The first thing that strikes you about Tupiza is the colour. The town sits in the south of Potosí department at about 3,000 metres, in a basin ringed by red and orange cliffs, pinnacles and canyons that wouldn't look out of place in the American Southwest, and the comparison is not accidental. Tupiza is the nearest town to the area where, according to the story most often told, the outlaws Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid met their end in 1908, after robbing a mine payroll in the district. The tale has been told in local shops and guesthouses ever since.
The landscape is the main reason to be here. Short rides take you out of town into the Quebrada de Palala, the Valle de los Machos with its odd columns of rock, and the Puerta del Diablo, a rock arch, with roads that follow dry riverbeds, climb rocky ridges and switch from tarmac to gravel in a few hundred metres. Cacti stand on the slopes, the sky is nearly always clear, and the red walls glow at sunrise and dusk, which is when to ride. At midday the sun is strong and the shadows disappear.
Tupiza is also a handy waypoint. It lies on the north-south road between Potosí and the Argentine frontier at Villazón, and further east the road drops toward lower valleys. The town itself is a lively, low-rise place of more than twenty thousand people, with a plaza, a market, and a small collection of guesthouses used to overlanders. You will find fuel, food and basic repairs here without difficulty, which is worth knowing because the next stretches are long.
Eat at the market for hearty plates of rice, meat and potato, and ask in town about local guides if you want to go deep into the canyons on horseback, an excellent alternative on a day when the bike needs rest. Winters are dry, bright and cold at night, while the summer rains can make gravel tracks slick, so plan your riding for the dry months and keep an eye on the sky. Dust is part of the deal, so protect your air filter and carry water.