San Juan Valley

The main reason to visit this valley is because of its plentiful cloudforest, mixed with agriculture, such as coffee and coca.   Take a minibus to Carmen Pampa , a small village which is booming because of the Rural University that was installed there. A beautiful path leaves from this village, crossing two small streams by means of simple but descent suspension bridges. At the other side of the valley, you can follow the main dirttrack to Old Coroico and Yolosa, which was abandoned for the present location of Coroico, according to legend because the place is haunted. The historical heart of the village consists of an old church tower and an abandoned villa. One of the most spectacular paths of the area leaves from the village, going down to Yolosa along the grassy ridge of the mountain between two forested valleys. Yolosa is nothing more than a bridge and a lot of shops, opened by people from all over the country. It was the last stop for truckers on road to La Paz and the place where people can sigh in relief they didn’t fall of the Death Road . Following the main road passing above Carmen Pampa, you get to a low pass which signals a sudden change in landscape: on the other side almost all the forests has been replaced by coca fields. One branch of the road goes smoothly up: this is the arrival of the former train track , which still is an easy two day trek, starting in Unduavi, at the end of the Death Road.