Tupiza

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Tupiza is the little town in Southern Bolivia where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid made their last stand, and it certainly looks like cowboy country: blue skies, red mountains, green cacti and yellow dust everywhere. As we staggered from bus station to hostel with our newfound travel buddies (Fiona, Jane and Miles) I half expected to be held-up by someone wearing a stetson and spurs. It was time for my well-travelled cowboy hat to come out of the bag...

We booked into the Mitru Hotel (recommended by the Lonely Planet as the best place in town) and spent the whole of the next day wandering around town, lounging by the pool, reading, catching up with emails and generally relaxing. Tupiza is a friendly and interesting place and we all agreed that a lazy day was called for. The pace picked up the next day though, starting with a blazing row with the astonishingly useless and unhelpful Mitru staff regarding our laundry (somehow, in the 2 days they had possession of our clothes, they managed to mix them up with everyone elses and still fail to wash and dry them). Eventually we got our damp clothes back, just in time to start our first adventure in Tupiza: a 2-day horse riding tour.

We picked-up the horses in town and started off into the countryside with our two guides. In no time at all we were riding through dusty canyons and rocky riverbeds, surrounded by amazing vistas. My horse was less responsive than Kate Moss after a big night out on the town, and tended to just do whatever the rest of the bunch did, but that was fine with me (as I didn't really know what I was doing anyway). Donna had a more interesting beast, and Miles (the most experienced of us) dashed around on what he claimed was the fastest horse he had ever ridden.

After a long day of riding (and 5 very sore backsides) we pulled into a tiny deserted town in the middle of nowhere and gingerly climbed down from the horses. Our accommodation for the night was a basic (no running water) but clean hostel. While waiting for dinner we challenged the locals to a high-altitude game of football. Running around at 4000m is exhausting!

The next morning we made the trip back to Tupiza, following a different route to the day before. We were greeted with more amazing and bizarre landscapes, and I began to grasp the basics of controlling my horse (stopping / turning could be achieved at a push, but honestly, if the grim reaper had turned up carrying a burning stick of dynamite, that useless beast would still not have moved any faster).

The most eventful moment of the second day occurred mid-morning while we riding through a small village. We overtook a procession of women who were completely wasted, weaving through the street and bumping into each other. Shortly afterwards we caught up with their even more drunk spouses, who proceeded to shout at us, demand money and kick and club the back legs of our horses. This seemed a little unsociable, but later Donna pointed out that it was the Day of the Dead festival (a 2 day bank holiday during which the locals traditionally get hammered and beat up any passing gringos), and hence such behaviour was to be expected.

We arrived back in Tupiza very tired and sore, but very pleased with our trip (which was organised through the excellent El Grano de Oro Tours). I was a little apprehensive about how we would be received in town, but it appeared the locals had finished their gringo bashing and were now sleeping it off. After struggling to find an open restaurant, we retired to our rooms to get some rest before our next big adventure... the 'Southwest Circuit'.

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Photos

Crazy windstorm
The windstorm blew off both of our hats, but luckily Jamie managed to get his trusty cowboy hat back!

Game interrupted
It´s not every day that your football game is interrupted by donkeys!

Jay riding through town...
...on his less visible steed...

Finally making friends
...after maybe 2 Bolivianos worth of maize!