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Laguna Khotia – Huayna Potosí 8-day hike

Laguna Khotia – Huayna Potosí 8-day hike | Bolivia

Jaime, IFMGA certified mountain guide, takes you through this beautiful 8-day itinerary in Cordillera Real, discovering Laguna Khotia and many other sites!

Andes

8 Days

Apr - Oct


Description

Laguna Khotia is one of the stunning lakes in the area of Huayna Potosi. In addition, it's one of the main highlights of this trip. During 8 beautiful and exciting days we will explore this area of the Cordillera Real. It's not to far from La Paz, one of the main cities in Bolivia.

It will be a high altitude hike. In fact, we ascend to a few passes above 5000 meters. We will reach at least one pass per day. On average we walk 4-7 hours per day, therefore you need to be in good physical shape.

During the tour we will visit several Lagunas (lakes) besides Khotia. Some of them are Laguna Ajwani, Laguna Jurikhota, Laguna Chiarkhota. In addition, the trip includes the optional ascent to the incredible glacial lake of Huayna Potosí (6088m).

Do you want to join me in this 8-day hiking trip in Bolivia? Then contact me for more information! There are many possible itineraries to discover this impressive area. Check out this other one, also in 8 days.

Price includes

- Accommodation included

- Guiding fee

- Breakfast

- Lunch

- Dinner

- Transportation start and back

- Transport during the trip

- Permit and entrance fees

- Group porters


Itinerary

Day 1: Casani - Copacabana - Laguna Khotia (4470m)

We meet at Casani, where a vehicle waits to take us to Khotia (3:30h drive).
Lunch not included.
Walking time: none
D +600/-150m

Day 2: Laguna Khotia - Laguna Ajwani (4520m)

We leave at 8:30AM with the mule carrying team. We go by the right shore of the lake, on the southwest side of the Cordillera. We reach the first pass: Contador (4760m) before crossing a marshy area. We are neat the Laguna Surakhota. After around 4 hours hiking, we reach the Laguna Ajwani, “the bird’s lake” (4720m).
Walking time: 4-5 hours
D +500/-300m

Day 3: Laguna Ajwani - Laguna Jutikhota (4700m)

We continue on the mountainside. We reach the Milluni pass (4900m), then we walk until the Laguna Sistaña (4650m). Then we reach the Janchallani pass (4950m) in the afternoon, and go back to the splendid Laguna Jurikhota (4720m).
Walking time: 5-6 hours
D +665/-560m

Day 4: Laguna Jurikhota - Laguna Congelada - Austria pass - Laguna Chiarkhota (4670m)

From the lake, we ascend a steep slope to reach the small Laguna Congelada. Two glaciers literally fall into its frozen waters. It’s a jewel at 4900m, at the foot of Condoriri (5650m). Then we reach the Austria pass (5120m), and go back down to the Laguna Chiarkhota (4670m). It’s the base camp for the ascent of Condoriri and Pequeño Alpamayo. Before the pass, we can ascend the Austria peak (5300m), from where there are sublime views of Condoriri and the Cordillera Real (45 min ascent and 20 min descent).
Walking time: 6 hours
D +645/-670m

Day 5: Laguna Chiarkhota - Tuni (4400m)

We leave Condoriri behind and go to the foot of the Black Needle, until the Jallayko pass (5025m). We will be in the beautiful Jistaña valley. We descent to the valley of Laguna Tuni and the town of Tuni at noon.
Walking time: 4-5 hours
D +300/-340m

Day 6: Rest day in Tuni

Day 7: Tuni - Maria Lluko (4700m)

We go from Tuni to the middle of the lakes, until the ancient camp of the Santa Fe mine. Then we do a short hike to the summit dominating the camp. It will be a new opportunity to admire all the lakes in the area. Then we ascend until our camp, surrounded by the summits Imilla Apachita, Maria Lluko and Huayna Potosi (6088m). The views are breathtaking!
Optional: continuing until the glacial lake of Huayna Potosí. The path is a tru belvedere.
Walking time: 6 hours
D +320/-200m

Day 8: Maria Lluko - Laguna Milluni - La Paz

In the mid morning we reach the Milluni pass (5000m).We can see the Milluni valley. We go arpound the Hauyna Potosi massif, to our left, before reaching the valley, that we follow until the refuge. It’s the end of our trek. A 4×4 private vehicle takes us back to La Paz.
Walking time: 4 hours
D +200/-300m

 

Details

More info

We will have a cook and there is an option for vegetarian food.

