Anti clockwise or clockwise circuit

So far i have come up with
Day 1 Land la Paz
Day 2 Fly to Uyuni (midday)
Day 3-5 Salt Plains
Day 6-7 Get to Potosi (see Mines, what time is the earliest bus?)
Day 8-10 Sucre
Day 11-13 La Paz (Moon Valley,Tiwanaku)

Or a round the other way
Day 1 Land la Paz
Day 2-3 Fly morning to Sucre
Day 4-5 Potosi (mines)
Day 6-8 Uyuni/Salt Plains (need to get from Potosi in time for 11am tours,maybe bus night before)
Day 9-13 Back to La Paz (over night bus)

Are both these routes doable given transport options. (1) is my preferred route but (2) seems safer time wise. Not sure i can fit any more in

Definitely go for option #2. That's because of the acclimatization problem, not transport issues. Uyuni is extremely high, and you'll be going even higher up in the altiplano on the tour from Uyuni, and there is no possibility of emergency healthcare on that route. So you need to be acclimatized, and you should be in better shape that way after visiting Potosi for a couple of days.

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/americas-south-america/peru/opposite-direction-to-the-lonely-planet-trail?page=1#post_21660917 :)

mstep's acclimatization points are good

cheers it does sound like to more sensible plan.
Minor detail though - I have heard that Potosi is really bad for cameras in terms of dust, not that i was planning on taking it into the mines, so on (1) i would have had Salt Plains done by this city. Has any one any experience of this?

If you want to go the other way round, you can acclimatize in La Paz. However, that means you have no margin at the end of your trip. Going clockwise just makes more sense. If you're worried about dust getting in your camera, stick it in a ziplock bag and don't take it out ;)

I don't recall any problems with dust in Potosí. Where did you hear this?

Only verbally when i was out in S America and it did seem possible with what must be a very dusty city

Only problem I heard about in Potosi was the fumes in the mines. After a bunch of backpackers at our hostel became sick following the mine tour, we decided to skip it.

Thought it interesting that for a high dry mountainous town, there are stores selling fishing equipment. Got to see lot of pictures of BIG trout And don't believe tour guides that there are only night buses--lot of day buses to Sucre or Uyuni.

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