Bolivia

We arrived safely in Bolivia yesterday, after taking a few hours bus ride to the border. The terminal on the Argentinian side was a bit sketchy and we were prepared for the Bolivian side to be worse, but all was ok. We took a taxi from the Argentinian bus terminal and then literally walked over the border into Bolivian customs (which is not much more than a shack). No bag search, xrays, nothing. Walking through the main strip of the border town Villazon, we could instantly sense that change into a pooer, third world. There were lots of stalls on the main street selling black market and all kinds of necessities. We changed some money to Bolivianos and then got to the bus terminal. Lots of people, bit confusing with our new money and the exchange rate, and keeping our wits about us at all times, we managed to get tix for the next bus to Tupiza (about 2-3 hours from border).

The bus took off about 40 minutes late which isnt too bad for Bolivia. We were very cautious about our bags and making sure that they definitely went on that bus as we have heard some horror stories of people having things snatched from under their eyes. Bolivian buses are not great and certainly not like Argentinian buses so we were grateful for the shorter trip as our bums were already a little sore after 2 hours!

Tupiza is a very dusty town (we have surely swallowed tonnes of dust already and my thoat is perpetually dry). Its nearly 3000m above sea level so you can feel the change in altitude here. Its advised to take things slow in Bolivia so we have done that today. My favourite thing here so far is the old ladies everwhere in their traditional clothing of knee length swivel skirts, top hats, stockings, cardigans, and their hair plaited in 2 long plaits. They sit in the markets selling food and fruits (which is good here). The country has a very old culture and you can see it most in the weathered faces of the older genreations. People live in mud brick housing in villages along the roads or at the base of mountains. As in Argentina and Uruguay, the streets are quiet from after lunch for siesta and the action picks up again after 5. Even school kids break the day in two for siesta, and go back in the afternoon.

Tupiza is the final resting place of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids and you can follow their footsepts around the outskirts of town. We are going horseriding tommorrow which will probably be a typical way to check out the area.