Hello from Tupiza, in southern Bolivia! We finally made it here, and crossing the border was like entering another universe. This is the South America we were expecting.
But first, a little story of how we made our way here...
On May 10, we caught an 8pm bus from Mendoza, Argentina to Salta, Argentina. It is an 18 hour bus ride so we were prepared to cach some zzz´s and just relax. All went well until about 7am the next morning. Our bus had stopped on the side of the road, and then the engine was turned off. Turns out there was a road block at a bridge, a very important bridge that would allow us to continue our journey. There were a lot of people on the bridge, with protest signs, bicycles, bbq´s, lawn chairs, dogs, kids, makeshift markets, you name it. Oh, and they had a nice fire going, burning tires, a lovely smell.
We never found out what the road block was for, something to do with land ownership, children´s health, the government - information was nil from the bus staff. Whatever the reason, our driver was not going to budge. Out came the newspaper and coffee, and the feet went up on the steering wheel.
Luckily there was a small fruit stand and a couple little markets fairly close by, so we could get some food and water.
It is amazing how quickly 11 hours go by on a hot bus (!), but the road block finally cleared, at 6pm as they promised, amidst their cheers and waves to us on the bus. We secretly wanted to give them all the finger but you never really know the story so we just waved and smiled. After 29 hours we were in Salta, a city of about 1 million people.
We left Salta May 13 for Bolivia, and expected the worst regarding border crossings, blockades and bus connections. It went off without a hitch! The border closed at 6pm, so we were worried we wouldn´t make it, but our bus actually arrived early. After a short walk across the border, we waited a short time for a bus to Tupiza.
On this next bus, only tourists bought seats and the locals rode for free, but they had to stand in the aisles. As we drove down the road, the bus stopped frequently to pick up locals, and they crammed into the bus with their kids, baskets of oranges, hard boiled eggs, etc. It was a dusty ride on the gravel road but the scenery was quite different then Argentina - lots of llamas, forests of cactus and multi coloured mountains.
We went horseback riding today and we are both walking bowlegged. The scenery was amazing - lots of cactus, red rocks, strange rock formations, mountains, and a blue sky with nothing in it but the sun and moon. This is near the area where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid did their last heist and were holed-up, eventually dying.
We head to Uyuni tomorrow, May 15, in a Toyota Land cruiser as there are no buses Sundays. Uyuni is famous for the world´s largest salt flats.
Will post again soon with some pictures, hopefully - Internet is not too reliable around these parts.
Deb & Steve
