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Published: September 7th 2009
...but other than having to use the baño every half hour and having burps that smell like rotten hard boiled eggs (yeah, really gross), the travels have been looking up. We made our way to the big, crazy city of La Paz, Bolivia. The city is situated in a giant ravine-ish sort of thing so the streets are either uphill or downhill and the don´t seem to make a lick of sense to me. But then again, I am directionally challenged to begin with!
The entry from Argentina to Bolivia was not as smooth as expected. Apparently at the border crossings sometimes they decide to make Americans (and Americans only) buy a visa. The visa is good for five years and costs $135 USD, and only payable in USD. Other border crossings say nothing of this "requirement" but there was really no arguing with the border patrol so we hoofed it to the next ATM (not especially close) and walked through the border town of Villazon at dusk with wads of cash and huge backpacks. We made it through and caught the next local bus to Tupiza because neither one of us has ever met a border town that we liked. Arrived in Tupiza at 11 PM to find a very nice and helpful Bolivian working at the hostel.
Tupiza is a quiet and lovely town near where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid are rumored to have had their last stand. So of course I talked Matt into going on a horseback tour of the surrounding area which is out-of-this-world beautiful! We opted for the 5 hour tour because we were catching a train in the evening. After 10 minutes our 16 year old guide had us at a full gallop despite us informing that we were both beginner riders. I was giggling uncontrolably as I do when doing anything exciting and new. When we got back to a canter I looked at Matt and I didn´t need to ask if he enjoyed the galloping or not, he was ready to head back. It wasn´t until the next day when he pulled down his britches to reveal two large, quite uncomfortable looking blisters on either side of his ass cheeks. I can see why I heard a complaint every hour during the eighteen hours of travelling which directly followed the ride.
So La Paz is intimidating, as all big cities are for me, in South America or not. But I managed to make my way through the electronics black market and find a little digital point and shoot camera that will do. Electronics are not cheap here! But I have a camera and I am happy about that. More pictures will some sooner than later. I also found a guide book in La Paz...Matt had been making fun of me with my guide book until it was stolen and we both realized how nice it is to have an idea of where you are going when entering a strange town in the middle of the night. So life is good (other than whatever is living in my stomach)!!! Hope the same goes for all of you (minus the rotten egg burps)!
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MOM
non-member comment
probiotics?
Dear tummy ache, have you found a source of good probiotics. If it goes on and on you might want to check out parasites. There are some nasties . I love reading your blogs and wistfully envision myself on your jouney - minus the tummy aches, rotten eggs, butt sores, robbery, mugging... it all sounds so great! What an experience eh. Mom