from dark days at La Quiaca y Villazón to here:

(with notes from my diary)

15/05/05

“We got to Tupiza at 5:30am. Our plan was to get a 6PM bus to Uyuni, but we found out that there wasn’t one. The next departure was at 10am next morning. We checked the possibility of getting a van, but it would cost us 700 bolivianos – it was 8 of us. It would be way more expensive than the bus (40 pesos per person) and so I defended the idea of staying overnight.”

These prices for me, now, make no sense. What’s 40 pesos bolivianos valued now? Oh, just checked: it’s US$5. But hey, that was too much considering our budget was roughly 20 bucks a day.

“An hour or so later, we found out we could ride horses in the morning. For that, we decided to spend the night and get the afternoon train tomorrow.”

I am not one that likes riding horses on trips, but that place was so picturesque: my memories bring me back to be having coffee at a small restaurant – colored concrete walls and wooden tables, very rustic – when we met a cowboy that told us about horse riding in Tupiza. For some reason, we thought that would be a perfect.

And we realized that Tupiza is awesome! Our hostel was great; our room was huge and spacious, with a bunch of single beds, like a school dormitory. At night Cla, Va and I went for a walk and found a traditional Bolivian party. They really welcomed us in, giving out flag-brooches, and all food and drinks.

“We met Marcia, a 20 year old Bolivian, who was super nice. We drank ponche and sucumey, both made of singany (a national liquor) mixed with apple and milk or coconut. All free!”

There was a band playing and everything. I think it must have been some kind of political event, like a rally. It was definitely a celebration though, and we were lucky to be there.

Back home, great night asleep on a great hostel bed. Seriously! We felt the best.

Tomorrow, horse riding and a train trip to Uyuni.