Tarija

Buen dia from Tarija, Bolivia.

We have made it into Bolivia! We are in the southern city of Tarija, which is in the main wine producing region of the country (it seems like we visit a lot of those types of places). We came to this place from Tupiza, which is the jumping off point for tourists heading north into Bolivia from Argentina. The main attraction for Tupiza is the surrounding scenery and a town nearby where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid met their demise. We enjoyed the scenery, but didn´t make it to the famous town where the bank-robbers careers ended.

We wanted to get to Tupiza on the train that heads north, but the mob of people milling about at the train station told us we probably wouldn´t get the ticket. A nice gentleman told us that in order to have a chance to get one, he had arrived at 6 AM in the morning - for a 3:30 PM departure. So we decided to take the bus.

We have been reading and hearing nightmare stories about the bus system in Bolivia, and our brief experience with it has confirmed the stories. First of all, the roads (at least in this part of the country) are not paved, so the busses require four wheel drive tires and stiff (read: bumpy as hell) suspensions. Then there are the crazy semi drivers that the bus driver must avoid - not a good thing to experience while sitting in the front seat where you can see everything about to happen. The previously mentioned unpaved roads are usually situated along a cliff, the edge of which is inches away from the bus tires. It didn´t make it any better that the night we took a trip along one of these topography-rich roads was nearly a full moon. If that weren`t enough, the long distance bus drivers are striking now.

We do have options, though - ride in the back of a truck that may or may not arrive to your destination, or fly. So, while the adventurer in me would say to take the trucks, the practical side of me (and my wife) says fly. Flying is relatively cheap, too. So we will be flying from Tarija to Sucre on Tuesday, from where we will be able to hop over to a couple more places. And hopefully the bus strike will end before we have to fly again.

Here are some of our impressions of Bolivia so far. The Bolivian people are extremely friendly - that is, when you break the ice and say ´Good afternoon´ or some other greeting. I am always surprised at the huge smile that breaks out of the typical ´stare at the tourist´ look when you make the effor to make contact. The kids, who have none of their adult counterparts´ reservations are always waving hi and saying ´Hola´ (or ´Hello´ if they have learned any English). When we are playing games to pass the time, people come up to us and look at us playing and ask what the game is.

The natural beauty of Bolivia is amazing - and we have seen only a small portion so far. Here in the south, it is arid and the mountains are steep, so the landscape is very striking. There are also not too many people around (at least in the country-side), so it seems like a wilderness. We are looking forward to seeing the central part of the country.

And, finally, they seem to have picked up one thing that I like a lot - the American breakfast. After spending time in Argentina, where the breakfast is - at best - a couple pieces of toast or some stale croissants, coffee, and fake juice, the breakfast here with eggs, bacon, real fruit juice, fruit salad and coffee is great! I guess that will have to be the trade-off for great Argentinian dinners (huge, cheap steaks) - the standard main dish here is a wierd concoction of ground meat and sliced hot dogs served atop a mound of french fries.

Pictures next time!

Chau!