Valle De La Luna, La Paz

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‘The Moon Valley’ is located in the small village of Mallasa, about 10 kilometres southwest of La Paz. A quite nice ride through a rocky landscape.

‘The Moon Valley’ is also a rocky landscape – and very unique, filled with rock formations which have been formed through thousands of years of erosion. Easy to spot why this place has been named ‘the Moon Valley’.

There are a couple of walking tracks around the valley, and we chose the longest track. It was a 45 minutes stroll, and on the narrow track we passed various formations which the Indians have named after what they resemble: ‘Madre Luna’ (Mother Moon), 'El Sombrero de la Dama' (the Woman's Hat), 'El buen Abuelo’ (the Good Grandfather), and many others. Besides admiring the rock formations we also had to keep an eye on the track. The track was a little uneven, and the surrounding rocks had many sharp edges.

We didn't see any wild life on our walk, but there were some wild flowers in the valley, especially cactuses. And music… an Indian was standing on one of the highest rocks, singing and playing his guitar. When we got back to the entrance/exit he was selling his CD’s from a small souvenir shop.

Bring water and sunscreen on a hot and sunny day.

This is a nice trip to get a bit away from the busy town. It is a weird place. Really a bit like on the moon. There are lots of little canyons and bizarre pinnacles. The river Choqueyapu formed this area to this badlands. There are some cactus growing.
You can walk around and do some small loops.
The best thing is to get there by taxi. Should be about 10 $ and the cab driver will wait for you.
It is already much lower than the city centre.

An easy ride on the 231 or 273 minibus takes you to the moon like landscape of Valle De La Luna.

The drive takes you through the wealthy part of La Paz. Your driver/conductor will tell you where to get off if you ask.

For a few $ you get to wander round the strange landscape. Watch out for loose rock as it would be pretty easy to fall over the edge.

Many guides try to take you round, just ignore them and do it on your own unless you want a lecture on the geography of the area. Interestingly, rainwater is destroying this attraction and measures are being taken to stop the weathering and erosion that will destroy this place in olny 50 years of so.

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Está al sur de la ciudad y es una zona donde la erosión se ha llevado la arcilla y la tierra de una montaña donde han quedado las piedras , de tipo Karstico , formando una obra de arte
Un sitio que vale la pena visitar , aunque se lo están cargando edificando casas en los alrededores
It is South town and is an area where the erosion has removed the earth and the clay of a mountain and only the stones , of Karst type , are left are left , making a master piece
It is worth to visit , though they are spoiling building houses around it

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A city tour is definitely not first on my list – as a matter of fact, it does not exist there. Or at least I thought so. After the shock of relocation from sea level at Hanga Roa, Easter Island to the divine heights of La Paz, I was mostly in pre-vomiting state. Not wanting to loose a day “vegetating” in a hotel back yard, the next best option was the city tour. It takes you to the Valle de la Luna, which is a bit out of town – major advantage. Then of course, it gives you a crash course on Bolivian history and customs. You are mostly in the need of the story about the bowler hats. They say it is a good fashion item but I sneaked a preview of another, much more useful aspect – powerful tool of discipline for ninos or llamas.

as i told you, la paz is not only the centre (sagarnaga, plaza murillo or san francisco) la paz has its south side. yeah, you`ll find plenty of beautiful, expensive houses, cars.
wow! you can see the difference between el alto and the south side.
you can take a bus, or hiring the service of a travel agency.
como les dije, la paz no es solo el centro o el casco urbano.
la paz tiene la zona sur. si, tu encontraras hermosas y caras casas. vehiculos caros.
wow! veras la diferencia entre El Alto y la zona sur.
tu puedes tomar un bus o contratar los servicios de una agencia de turismo.

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it?s a wonderful place that makes feel you that you are in the real moon.
in your way you visit the residential area of the south of la paz.
you?ll see the big contrast between el alto and the south side.
Es un lugar que te hace sentir como si estuvieras en la LUNA.
En el camino encontraras areas residencial de la zona sur de la paz.
verás el contraste enorme entre el alto y la zona sur.

Valle de la Luna is located 20 km south of La Paz. Take minibus nr. 231, the ride takes about 30 minutes…

The place got its name the Moon Valley because the landscape resembles of the surface of the moon.
Water, wind and many thousands years of erosion has created this amazing landscape.