Parinacota Village

Parinacota sits at about 4,400 metres in Lauca national park below the Payachata volcanoes, a village of white adobe houses with a permanent population in single figures - most families now live lower down and come up seasonally with the llama and alpaca herds. Its seventeenth century church, rebuilt in 1789, has a whitewashed exterior and an interior painted with scenes including a set of murals of the Last Judgement in an Andean idiom. A table in the church is the subject of the best known local story: it is said to walk at night and to have been chained to stop it, and it is shown chained today.

What you actually see

• An Aymara village at 4,400 metres - a handful of permanent residents.
• A church rebuilt in 1789 - painted inside in an Andean idiom.
• Last Judgement murals - the interior's main work.
• A chained table - the local story, and the chain, both still there.

When to go

April to November; the summer rains make the roads difficult. Half a day.

Honest expectations

At 4,400 metres altitude sickness is likely without acclimatisation in Putre first. The church is locked and needs the keyholder, who may not be there. Services in the village are minimal. Nights are far below freezing.

Nearby

Lake Chungara is east; Putre is down the road west.