Mala Mala Bay at the opposite end of the salar to head to Galaxy Cave, an extraordinary place where you will be able to appreciate ancestral burials and petrified cactus. Arrive at Tayka Red Stone Hotel located in San Pedro de Quemes, where you will enjoy a unique dining experience with the flavors of regional food. To the south, you will find Cañapa, Hedionda, Chiarkota, Honda and Ramadita, where large numbers of flamingos can be founded. Other birds, such as geese and Andean gulls accompany the flamingos in these lagoons flanked by snow-capped volcanoes that have a green skirt down below. Enter the desert sand, where the landscapes are painted in beautiful shades in order to reach the hotel.
Day 3: (B, L)
At dawn, you will go in search of known geysers Sol de Mañana and arrive at the first rays of light. This is the highest point of the route, about 5000 meters, and the cold is intense. See pools where the land seems to boil red, gray and scarlet mud and can be traversed. The desert and Salar de Chalviri will be another great landscape combining the white snow, ocher desert, the blue waters and the white of borax. Take a bath in Termas de Polques and enjoy a hearty outdoors breakfast. To leave this desert valley, you will visit Laguna Verde at the foot of Volcano Licancabur. You will arrive at this lagoon just in time to see how the water goes from emerald green to a duller color. On your return, stop for lunch at Laguna Colorada, a main nesting center of three species of flamingos, where the algae and plankton are activated by solar radiation and wind.
