1

It not a doable trip. You will be on a bus for your 6 days.

Unlike your Argentina itinerary you have posted, this is unrealistic.

In your Argentina post you put down 10 days for BA. Make that 4 or 5 days at most and add the extra 5 to 6 spare days to your Bolivian leg. Travel in Bolivia is slow due to the Andes compared to Argentina.

2

If it is doable, it won't be very enjoyable - As #1 says that's a lot of bus time. If you simply have to be in Puno by date X and cannot fly (in any case from Salta the routing would have to go via BA or Iquique/Santiago and Lima most likely, since neither Salta nor Juliaca airports have direct flights to Peru and Argentina respectively, and it won't be cheap) then the most direct route involves:

1. Getting to the Bolivia border from Salta: it's about 7.5 hours from Salta to the border post at La Quiaca.
2. Cross border into Villazón, Bolivia
3. Train to Oruro (on Mon, Wed, Thu, Sat) which leaves Villazón at 3.30pm and arrives between 7 and 9am the following morning.
4. Bus from Oruro to La Paz - this is another 2 hours.
5. Bus from La Paz to Copacabana is about 4 hours.
6. Bus from Copacabana to Puno is another 3 hours or so.

So you see, if you time your connections right it is physically possible to get to Puno in time, but you leave yourself no time to see anything. An Uyuni tour needs 2-3 days minimum, and Sucre would involve a fairly long detour off your route.

Practically speaking this is an easy enough trip to make with regular buses and the train is actually pretty comfortable (I took it from Oruro to Tupiza).

3

I agree with post #2 that it is doable but quick. I would bus to the border then take the train to Uyuni, instead of Oruro. Do a 2 day tour of the salt flats. Then take overnight bus Uyuni to La Paz. Then the bus La Paz to Puno.

Another option is the bus Salta to Tarija, fly from Tarija to La Paz, then bus to Copacabana, leave a day to see Isla de Sol, bus to Puno.

Good luck with the planning!

4

As above..it is doable (in the sense that you can do it ;-) but it is FAR too much for a week.

You would spend nearly all your time in transit,waiting for transport and checking in and out of hostels......

5

having just replied to your post on the Argentina forum, where you have planned maybe too much in each place, i agree with #1.....you could easily take a week off that plan and add it to bolivia....an extra week in bolivia would give you time to get your planned trip done. Bolivia is a fantastic country to travel in, much cheaper than Argentina so taking this option would also help with your budget. In terms of a salt lake tour...even though you are solo traveller if you spend a day in Uyuni you more than likely will meet other people looking to share a tour with

6

Agree with ger.....in fact,if you are 'financially challenged',much better to concentrate on Bolivia (which is really cheap) than Argentina (which isn't).

7

Maybe do the Salt Flats, take a bus to to Potosi then to Sucre and fly to La Paz. That wil make a week

8

I thought as much. Will definitely look at changing things in my Argentina side to fit more time in Bolivia. I guess I was unsure about how safe it was to travel as a single female in Bolivia, as well as I didn´t want to rush Argentina. But from the sounds of it I can take time off the Argentina side without making it too rushed. Thanks for all the advice. I will look more into it and then will probably post some more to get your opinion :-)

9

No more dangerous than in Argentina.

All the precautions you need to take...and the way you should behave when you are there..are the same.