Illampu
Snow above the green valley.
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Sorata is a small town in the Bolivian Andes in La Paz Department, east of Lake Titicaca, at the foot of Illampu and Janq'u Uma in the Cordillera Real. It is a popular weekend getaway and a relaxing base for a growing number of hikers and climbers. In colonial days the town linked the goldfields and rubber plantations with the Amazon Basin. In August 1781 Andrés, the nephew of Tupac Amaru, besieged it with 16,000 soldiers, who built dikes above it and then opened them, washing the town away. It lost its trading role once a more direct route to the Yungas opened. A mansion of 1895 from a family of quinine traders still stands. Above it rise Illampu at 6,368 metres and Janq'u Uma at 6,427 metres, white with snow over the green valley. The main square has towering date palms and neat gardens. You walk paved lanes among old houses and flowers. Visitors walk for hours to San Pedro cave along a mountain road, and experienced hikers climb to the high Laguna Glaciar. The town is 97.8 km in a straight line north-west of La Paz. The high trails need experience, a guide and a map, so do not go alone. Take your time with the altitude, and bring clothes for both cold and sun. British advice mentions a state of emergency and road blockades, which can affect the road from La Paz, so check your government's advice before setting out.
Snow above the green valley.
Tall palms and neat gardens.
Houses, flowers and mountains behind.
Larecaja Province, north-west of La Paz
Yes, it is a known hiking base, but high trails need a guide and experience.
One or two nights for the town and San Pedro cave, and longer for high trails.