Tupiza, an elevated Andean region in Potosi, southwest of Bolivia, is best known as the place where Robert Redford and Paul Newman filmed their 1969 cowboy epic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Tupiza's luscious setting is packed with an array of canyon lands and colorful landscapes, making it an idyllic set for any Wild West blockbuster. Stripped of the usual city comforts, the deserted and pre-industrial colony of Tupiza quickly gives the impression of being the birthplace of horsemen and modern-day Pancho Villas. But unlike in the revolutionary Villa, the locals here are actually friendly. People lead a serene life: watching one and other in their rural houses, visiting colonial churches, and touring the city and its surrounding geological wonders on horseback or truck. In short, Tupiza offers sobriety at the backdrop of extreme adventure.
December marks the best time to visit, when the Festival Folklorico greets guests with the sound of drums, trumpets and tubas. Little children in colorful, traditional Bolivian costumes gather at the park to perform native dances and songs with the accompaniment of marching bands. Around town, young women clad in skimpy cowgirl costumes parade on horseback, while pilgrims say their prayers at the ornate Iglesia San Francisco.
The townspeople then head to an uphill plateau with a white cross called the El Corazón de Jesus (the Heart of Jesus), which affords the tourist a bird's eye view of the whole town and its surrounding colored mountains. It also points to Valle de los machos, home to breathtaking canyons and phallic rock pillars resembling sharks' fins and daggers. Riding on horseback or cholitas (donkey) is the best way to arrive here in style.
To the north is Waca Wañusca (Dead Cow), a road with bristling red cactuses on either side that head to Tupiza's mining villages. For centuries, llama herders have followed this trail, while fortune hunters grope into its small streams to look for gold.
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