28/07/2025
Tunari - Oohooo
Pico Tunari, at 5,030 meters above sea level, is practically the „local mountain of Cochabamba,“ as they would say in Switzerland. It’s clear that it’s a popular destination for visitors and hikers. The ascent must be made with a guide, whose cell phone number is posted on the wall in the Mollesnejta-Studi kitchen, for example. It’s best to set off early in the morning so that you can start from Quillacollo at 7 a.m. Again, the larger the group, the cheaper the trip will be for each person. The price is approximately 350 Bolivianos per tour.
In Quillacollo, the first challenge is finding a bus heading towards Tunari that will fill up with other travelers soon. The buses have as departure time „when they’re full“... so a larger group proves advantageous here too.
The minibus then takes you up to an altitude of 4,100 meters. There are also other possible tour routes. For example, a two-day camping trip is offered from Pairumani, which is only a good 20-minute walk from Mollesnejta.
If you opt for the one-day tour, you’ll conveniently disembark from the minibus next to a mountain restaurant. There, you can pre-order lunch for after the descent, which is highly recommended! Trucha or Charque de Llama at 4,100 meters – rarely does anything taste this good ;)
But before the reward, there’s the effort.
The air is thin, the landscape is spectacular, and llamas are constant companions. The trails lead past lagoons, over angular stones with fossilized shells and prehistoric animals. Plenty of water and sweet snacks are recommended, as is a cautious ascent so that altitude sickness, headaches, or shortness of breath don’t even occur, but are left behind.
The Tunari is therefore a challenging day trip that offers impressive views, pushes your physical limits, and produces great souvenirs.