Meeting point

At Casani.

About the guide

Guide profile image

-Jaime

4.80

(27)

Mountain Guide

IFMGA/UIAGM mountain guide from Bolivia.

I organize mountaineering and trekking trips in different regions of Bolivia, and community tourism as well. I spend my free time exploring new destinations and discovering new mountains and cultures in remote regions.

I have more than 20 years of experience working in Cordillera Real, and I live in Tuni, Condoriri. I worked as mule driver, porter, cook, trekking guide assistant, trekking guide, and finally became IFMGA/UIAGM mountain guide in 2008.

I made several ascents in Bolivia and neighboring countries like Argentina, Chile and Peru. Some of them: Ojos de Salado, Wallatiri, Urus, Azangate, Huayna potosí, Illimani, Chir oco, Chachacomani, Sajama, Illamapu, Acohoma, Chapi orco, Acotango, Parinacota… These experiences prepared me to organize and guide expeditions.

I like to provide a top level service to people from all around the world, help them get in contact with the local culture, and of course help them reach their objectives in the mountains.

Languages

French | English | Spanish

Certificates

IFMGA | AGMTB

Request more information

What people are saying about -Jaime

Andrew

5.00

From the initial messages through the explore-share platform to the successful summit of beautiful Huayna Potosí, Jaime was a pleasure to work with. He customized an itinerary to work around my travel dates, was quick to respond to my messages, and is just an incredibly fun guy! I stayed at his small lodge in the village of Tuna for a few days of acclimatization before the actual ascent of Huayna Potosí. It is a village full of quietude, a great place to relax surrounded by stunning 5000+ meter mountains. It's hard to overstate the quality of the expedition. The food was fresh and plentiful, the pace was relaxed, and the company was warm and enjoyable. Thanks Jaime for showing me such a good time and helping me reach new heights!

Anton

5.00

Jaime and his family are very amiable and friendly people. The tour was very well organized and everything exceeded my expectations. The food was very delicious and there was always a vegetarian option if necessary. Next time I come to Bolivia I will be sure to book a tour with Jaime again, thank you!

Courtney

4.00

We were very happy with the beauty and challenge we found on this trek. We were also pleasantly surprised by some of the more luxurious aspects of it: we had the option to sleep indoors most nights, we had hot lunch served to us riverside one day and were served dinner and breakfast every day, and a car transported equipment we did not need during the day to our next base camp. Our guide, Abraham, was experienced in our route and very knowledgeable. We got food poisoning symptoms pretty badly after three days and had to cut our trip short. Abraham and Dennis were able to get us back to La Paz as soon as we were ready to leave. While we had a great experience in the end, a couple aspects did not match what we were told to expect and made us nervous in the beginning. The TripAdvisor post lists Jaime as the guide and he is who we talked to about details all the way up to when we were picked up. However he never made an appearance and we were never told this would happen or why it happened. We had also requested two sleeping bags each, in case it was too cold, and that information was not passed on correctly. It seemed like our guide thought we were bringing our own sleeping bags, although that was not said not on the packing list. Luckily they still had one sleeping bag for each of us and it was plenty warm. Lastly, it seems the itinerary is subject to change, so don’t count on doing the exact plan sent to you. We were originally told there would be no huts and that we would only stay in Tuni the first night and neither of these turned out to be true. Again, everything worked out in the end, but allowing someone to take you into the wild and handle preparations takes a lot of trust and these miscommunications hampered our ability to fully feel comfortable. I would recommend this company and this trek to anyone interested. I hope the company takes this review as constructive feedback to help make guests feel safe.

Stephen

5.00

Jaime is a safe and experienced guide as well as an excellent cook.

Anna

5.00

Our guide in Bolivia was Jaime. I climbed with my daughter age 14, so safety was very important to me. He was very professional and gave us extra tips on an acclimatization and using crampons. Whenever we forgot about something he was ready to help. Thank you Jaime, the memories from the climb will last a lifetime. Anna.


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